CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister,
Gaston Browne said that Barbados has
agreed to sell almost all of its shares in
the cash-strapped regional airline LIAT
to Antigua and Barbuda.
Speaking on his private radio station
recently, Browne said he had received
communication from his Barbados
counterpart Mia Mottley, indicating
that her government was willing to sell
all but 10 percent of its shares in the
Antigua-based LIAT that serves 15 Caribbean
countries.
“The intent is not
to exclude any country
from participating in
LIAT. In fact, as far as
practicable we would
want to broaden the shareholding in
Liat,” he told listeners.
Antigua and Barbuda currently holds
34 percent of the shares and if it succeeds
in convincing Barbados to part
with its shares, Antigua and Barbuda
would have 71 percent in the airline.
Browne said Mottley indicated in her
letter that they would want to retain
at least 10 percent and this certainly
would be desirable.
LIAT currently employs more than
600 people and operates 491 flights
weekly across 15 destinations. Browne
said the idea is to have many Caribbean
countries included in the ownership of
LIAT.
The other main shareholder governments
are St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
Grenada and Dominica.
Caribbean
Several Caribbean countries will
benefit as a result of two agreements
signed between the Inter-American Telecommunications
Commission (CITEL)
of the Organization of American States
(OAS), Telefonica, and Fundacion Profuturo
aimed at promoting digital inclusion
and education in the region.
The OAS said agreements form part
of the commitment made in the framework
of the TIC 2030 Alliance.
The agreement
signed with ProFuturo
is focused on digital
education in Guyana,
where 5,435 primary
school students and 449 teachers in the
country will have access to interactive
content and materials to improve their
learning experiences.
The OAS said this agreement is part
of the first edition of the program in
the Caribbean, in which it is a strategic
partner and will benefit more than
23,000 children in The Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, Guyana and Jamaica.
Guyana
A 25-year-old Ecuadorian chef, who
admitted that he had come to Guyana
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
In this May 24, 2019, photo, Barbecue, whose real name is Jimmy Cherizier, is carried by a resident in his neighborhood in Lower
Delmas, a district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He’s a former policeman, a suspect in the massacre of dozens of men, women and children
and a hero in his neighborhood, followed by crowds of adoring residents who consider him their protector. See story on Page 44.
Associated Press / Dieu Nalio Chery
with the hope of selling fake United
States visas, had been jailed for four
years for conspiracy to commit forgery
and cocaine trafficking.
Acting Chief Magistrate
Sherdel Isaacs-
Marcus presiding in
the Georgetown Magistrate’s
Court heard
that Julio Caesar-Harreira, on May
23, was intercepted by police from the
Criminal Investigation Department
with two fake US visas in his hands.
Harreira then took the police to a
house in the capital, Georgetown where
on searching the premises, a cigarette
pack containing cocaine was found.
The accused told the court that he
did know the fake visas were a serious
offence in Guyana saying he had no
intention of scamming anybody.
He also pleaded guilty to being in
possession of a quantity of cocaine. He
was sentenced to three years imprisonment
on the forgery charge and one
year in jail for possession of cocaine as
well as a Guy$20,000 fine.
Haiti
The Haitian National Police says at
least 15 underage girls were raped during
a two-month period that recently
ended.
The announcement by the police
Caribbean L 4 ife, June 14–20, 2019 BQ
came after more than 1,000 Haitians
took to the streets of the capital, Portau
Prince to denounce sexual violence
in the French-speaking CARICOM
country.
The police said that
the period March 20
to May 28, at least
22 women and girls
including 15 underage,
were raped in the capital area of
Port-au-Prince.
Jamaica
The Jamaican government has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the government of the
United Kingdom to train 13 critical care
nurses, starring from this month.
The MoU was signed
in Geneva, Switzerland
recently by Minister of
Health, Dr. Christopher
Tufton and Chief
Medical Officer of the UK and Northern
Ireland, Professor Sally Davies, at the
World Health Assembly.
Dr. Tufton said the nurses and
patients will benefit from this training
and the MoU will serve as a sign of the
bond between both countries.
He expressed his gratitude for the
collaboration.
The minister said the government
and people of Jamaica would appreciate
this initiative, which serves as a historic
moment for both countries and nurses
globally.
St. Lucia
The St. Lucia government has welcomed
the six percent decline in unemployment
for the first three months of
2019.
The Department
of Statistics noted
that unemployment
declined from 21.80
percent to 15.5 percent
over the same period last year.
It said youth unemployment for the
period January to March declined from
38.78 percent last year to 25.9 percent
this year.
Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet in a
statement described the unemployment
figures as “very encouraging” and that
his administration was looking forward
to reducing the figure given the visit of
the US-based Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC).
He said the purpose of engaging
agencies such as OPIC is to continue
to stimulate economic growth that
the government was looking forward
“to working with them to implement
projects that impact and change lives.”
Continued on Page 20
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Haitian protector or killer?
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