CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua Prime Minister, Gaston
Browne says that conditions are going
to be put in place for the cash-strapped
regional airline, LIAT to return to the
skies next month.
But Minister of Information, Melford
Nicholas told reporters that he would
not want to give a specific date as to
when the airline, in which the Barbados
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines government
have agreed
to sell their shares, will
resume operations.
Apart from Antigua
and Barbuda, the other
major shareholder government
of the Antigua-based airline, is
Dominica.
Nicholas said it augurs well for LIAT
that the travel bubble will be in place
and that people will be able to move
with a degree of freedom within the
region.
Earlier this year, Antigua and Barbuda
unveiled a new plan for the airline,
with the government proposing
re-investment of EC$108 million and
indicating that under the new plan it is
prepared to underwrite up to 50 percent
of the required capitalization.
The airline has suspended its commercial
operations since March after
many Caribbean islands shut down
their airports as part of measures to
curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Barbados
Six Caribbean countries have been
deemed as safe for citizens of the United
States to travel.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC),
the countries that have no travel notice
against them are
Anguilla, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts
and Nevis, Dominica
and St. Lucia as the
likelihood of contracting Covid-19 in
these countries is “very low.”
However, the CDC has listed as Level
3 the British Virgin Islands, Antigua
and Barbuda, Barbados, Guadeloupe,
Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Martin,
Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos
Islands and the US Virgin Islands.
The CDC says Level 3 means that the
likelihood of contracting the virus is
“high, very high.”
For these countries, the CDC urges
travelers to “avoid” and consider postponing
non-essential travel.
Due to the pandemic, almost all
countries have been placed on the
CDC’s COVID-19 Travel Recommendations
by Destination.
Caribbean
The 15-member Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) grouping has condemned
Caribbean L 4 ife, October 23-29, 2020
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Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne attends a signing ceremony with his China’s Premier Li Keqiang (not pictured)
at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing August 26, 2014. REUTERS / Diego Azubel / Pool, File
the latest European Union (EU)
blacklisting saying it is arbitrary and
non-transparent strategy employed by
the EU.
In a statement CARICOM said: “The
most recent inclusion of CARICOM
states to the blacklist of alleged noncooperative
tax jurisdictions and jurisdictions
identified as being deficient
in the area of Anti-Money Laundering/
Countering the Financing of Terrorism
(AML/CFT),
underscores the EU’s
unwillingness to take
into account the substantial
progress made
by CARICOM Member
States at compliance with global standards.”
Barbados, The Bahamas and Trinidad
and Tobago have been included in
the latest EU list of 22 countries that
have currently been identified as highrisk
third countries for money laundering
and terrorist financing. The list was
released on Oct. 1, 2020.
The EU said in a statement that
these countries are identified as having
strategic deficiencies in their national
anti-money laundering and counter-financing
of terrorism regimes that pose
significant threats to the EU’s financial
system.
In its statement, CARICOM said that
along with the unprecedented task of
staging a post COVID-19 economic
recovery, “these CARICOM countries
now have the added burden of being
subjected to the EU’s discriminatory
tactics disguised as tax policy and governance.”
Grenada
The Grenada government said it will
stage public consultations as part of
efforts to determine the changes needed
to the national laws and international
treaties regarding the decriminalization
of marijuana.
Minister of Agriculture,
Peter David, who
recently assumed his
new post told reporters
the Keith Mitchell
government must
consult with various stakeholders and
he heads a three-member committee
in accordance with the 2018 Regional
Marijuana Commission report.
He said the government is looking
at the models outside and in the region
where the issue of cannabis has been
dealt with.
David said persons must be aware the
2018 survey findings, which revealed 30
percent of Grenadians are for full legislation
while 31 percent favored partial
decriminalization.
Jamaica
Jamaica has recorded three more
deaths as Oct. 18, bringing the total to
171 so far for this month from the coronavirus
(COVID-19).
Health officials said that there were
95 new cases of the virus in the last 48
hours, pushing the total to 8,274.
The recent deaths range from 30
years old to 73 years. The Ministry of
Health and Wellness
said these new deaths
are under investigation.
The new cases
included 46 females with ages ranging
from one year to 96 years.
The ministry said the total number
of tests conducted since February is
27,773. There are now 15 people in isolation
and recoveries increased to 186.
Barbados has so far recorded 222
cases with seven deaths. Guyana now
has 3,734 positive cases after 74 new
cases were recorded last week. There
are 109 deaths, according to health
authorities as of October 18.
In The Bahamas, the Ministry of
Health confirmed 75 additional cases,
bringing the total so far to 5,628 with
116 deaths recorded.
St. Lucia
Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Allen
Chastanet has defended his govern-
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THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Antigua PM plans LIAT’s return
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