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Caribbean Life, March 24-30, 2022
CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
BAHAMAS
A cultural explosion greeted the “Wonder
of the Seas” — the world’s largest cruise
ship — when it made its maiden voyage to
The Bahamas on March 9, 2022.
On hand to greet the thousand of passengers
were high -ranking government
officials, including deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Tourism, Investments and
Aviation Christopher Cooper who said at
a ceremony at the Nassau
Port, The Bahamas
being part of a call for
the Wonder of the Seas
should translate into an
economic boost for the economy.
He said among the 300 destinations,
The Bahamas remains Royal Caribbean’s
most popular port of call for passengers
“calling on port of Nassau will undoubtedly
reach historic occupancy levels that should
translate into an economic boost to the
economy.”
Mrs Marie Davis, wife of the Prime Minister
Phillip Davis and Minister of Finance
Phillip David and Royal Caribbean executives
also attended the event.
The Wonder of the Seas has a passenger
capacity of more than 5,000 and a crew of
2,300.
BARBADOS
The Barbados government has re-introduced
the payment of a stipend to student
nurses after nearly eight years of its cessation.
Minister of Health and
Wellness, Ian Gooding-
Edghill said this move
will benefit 273 nurses to
the tune of approximately
two million dollars annually.
He said the change in policy is expected
to give added incentive to Barbadian to join
the nursing profession and help to reduce
the current nursing shortage.
In addition, the minister, said the government
has set out clear criteria by which
student nurses will qualify for payment of
the financial stipend.
The Barbados Nurses Association (BNA)
said the announcement by the Mia Mottley
government was a step in the right direction.
The BNA said it has been advocating for
the return of the stipend from the time of
the suspension.
The health minister said the stipend will
only be provided for the duration of the
four-year program and that the nursing
profession in Barbados continues to face
shortages across all government institutions.
He said that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital
has recruited 95 nurses from Ghana to
assist with the shortage.
The Bahamas welcomes Wonder of the Seas
In addition, 111 Cuban nurses were
recruited to assist the government in its
COVID-19 response.
Gooding-Edghill said first year nursing
students will be paid a stipend of
BDS$458.89 per month, second year
BDS$578.53, third year, BDS$698.16 and
fourth year, BDS $798.16.
CARIBBEAN
The University of the West Indies (UWI)
has won a gold international award for its
branding and marketing at the International
AVA Digital Awards
competition recently.
The award was administered
and judged by the
Association of Marketing
and Communications
Professionals (AMCP). The UWI brand was
named on the 2022 winners list among global
brands like Virgin, Dell and the Black
Entertainment Network (BET).
In a statement, UWI’s Vice-chancellor,
Prof Hilary Beckles said, “This international
award for excellence in digital creativity,
branding and strategy comes as a high
point that cements the Caribbean’s topranked
university’s progress in nurturing a
single, global brand consciousness.”
The statement said the redesign of the
UWI website was part of a system-wide initiative
to align the university’s digital communication
assets with that of a modern
global academy.
Beckles said the UWI has remained
focused on its core business and has shown
considerable resilience and commitment to
its principles and purpose.
He said competing against global brands
shows the distance the university has
traveled and grown in recent years.
GRENADA
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
says Grenada’s strong fiscal and public
health response to the COVID-19 pandemic
has not only helped to contain the
spread of the virus and
protect lives and livelihoods
but also paved the
way for a gradual recovery
.“
The economy is
recovering… Real GDP is projected to
expand by 4.3 percent in 2022,” the Washington
based financial institution said in
a statement issued recently following the
Article IV consultation in Grenada.
The IMF noted that while the government’s
early lockdown in 2020 contained
the number of COVID-19 cases, the impact
on Grenada’s tourism-dependent economy
was severe, with real GDP (gross domestic
product) shrinking by 14 percent in 2020
as tourism-related activities collasped and
in-person classes at St. George’s University
were suspended.
“Real GDP is estimated to have expanded
by 5.6 percent in 2021. Stay-over tourist
arrivals picked up strongly in the last
months of 2021 but remained at only 25
percent of pre-crisis levels for the year as
a whole. Construction and agriculture did,
though, rebound faster,” the IMF said.
However, the Fund noted that risks
to the outlook are significant. It said the
main risk is a more prolonged pandemic,
with implications for tourism and offshore
education.
“Higher food and oil prices and prolonged
chain disruption could lead to further
increases in inflation,” it said.
The IMF added that continuing to
provide fiscal support in 2022 will help
strengthen the recovery and lessen the
burden of the pandemic on vulnerable
households.
TH E N EWS FROM BACK HOME
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlife.com
A rendering of Wonder of the Seas cruise ship. www.royalcaribbean.com
Continued on Page 16
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