CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
The Antigua and Barbuda Chamber
of Commerce is urging the government
for more consultation on fixed
line services on the Telecommunications
Bill 2021.
In a statement, the private sector
group said it has learnt that the bill
had its first reading in Parliament
recently.
It said it had acknowledged that
over the last 15 years,
under various administrations,
there have
been several attempts
to reform the current
1951 Telecommunications
Act, “which everyone accepts
and recognizes is outmoded and in
adequate for this modern era.”
It added that any new Telecommunications
Act will no doubt “significantly
impact the way we all do business,
access educational materials, communicate
with friends and families and
impact on even how internet services
are provided and consumed.”“The bill
raises more questions than answers,”
it said.
BAHAMAS
The Bahamas government says it
will now pay later this month the
honorarium and death benefits to a
limited number of frontline nurses,
physicians and medical service workers
involved in the first wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement from the Ministry of
Health said the payment will be for the
frontline workers during the period
March 15 to June 19, 2020.
During his budget presentation
Minister of Health, Renward Wells said
approval was given for
the payout of US$1.04
million of frontline
workers.
Wells said that during
the first wave of COVID-19, these
frontline health care workers initially
stepped forward “when others were
somewhat tepid and hesitant.”
Wells also advised that the government
had approved in the 2021/2022
budget an additional $3 million in
honorarium to compensate other
health care workers “who later joined
in the fight.”
Originally, no date was indicated
as to when the honorarium would be
paid.
He said the Ministry of Health was
moving to complete the task by the
end of this month.
BARBADOS
The Barbados government has
called on the Joe Biden administration
in the United States to end the
embargo on the island of Cuba, stating
Caribbean L 4 ife, AUGUST 13-19, 2021
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Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Jerome Walcott. www.foreign.gov.bb
that to bring it to an end is the “morally
right” thing to do.
In a statement recently, Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade,
Dr. Jerome Walcott said the time has
come for the United States to show
leadership.
He said all the embargo has achieved
is an unjustified punishment of Cuba
and unleashed a series of painful outcomes
for its people.
The minister noted
that the embargo
has not succeeded
in isolating Cuba
from right-thinking
nations in the international
community.
The statement said Barbados and
other members of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) have repeatedly
raised their voices in unison at
the United Nations, Organization of
American States and other international
fora, calling for and end to the
embargo.
Dr. Walcott added that almost half
a century ago, the first four independent
CARICOM member states took the
decision to establish relations with
Cuba.
“Since then, our community has
enjoyed several years of strong friendships,
in some cases family ties and
mutually respectful interactions with
the Government and people of Cuba,”
he said.
The minister noted that over the
last year alone, no less than 14 Cuban
medical teams traveled across the Caribbean
and played invaluable roles in
helping to combat and control the
COVID19 pandemic.
DOMINICA
The Dominica government has
announced that it will temporarily
suspend the importation of several
products, including aerated waters, as
well as wheat or meslin
flour, brought into
the country from the
more developed countries
of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM).
Dominica’s Ministry of Trade, Commerce
and Export Development, said
the measure, which took effect on
Aug. 3, will also ban the importation
of these products from outside the
region.
The ministry said that the decision
to temporarily suspend the importation
of the goods had been taken
under the community origin treatment
on imports, which means the
access accorded to goods which are
of community origin to the markets
of member states without the application
of import duties or quantitative
restrictions.
GUYANA
Starting from July 31, the Guyana
government announced a series of
new measures aimed at curbing the
spread of COVID-19, including unvaccinated
people now being required
to make an appointment to visit and
transact business at
any government ministry
or agency.
Minister of Health,
Dr. Frank Anthony is
also encouraging the public to make
use of the 100 fixed vaccination sites
to inoculate themselves against the
virus.but the cites are underutilized
became people are not coming.
He said an average of 3,000 people
are being vaccinated every day
and Guyana has many more strides
to make before it reaches herd community.
The government said the new regulations
go into effect from Aug. 1.
Among the new regulations are
every operator and conductor of any
transportation service shall be vaccinated
and have in their possession an
official identification document and
their vaccination card. The operators
and conductors will also be responsible
for ensuring their passengers wear
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