CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister
Gaston Browne has welcomed the establishment
of a Global Institute for Climate
-Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD)
by the University of the West Indies
(UWI).
Browne said that the UWI’s GICSRD
would provide much-needed climate
research and data for the region, adding
that there was sufficient evidence that
weather systems were
worsening as islands in
the Caribbean had been
severely affected.
‘The GICSRD is a
critical institution that
will fill the climate educational gap as
we seek to transform the region into a
climate resilient zone,” the Caribbean
Community Chairman (CARICOM)
chairman said.
He noted that the Caribbean was hit
by over 110 storms between 1980 and
2016, inflicting nearly 95 percent damage
from weather disasters
Speaking at the the recent virtual
launch of the GICSRD, Brownen said he
was encouraged that despite the COVID-
19 pandemic, The UWI was looking to
international climate finance to scale up
action within the Caribbean.
GICSRD Executive Director, Professor
John Goddard, maintained that the
Caribbean was on the front line of a climate
crisis
BARBADOS
The Barbados Hotel and Tourism
Association (BHTA), is warning of a collapse
of the tourism sector and is urging
the government to support its call
that “all employees within the sector be
required to take a COVID-19 vaccine by
Dec.r 1.”
In a newspaper
advertisement, the
BHTA said this would
ensure that Barbados,
which has so far recorded 94 deaths and
10,918 infections linked to the pandemic
since March last year, was ready and
well-equipped for the official start of the
winter tourist season.
The BHTA referred to increasing cancellations
due to significant deaths and
cases in recent recent months, the decision
by a growing number of intended
visitors who are choosing hotels with
fully vaccinated staff.
The BHTA is of the view that unless
action is taken, there would be a collapse
of the tourism sector that employs directly
employs 16,000 persons and many
thousands more in supporting services,
it said, adding it was “extremely” concerned
with the impact of the prevailing
COVID-19 environment in Barbados
inclusive of workers, business and the
general economy.
Caribbean L 4 ife, OCT. 29-NOV. 4, 2021
A woman breastfeeds her daughter at the Saint Damien Pediatric Hospital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Haiti’s
capital has been brought to the brink of exhaustion by fuel shortages and the capital’s main pediatrics hospital says it has only three
days of fuel left to run ventilators and medical equipment. (Association Press/Matias Delacroix) Matias Delacroix
CARIBBEAN
CARIBBEAN Community (CARICOM
Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett says
an effective response to the post COVID-
19 economic situation must include significant
and broad debt reduction for all
developing countries.
Barnett told the recent 15th Session of
the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) that this
approach should also be applied to vulnerable
middle to high-income states.
She said debt reduction should specifically
address debts
built up due to COVID-
19 expenditures and
climate change adaptation.
The recently
appointed CARICOM Secretary General
said the meeting provided an opportunity
to highlight to the global community
the issues and concerns of Small
Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing
States (SIDS), as well as to identify some
of the measures that could be taken by
the international community to support
efforts to build resilience and promote
sustainable development among SIDS.
She said new debt arising from the
need to address the COVID-19 crisis,
together with the existing debt stock,
will continue to appropriate a significant
proportion of public resources in
debt repayments, while strangling critical
infrastructural public investments
required for economic rehabilitation.
GUYANA
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
has said access to its offices across
the region will be restricted to people
showing proof of being vaccinated
against the COVID-19 virus.
In a two-paragraph statement recently,
the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat
said the new policy went into
effect as of Oct. 1.
It said the measure is aimed at providing
“a safe working environment for its
staff, in keeping with attempts to limit
the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“These measures include proof of vaccination
for staff members and all persons
seeking to enter our offices to do
business. Staff members and members
of the public who are not vaccinated
would require a PCR test no older than
seven days to enter the offices,” the Secretariat
said.
The statement by CARICOM comes as
several regional governments have either
indicated a need to establish safe zones
or restrict the entry to
public buildings to only
vaccinated people
The governments
have been calling on
their nationals to get vaccinated as a
means of curbing the virus.
Since the start of the pandemic in
March 2020, Caribbean countries have
recorded 339,488 positive cases and
7,884 deaths.
GRENADA
Grenada has delayed the population
and housing census due to the latest outbreak
of COVID-19 in August.
The start date of the 2021 National
Population and Housing Census which
was tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 15,
was further delayed because of the effect
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“However, administrators believe that
this delay was in the
best interest of everyone
as enumerators
will be going out into
the communities when
the risk of contracting the virus is minimized,”
the Central Statistical Office
(CSO) said in a statement.
The CSO said while it is encouraged by
the rate of COVID-19 recoveries and the
reduction in active cases, it is collaborating
with the Ministry of Health reviewing
protocols and procedures for field
staff to further ensure that the public
can be safely enumerated and that field
staff protected.
The authorities hope to start the census
on Nov. 1 and the CSO is hoping that
enumerators will also be able to conduct
the full household interview by phone.
JAMAICA
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has
paid tribute to former US Secretary of
State, Colin Powell who recently died of
Continued on Page 34
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlife.com
Haiti fuel shortages affect hospitals
/www.caribbeanlife.com
/www.caribbeanlife.com
