CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister
Gaston Browne is moving to form a
new entity to replace the beleaguered,
regional airline, LIAT.
He recently announced plans to liquidate
the regional carrier saying a
meeting with shareholders will be held
shortly.
Browne said COVID-19 would have
actually increased the losses exponentially,
whereas in all of 2019 LIAT
made a loss of about EC$12 million
that was within the
means of the shareholder
governments
to subsidize.
He noted that
since COVID-19 the planes have been
grounded, and they have to pay the
lease payments and they are not getting
any revenue.
Browne told a local radio station in
St. John, Antigua that the region cannot
move forward without a form of
connectivity and “you cannot have an
integration movement of people cannot
connect”.
He said LIAT only owns three planes
and those planes are charged to the
Caribbean Development Bank.
According to the Prime Minister, the
new carrier will be much leaner that
the current LIAT, which employs hundreds
throughout the region and there
will be significant job losses.
He also said the new entity will
retain the name LIAT.
Leeward Island Air Transport was
established in 1956 in Montserrat.
In 1971 Court Line Aviation of the
UK acquired control and renamed the
airline LIAT and in 1974, ownership of
the airline was acquired by 11 Caribbean
governments and it was then
renamed LIAT 1974 Limited.
Guyana
The Organization of American States
(OAS) says Guyana must respect the
recount of the national elections which
is the “only democratic
solution.”
The Washingtonbased
body noted that
“the chief elections
officer of Guyana, in direct opposition
to the instructions of the chair of
the Guyana Elections Commission has
submitted a final report which includes
data compiled prior to the national
recount, data which had already been
deemed to be questionable.
It said there can be no justification
for this action.
“As intimated in our statement of
July 10, this confirms that the chief
elections officer is acting in bad faith
and contrary to the interest of democracy
in Guyana,” the OAS said.
“It is past time that the current
Caribbean L 4 ife, JULY 24-30, 2020
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Worshipers attend Mass at the Cathedral of Port-au-Prince, marking the reopening of places of worship since
the beginning in March of the COVID-19 lockdown, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, July 12, 2020. By order of
President Jovenel Moise and the recommendation of Haiti’s health authorities, churches reopened after having
been closed for months due to social distancing rules to curb the spread of the pandemic.
leaders of Guyana comply with their
democratic responsibilities and allow
the newly electoral government to take
pace,” the organization said.
The OAS said in a statement that
the decision of the Caribbean Court
of Justice on July 8, 2020 confirmed
that the Guyana Elections Commission
(GECOM) has the final authority
to declare these elections and that the
chief elections officer is required is
required to comply with the Government’s
directives in this regard.
But Guyana’s Attorney
General and Minister
of Legal Affairs,
Basil Williams said
the GECOM chairman
cannot direct Chief
Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield
what to include in his report to the
commission regarding the disputed
March 2 regional and general election.
Jamaica
The Jamaica government has spent
J$3.8 billion on measures aimed at
curbing the spread of the coronavirus
(COVID-19).
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr.
Christopher Tufton told the House of
Representatives during the 2020/20121
sectoral debate that a total of just
under J$6 billion has to date being
budgeted for the Ministry of Health
and Wellness for its response efforts.
He said this included the provision
of some J$777 million in financial support
to the health authorities to help
meet the needs associated with the
response efforts.
Dr Tufton told legislators J$89 million
has been spent on infrastructural
upgrades, including equipping hospitals
with an additional 63 intensive
care and high-dependency units.
In addition, an estimated J$1.7 billion
has been spent on the provision
of medical equipment such as personal
protective gear and COVID-19
test kits.
Jamaica has so far recorded 745
cases of the virus and ten deaths since
the pandemic was first detected.
Haiti
COVID-19 positive cases continue
to rise in the impoverished Caribbean
country, Haiti.
The Ministry of Public Health said
up to a week ago, Haiti had reached
more than 7,000 cases with 146 deaths
so far.
The ministry said
the deaths occurred
in the south-east of
the country, bringing
the total there to 120
since the first cases of the virus was
detected on March 19.
It said the number of imported cases
is 106, noting that the number of community
cases stood at 389 while the
number of active cases is 4,335.
Associated Press / Dieu Nalio Chery, File
The Public Health Ministry said the
number of suspected cases investigated
since March 19 is just over 14,000
cases.
St. Lucia
A COVID-19 pre-screening tent is
being set up at the Hewanorra International
Airport in Vieux Fort as St.
Lucia prepares to activate its new and
updated travel protocols.
Prime Minister
Allen Chastanet made
the disclosure via his
official Facebook page
recently.
He said the objective for adding this
facility is to assist airport security and
health officials with improving the
management and enforcement of the
new protocols for visitors coming into
the country.
The government said in a July 2
release that travelers will be required
to obtain a negative polymerized chain
reaction test within seven days of travel
unless they are arriving from countries
in the “Travel Bubble” designated
by the government of St. Lucia.
Visitors traveling only from destinations
that have zero or a low instance
of COVID-19 cases will be exempt from
the seven-day pre-testing requirement.
Visitors from several Caribbean
countries with a travel history from
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THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Haiti sees rise in COVID-19 cases
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