CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Barbados
Prime Minister Mia Mottley has extended
the lock-down of the country until the
end of month as the number of confirmed
COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to
climb.
On the same day the announcement
was made the island recorded the first
death of a healthcare worker due to the
virus.
Mottley said the period of “national
pause,” which was to
end last week, would
continue until Feb. 28.
The prime minister
said there would an estimated
loss in economic
activity of about Bds$50 million (US$75
million) as a result of the extended lockdown.
“This is not an easy decision that we’ve
had to make. The answer from the finance
and economic team is, yes, we will be hurt
by further extension, but it will not collapse
our economy,” Mottley said.
She said she also had extensive discussions
with regional and hemispheric
officials, including the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and they all agreed that
“the economic impact of the lock-down,
while rough, can be withstood by the Barbados
economy.”
Mottley said the advisers have indicated
that “we will come in at just under Bds$78
million (US$39 million) for the first part
of the lock-down, in terms of loss of economic
activity if we go for an additional
period of time-just under two weeks- then
the most that will be is probably another
Bds $75 million. So that we are potentially
looking at a loss of about Bds$150 million
in economic activity for the month
of February.”
The nursing’s assistant death brings
to 25 the number of death attributed to
COVID-19 since the first case was reported
in March 2020.
Up to last week, Barbados had recorded
2,226 confirmed cases.
Caribbean
CARICOM Secretary General, Ambassador
Irwin La Rocque has thanked Barbados
Prime Minister Mia Mottley for her
provision of COVID-19 vaccines for the
staff of the CARICOM Secretariat.
Mottley directed that 100 doses of the
batch donated to Guyana be provided
to the staff of the Secretariat based at
the headquarters of the
Community in Guyana.
The prime minister
has also made provision
for staff of the Secretariat
based in Barbados.
“It is with immense gratitude that I
welcome the prime minister’s generosity
in supplying the Secretariat with vaccines
to combat the Covid-19 pandemic,” the
secretary general said in a statement.
“This gesture underlines her support
Caribbean L 4 ife, FEB. 26-MAR. 4, 2021
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, of Barbados, addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27,
2019. The prime minister has extend the lockdown of the country due to the increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Associated
Press/Richard Drew, fi le)
for the staff of the Secretariat and concern
for their well-being. It is a further demonstration
of her unswerving commitment
to regional integration,” it said.
Mottley donated vaccines to other
member states of the Community from
a batch received from the government
of India.
Last week some staff members were
vaccinated at the Secretariat’s headquarters,
including the secretary general.
Dominica also donated to other member
states from a batch received from the
government of India.
Jamaica
The Jamaican government is moving
to modernize the country’s laws and
strengthen crime-fighting strategies
before the end of the year.
This was revealed by National Security
Minister Dr Horace Chang who said
amendments to key pieces of legislation
to strengthen crime fighting are being
programed for completion by the end of
the 2020/2021 fiscal year.
He said these include developing the
proposed new Firearms
Act; the Criminal Justice
(Suppression of
Criminal Organization)
Act, popularly called
the “anti-gang”” legislation; and regulations
for the Major Organized Crime and
Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).
Chang noted that 80 percent of homicides
in Jamaica are committed using
illegal guns adding that repealing the
existing Firearms Act and developing
its replacement “is critical in the fight
against crime.”
The minister said amendments to the
anti-gang legislation is an “ongoing activity”,
designed to “keep it relevant and
bring it into the 21st century.”
He said it is anticipated that the latest
round of engagements “should be coming
through the parliament process very
quickly”.
Chang emphasized that in the fight
against crime, violence and corruption
the supporting legislative framework
“must be strong.”
Guyana
Guyana continues to top the list of
countries in the Americas that are most
affected by cervical cancer.
According to the Ministry of Health,
while figures for the last two reporting
years are not immediately available, in
2018 there was an age-standardized incidence
rate of 32.7 per 100,000 women.
It said between 2013
and 2017, cervical cancer
was listed as the
second most frequently
diagnosed cancer in
Guyana with 523 cases or 16 percent of all
reported cases.
Based on information from the Ministry
of Health, there were 185 cervical
cancer-related deaths.
Dr. Martin Campbell of the Ministry
of Health said the highest numbers
of reported cervical cancer deaths are
among women of African and East Indian
ancestry.
Haiti
A Supreme Court and a senior police
official were among several people arrested
for their role in an alleged plot to oust
President Jovenel Moise.
According to Prime Minister Joseph
Jouthe, who described the plot as “operation
catastrophe,” judge Hiviquel Dabreizel
and Inspector General for the national
police force, Marie Louise Gauthier were
included in the 23 who were detained.
Some United States currency, guns
and ammunition were also seized during
the operation in Habitation
Petit Bois in the
Tabarre neighborhood
of the capital.
The arrests were
made after leading opposition figures
recently announced plans to replace Moise
with a new head of state.
Moise, who recently announced plans
to hold a referendum on amending the
constitution in the French-speaking
CARICOM member state, claimed the
aim of those arrested was to make an
“attempt on my life.”
Moise, who has ruled by decree since
mid-January, has stated he would not
hand over power to the winner of the elections
but would not step down until his
Continued on Page 26
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Barbados extends COVID lock down
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