CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
The Antigua-based regional airline,
LIAT, said it is extending the suspension
of its passenger services to May
31, blaming the current border closures
and travel restrictions within the
regional network.
LIAT’s Chief Executive
Officer, Julie
Reifer-Jones said the
cash-strapped airline
continues to monitor
the efforts to contain the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic and that the
further extension is necessary at this
time.
She said while there are ongoing
discussions about the re-opening of
borders, no firm date has been set to
facilitate regional travel as yet, noting
that this essentially meant that passengers
were unable to travel across the
LIAT network of 15 destinations.
LIAT, whose major shareholders are
the governments of Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said
passengers booked during the extended
period of suspension will automatically
have their bookings canceled and will
receive full credit to rebook as soon as
the airline announces the resumption
of passenger services.
LIAT acknowledged that the situation
is an extremely challenging for its
employees and stakeholders across the
region.
Reifer-Jones said that while the airline
is operating with a skeletal staff,
it continues to offer charter and cargo
services.
Barbados
Homicides in Barbados have dropped
by 50 percent, compared to the same
period last year, which the police said
was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police Public Relations
Officer, acting
Inspector Rodney
Innis said that Barbados
recorded its 15th
homicide for the year 2020.
Last week a triple murder pushed
the island’s statistics to 15. The three
people died in a home invasion at River
Land in St. Phillip. They were identified
as a 42-year-old mother, Daile Sutton
and her 24-year-old son, Keno Sutton,
and 23-year-old Kyle Parris, who was
found dead a short distance away when
police arrived at the home and made
the discoveries.
May 2019 started with fatal shootings.
On May 5, 2019, a fatal shooting
incident occurred in a housing
area along County Road, St. Michael,
a 45-year-old father of four — three of
whom under the age four years, died in
that robbery.
Caribbean L 4 ife, May 22-28, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Groundcrew prepare a Liat airlines ATR 42-600 plane on the tarmac at Barbados’ Grantley Adams International
Airport in Barbados, March 18, 2019. REUTERS / Phil Noble
Though 2020’s rate is down from last
year but, this year’s homicide rate still
surpasses the figures for 2017 and 2018
by this same time.
Caribbean
Experts at the University of the West
Indies (UWI) are urging Caribbean
countries to invest more in ensuring
regional food security in light of the
US$6 billion food importation bill.
Dr. Wayne Ganpat,
dean of the Faculty
of Food and Agriculture
(FFA) at UWI, St.
Augustine, Trinidad,
said COVID-19 has dealt a blow to
the economy of Caribbean countries
dependent on tourism and oil.
He noted that international travel
has come to a standstill and oil prices
have been experiencing a free-fall in the
face of decreasing demand.
Ganpat warns the region to look
beyond the surface of economic loss,
and questioned the Caribbean’s current
and future ability to maintain a US$6
billion food import bill.
He was speaking during an online
seminar hosted by the faculty recently
to explore the effects of covid-19 on
regional food and nutrition security.
The dean said the region’s dependency
on the US, China and Europe for
more than 80 percent of its food supply
must change as COVID-19 threatens
the region’s food security.
The UWI lecturer is calling on the
region to strengthen food security and
to make investments in growing its
own food to ensure food security is not
dependent on external countries and
reduce the food import bill.
Guyana
Guyana’s March 2 general election
continues to be marred with controversy
as there are fresh calls for international
observers to monitor the recount
process has been made by United States
politicians.
Senators from both
the Republican and
Democrat parties
have called on Guyana’s
President David
Granger to allow international observers
from the Carter Center and the
International Republican Institute (IRI)
to return to Guyana to observe the
ongoing national recount.
In a letter dated May 12, 2020, US
Senators Marco Rubio, Benjamin L Cardin,
James Risch, Robert Menendez and
Tim Kaine stated as “friends of Guyana”
they are closely monitoring the recount
and support that it be conducted in a
free, fair and transparent manner.
They stated that a crucial part of the
process is that credible international
observers be allowed to return to Guyana
and be given free and unfettered
access to all aspects of the recount in
order to confirm the integrity of the
process.
The senators noted that Guyana has
closed its international borders as part
of efforts to address COVID-19.
However, they expressed hope that
the president will consider that international
observers an essential step
to strengthening the credibility of the
recount.
Recently, another group of United
States politicians issued a release also
calling for observers to be allowed to
return.
Grenada
The Grenada government says several
stranded nationals employed on a
number of cruise ships that are presently
not sailing because of the COVID-
19 pandemic, will be returning home
later this month.
Minister of Tourism,
Clarice Modeste
confirmed that they
will be returning this
month.
The Grenadians will be arriving on
board a cruise ship whose sole purpose
is to drop off workers at their home port
destinations in this region.
Modeste, who is a medical practitioner,
said she fully understands that the science
for COVID-19 is continuously evolving
and as a result all returning nationals on
the ship will be tested and quarantined for
14 days in keeping with the World Health
Organization (WHO) protocols.
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Challenging times for LIAT
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