Caribbean Round-Up

Bahamas

Eighteen specialty nurses from Ghana are scheduled to arrive in The Bahamas by the end of October to help relieve a shortage as there has been an ongoing nurse shortage in the country with many frontline workers continuously complaining of exhaustion, both physically and mentally.

According to Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Michael Darville, the Ghanaian nurses will help in the fight to provide quality service in the country. “I want the Bahamian people to know that while we are recruiting, developed countries are recruiting in our country and it’s a burden that we currently face on a daily basis. We’re not alone in the Caribbean, other Caribbean colleagues and ministers of health are constantly presenting this issue of excessive recruitment in the Caribbean and The Bahamas is no exception,” said Dr. Darville.

“But for us at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, is our responsibility to do all that we need to ensure that these services are provided in the country and that requires going outside and recruiting from abroad.

“So, we look forward to the nurses coming from Ghana into the country to help us to deliver quality health care services, not only in Grand Bahama and New Providence but throughout the country.” Last month, Public Hospital Authority Managing Director, Aubynette Rolle said that officials were making various attempts to address the nursing shortage in the country. She also noted that in addition to Ghana, the government is expecting nurses from the Philippines and possibly India.

Barbados

Barbados recently urged the Caribbean to make full use of digital technology to build more robust and diversified economies that can better weather future and present global challenges.

Senior minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, William F. Duguid said Small Island Developing States (SIDS), face a myriad of challenges which necessitates that they continue to diversify their economies for sustainable growth and development that would redound to the benefit of their citizens.

“For too long we have depended on too few industries including tourism and manufacturing to sustain our economies,” he said as he delivered the feature address at the opening of  The Global Government Forum’s Caribbean Digital Summit and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) Week 2023.

Duguid said that SIDS, including Barbados, are faced with unsustainable high levels of debt which significantly constrain growth and development and that there are high levels of unemployment and underemployment in the region.

CARICOM

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and United States trade officials have agreed to further strengthen their co-operation through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as they seek to grow their economic relationship even further

Following the ninth meeting of the CARICOM-United States Trade and Investment Council (TIC), the two sides “reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral trade and economic relationship and highlighted that two-way trade and investment have recovered strongly since the pandemic.

“The delegations agreed that engagement under the TIFA is an important opportunity to grow their economic relationship even further, including by expanding and diversifying exports and growing investments,” according to a statement.

It said that during the meeting the delegations highlighted the committed of CARICOM and the United States to working together to support durable and resilient supply chains in their shared region.

The statement said the meeting also underscored the importance of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), the US trade preference programs for the region with both sides agreeing to jointly explore ways to increase utilisation of the CBI programs “and thereby expand regional trade, by exchanging data, analysis, and methodologies related to utilization of the programs.”

It said that both sides also agreed on the importance of protecting workers’ rights and reaffirmed their commitment to internationally recognized core labor standards.

Guyana

The Guyana government recently announced that it had cancelled an agreement with the Australian-headquartered mining company, Troy Resources Guyana Inc. (TRGI), one of the largest gold producers.

The Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement that the decision to cancel the license was taken in light of Troy Resources’ failure to remedy its default concerning several matters, including payment of outstanding royalties, rental fees, non-compliance with the work program, and matters relating to environmental management. The government of Guyana is committed to safeguarding the nation’s interests and ensuring that the potential benefits of the Karouni Mining Site continue to contribute to the economic growth and development of Guyana.

“The Karouni Mineral Agreement issued to Troy Resources Guyana Inc, Troy Resources Limited and Pharsalus Gold Inc., and the Mining License are now both cancelled and terminated,” the statement said.The company has not yet responded to the government’s statement, which also sought to highlight what it said were the “key facts about the cancellation of TRGI’s license and agreement.”

The statement said this was rejected for several reasons including the fact that the payment of outstanding sums were not being addressed promptly under the proposal. However, the government remained engaged with a view to have mining restarted and outstanding debts settled.

The statement said that TRGI owes the government more than GUY$2.6 billion (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) for unpaid royalties.

Jamaica

Jamaica’s Opposition Parliamentarian Phillip Paulwell is “hoping that all who were involved in the kidnapping and murder of his 10-month old daughter and her mother are brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

In a statement issued, Paulwell said nothing could have prepared him for the events that unfolded since the police charged Leoda Bradshaw, a US Navy petty officer with whom Paulwell sired an eight-year old child, along with three other men in the abduction and murder of his child and her mother, Toshyna Patterson.

“The past few weeks have been extremely difficult for me as I grappled with the abduction of my daughter and her mother,” the MP for Kingston East and Port Royal said in a statement.

“I am heartbroken that the worst has happened,” he said, adding that he “prayed unceasingly ” for their safe return.

“As a human being, father, lawyer,and legislator, I am hoping that all who were involved are brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

Paulwell said he has been in constant dialogue with the police. “I cannot comment on the investigations nor matters before the court, but I wish to thank the police for their tireless work.”

He also expressed gratitude to the “many Jamaicans” who have been generous in their prayers as well as their “kind and thoughtful expressions of love, support, and solidarity” for him and his family.

Trinidad

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has asked Canada to help CARICOM and Trinidad and Tobago combat crime, with a focus on eradicating the illegal firearms and ammunition trade and bolstering security across the region. Dr. Rowley made the request during the opening of the three-day Canada-CARICOM Summit in Ottawa, Canada.

The prime minister was leading a response to Session Three, titled “Haiti—Regional Security,” when he recounted the horrors associated with illegal firearms and bloodshed to several leaders, including Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Rowley said, “In recent times, we have seen an explosion in the use of illegal arms and ammunition on a daily basis. In fact, the data now shows that we are losing, by violent killings, about 15 people a day in the CARICOM region, nearly all of it from the use of firearms, and there is a proliferation in recent times of assault weapons, so the instance of shootings usually end up with multiple casualties and many deaths.”

He said illegal firearms in the hands of criminals had worsened the risk to national security. “Gangs have been arming themselves more efficiently and effectively, they have become better killing machines to the point now where they pose a threat to the state itself.” Dr. Rowley identified Canada’s role in improving T&T’s and the region’s border security through the acquisition of vessels.

He said if the legal responses were not adjusted, then the court would become a mockery for criminals.

— Compiled by Devika Ragoonanan