CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
A high court judge in Antigua has
jailed a former senior pilot with Caribbean
Helicopters, Colin Murraine, to
five years in prison for possession of a
controlled drug, nine years for possession
with intent to supply and two years
for attempted exportation of a controlled
drug.
He was found guilty
of the charges last
month and the sentences
were handed
down last week by Justice
Stanly John.
However, Justice John ruled that the
sentences would run currently and also
fined him EC$300,000 which if not paid
would result in a further year in jail.
Murraine was among four people
detained by the Office of National Drug
and Money Laundering Control Policy
(ONDCP) on February 2, 2018 on a private
aircraft that was preparing to take
off from VC Bird International Airport.
A police statement then noted that
the other persons, including two foreign
pilots, were released and that the
aircraft, on which an estimated 105
pounds of cocaine valued EC$1.7 million
had been seized, remained in custody
as part of the ongoing investigation.
Barbados
Tourism and International Transport
Minister, Kerrie Symmonds said the
cruise ship industry could rebound to
its benefit in the months ahead after
COVID-19.
He said the government
demonstrated
commitment to cruise
ships home, porting in
Barbados’ waters amid
the coronavirus.
Symmonds said the country’s
humanitarian approach to the issue
was already seeing positive results with
the possibility of a Southern Caribbean
Cruise Alliance allowing for a cruise
itinerary in the summer being on the
cards for Barbados.
Several cruise ships are have been
anchoring in Barbados’ waters after the
International Cruise Ship Association
suspended all cruises for a one-month
period in the first instance.
Passengers on board the cruise ships
were repatriated back to their countries,
while efforts are still ongoing to
do the same for some crew members
who remain on the island.
“I don’t think that there have been
any negatives for Barbados, in terms of
our relationships for partnering with
the cruise lines as we did. The fact of
the matter is that, first of all, we honored
contracts that we had to honor
internationally,” he said.
Caribbean L 4 ife, April 3-9, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Members of the CARICOM delegation to the Special COTED Meeting on agriculture that was conducted via
video conference anchored at the CARICOM Secretariat. CARICOM
Guyana
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
agriculture ministers have warned that
while there are adequate food supplies
in the region now, Caribbean countries
should stimulate local production to
meet future demands.
A CARICOM statement
said this is one
of the recommendations
contained in a
framework document
the ministers have accepted in principle
to deal with the availability and accessibility
of food in CARICOM , in light of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
It said ministers and other stakeholders
met in a special session of the
Council for Trade and Economic Development
(COTED) recently via video
conferencing to consider the impact the
pandemic was likely to have on food and
nutrition security in the region.
Belize Minister of Food and Agriculture,
Godwin Hulse who chaired the
meeting said food security response was
fundamental, given the uncertainty of
the pandemic.
CARICOM Assistant Secretary General,
Trade and Economic Integration,
Joseph Cox said as the global community
continued to grapple with the impact
of the virus, recognition had to be
given to the fact that the community’s
approach had to be more different.
Jamaica
Jamaica police have recorded 16
murders during a 48-hours period a
week ago.
Among the spate of
murders the police are
investigating were the
killing of 57-year-old
Dalton Shippy, who
was allegedly bludgeoned to death by
his brother, in Hanover, a parish on the
north western tip of the island, and Dalmory
Christie, 22, who was fatally shot
in St. Catherine, southeast of the capital,
Kingston, allegedly by his uncle.
The day before, Demar Gordon, 33,
was fatally shot in the Lime Tree Crescent
area of Flanker in what is believed
to be reprisal killing, while three people
were killed in separate incidents in the
St. Andrew police division. The killings
included a triple murder in South St
Andrew where a state of emergency is
in effect.
Figures released by the police show
that from Jan. 1, to March 2020 this
year, at least 306 people were killed
across Jamaica- a two percent increase
over the similar period last year.
St. Lucia
Governor General, Sir Neville Cennac
has declared a state of emergency
in St. Lucia saying the he is “satisfied
that a public emergency has risen” as a
result of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The government had earlier
announced the closure of the island’s
two airports “to all incoming commercial
and private flights effective midnight
on March 23, 2020.
It said that measure
is part of the efforts
to contain the spread
or importation of new
cases of COVID-19.
The government had already closed
schools, imposed travel restrictions and
scaled back non-essential services in an
effort to contain the disease.
The announcement by Sir Neville
comes as chief medical officer Dr
Sharon Belma-George announced the
island’s third case of the virus.
Trinidad
From Sunday midnight (March 29)
citizens of T&T are ordered to stay at
home until April 15, 2020.
This was the warning
Prime Minister, Dr.
Keith Rowley issued
on Thursday at a press
conference at the Diplomatic
Center, Port of Spain as he
announced stringent measures to contain
the spread of the coronavirus.
He said; “unless you are deemed to be
involved in essential operations of the
country you are to separate, isolate and
quarantine.”
There has been one death so far that
of a 77-year-old Trinidad-born American
citizen, Hansley “Hanny” Leon of
Continued on Page 16
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
CARICOM agricultural ministers meet
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