CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has
said he has no problem being the first
person in Antigua and Barbuda to take
the vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-
19) as other regional countries are
recording more positive cases of the
virus.
Recently, United States-based drug
manufacturer, Pfizer, announced that
its coronavirus vaccine was more than
90 percent effective
in preventing COVID-
19 and, while precise
details are not clear, it
appeared unlikely that
many people would
not be vaccinated until 2021.
There are several people both in
the Caribbean and in the US who are
against any form of vaccination.
The prime minister said he will avail
himself as the first recipient of the vaccine
in order to encourage Antiguans
and Barbudans to do likewise.
Barbados
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley
is expected to address a two-day virtual
Caribbean Conference on Corruption,
Compliance and Cybercrime that will
begin this week,
The Barbados-based Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) will host the
conference.
The World Bank Group and the
organizers said it will allow leaders
from across the world to share and
discuss new challenges and solutions
for corruption, compliance, and cybercrime
in the Caribbean.
They said the speakers will include
experienced global anti-corruption
practitioners, anti-money laundering
specialists, cybercrime
professionals,
development bankers,
policy makers, regulators
law enforcement
personnel, academics, private sector
representatives and civil society.
Apart from Prime Minister Mottley,
the conference will also be addressed
by CDB President, Dr. William Warren
Smith, the Vice President of the World
Bank Group, Mouhamadou Diagne and
Dr. Toussant Boyce, who heads the
Office of the Integrity Compliance and
Accountability at the CDB.
Bahamas
Bahamas deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Finance, Peter Turnquest
has resigned from the Dr. Herbert Minnis
led administration.
Turnquest, in a letter to the prime
minister said he was stepping down
as deputy prime minister and minister
of finance in the wake of what he
described to be “unfounded and untrue
allegations” against him.
Caribbean Life, D 4 ecember 11-17, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis (blue shirt) and former Bahamas Deputy Prime Minister Kevin Peter Turnquest (black shirt)
during a visit to High Rock after the area was hit by Hurricane Dorian, in East Grand Bahama, Oct. 6, 2019. REUTERS/ Gabriella N.
Baez, fi le
He, however, stated he will continue
to serve as Member of Parliament for
East Grand Bahama.
The move came following a statement
of claim that was filed in the
Supreme Court recently.
According to the statement, Turnquest
and his Sky Bahamas business
partner, Captain
Randy Butler, “dishonestly
caused” Alpha
Aviation and Advanced
Aviation to “pay away”
US$20,68 million and
US$5,917 million respectively to the airline
via “some kind of bogus loans.”
The former finance minister said he
did not want a private business dispute,
which occurred prior to his taking
public office to become a distraction to
the government, or to the important
national work that lies ahead.
The prime minister said he will serve
as interim minister of finance and will
make a “substantive appointment in
due course.”
Caribbean
The Sugar Association of the Caribbean
(SAC) has reiterated its ongoing
concerns that the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) Single Market and
Economy (CSME) in undermining the
sugar industry in the
region.
The CSME allows
for the free movement
of goods, skills, services
and capital across
the 15-member regional integration
movement grouping.
In a statement, the SAC said that
despite said that despite the Council
for Trade and Economic Development
(COTED) agreement in 2019 to tighten
compliance with the Common External
Tariff (CET) and the systems that govern
it, “individual companies continue
to over-estimate their requirements
for imported extra regional, CET-free
sugar.”
The SAC, which groups national sugar
industries with competing sugar mills
and production across Jamaica, Belize
and Barbados, said that in November
last year, “COTED mandated CARICOM
to introduce a monitoring mechanism
to tighten control of sugar imports.”
Guyana
Guyana has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) for the
construction of a US$90 million 289
Hilton-room hotel in the South American
country.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and
Commerce, Oneidge Waldron, and the
Guyana Office for Investment Go-Invest
recently signed the venture that will be
situated in East Bank
Demerara.
The 289-room hotel
will include the 161-
room Hilton Garden
Inn and 128 suites. It will feature a
variety of on-site dining options, conference
facilities, a pool and 24-hour
fitness facility.
More than 25 Guyanese contractors
and suppliers are expected to be
involved in the execution of the work,
which will bring significant spin-off
benefits to hundreds of Guyanese. No
date was given as to when the project
will start.
St. Lucia
The St. Lucia government has
extended until Dec. 14, the protocols
aimed at curbing the
spread of the COVID-
19 that has killed two
persons and infected
more than 250 people.
The decision was taken following
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THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Bahamas deputy PM resigns
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