CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister
Gaston Browne said developing islands
in the Caribbean are set to benefit from
a billion dollar investment from the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Browne, who is chairman of CARICOM
recently gave details of the launch
of the initiative, the Energy Transition
Accelerator Financing (ETAF).
Browne said the UAE and the International
Renewable
Platform Agency
(IRENA) launched the
ETAF platform, which
is a new global climate
finance facility to assist
with the transition away from traditional
forms of energy to renewables.
The UAE has pledged some
US$400 million. The platform has set a
goal of US$1 billion in funding.
Browne, who is also chair of the Alliance
of Small Island States recently
addressed the COP26 summit in Scotland
on its behalf.
He called for the larger and more
industrialized countries to increase
their support to small island developing
states,which have been significantly
impacted by climate change.
BAHAMAS
The leader of the main opposition
Free National Movement (FNM), Dr.
Hubert Minnis, is calling on the new
government of Prime Minister Phillip
“Brave” Davis to “articulate and execute
comprehensive public health measures”
as he criticized the new administration
of leading “a disastrous, incompetent
and chaotic” response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Recently, the Ministry of Health and
Wellness confirmed
more than 700 new
cases, pushing the
total to over 22,000
COVID-19 positive
cases since March last year. The country
also reported about 700 deaths.
In a statement, Minnis, whose FNM
administration lost the Sept. 16 general
election by a 32-7 margin, said the
Progressive Liberal Party government’s
response is “uncaring and indifferent to
the pain and suffering of those who are
getting sick and their families.”
He said Prime Minister Davis clearly
does not have an understanding or a
plan as to how to respond to the deadly
virus as more Bahamians are dying
daily from the virus.
Dr. Minnis, a medical practitioner
said his administration had sought to
bring balance by saving and protecting
lives and livelihoods and that it had
“quickly put in place comprehensive
measures to limit outbreaks on the
Family Islands.
The former prime minister is calling
Caribbean Life, N 4 OVEMBER 19-25, 2021
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne announced the UAE billion dollar investment. Photo by George Alleyne
on his successor to address the country
on the measures his administration will
take “to remedy a variety of matters
related to the pandemic.”
BARBADOS
Fully vaccinated travelers to Barbados
with a valid pre-flight COVID-19
PCR test result will no
longer be required to
be tested or be quarantine
on arrival in the
island.
Minister of Health
and Wellness Lieutenant, Colonel Jeffrey
Bostich has announced recently,
travelers meeting these requirements
will therefore be allowed to leave the
port of entry with no restrictions.
However, the Health Ministry said
“the Chief Medical Officer reserves the
right to request COVID-19 testing of
any traveler and to quarantine them if
required.”
Currently, vaccinated travelers are
required to be tested on arrival, either
at the airport or at an approved hotel.
They are free to move around the
country after receiving a negative result,
which should be in 24 to 48 hours.
Unvaccinated travelers must arrive
with a negative test and are then tested
five days after arrival.
CARIBBEAN
The Barbados-based Regional Security
System (RSS) says it will be handing
over the draft National and Regional
Maritime Security Strategies, which
will provide the foundation for strengthening
of the maritime commons in several
of its member countries.
In a statement, the RSS said it had
been working to ensure that the maritime
space within its member states is
secure and that in 2019 in collaboration
with the Caribbean Development
Bank (CDB) and the Organization of
American States (OAS), it embarked on
a mission to create strategies that, once
implemented, would safeguard the borders
and seaports within the region.
The initiative was completed in October
this year, and will
be handed over the
draft National and
Regional Maritime
Security Strategies,
which will provide the foundation for
strengthening the security of the maritime
commons among Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Commonwealth of
Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts
and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The RSS said while the strategy will
aid on tackling transnational organized
crime within the sub-regional bloc, “It
will also support the development of
the blue economy with the aim to boost
economic growth and employment. “
DOMINICA
Dominica recently celebrated its
43rd anniversary of political independence
from Britain overshadowed by the
COVID-19 pandemic
that Prime Minister
Roosevelt says has
caused the contraction
of economies across
the globe, including within the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM).
“Dominica has not escaped its effects.
Those impacts have been magnified by
the fact we are still recovering from the
worst storm in our history. This period
for us therefore been marked by large,
unexplained expenditures to control
the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,”
he told the nation when he delivered
his Independence Address during the
National Day observance ceremony at
the State House Conference Centre in
the capital.
Continued on Page 28
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