Caribbean RoundUp

Antigua and Barbuda

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said that the Antigua-based LIAT 2020 had received its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), but criticized the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for further delaying the airline’s return to the regional skies.

The LIAT 2020 airline is being formed in partnership with Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline, which will be investing close to US$65 million, while the government is investing US$20 million, as previously stated by Browne.

Earlier this year, the Antigua and Barbuda government said it would pay US$12.1 million into an Escrow account for the acquisition of other planes owned by the CDB as efforts continue to launch LIAT (2020).

The government has already made an offer to purchase the three aircraft owned by the CDB, which had been used by the inter-regional airline, LIAT (1974), which is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“I am pleased to announce that LIAT 2020 has received its air operating certificates, but you would not believe what the hold-up is now,” Browne said.

Browne told radio listeners that the sales agreement “had apparently been amended and I have been messaging the acting (CDB) President Isaac Solomon and up to this day” he has not received any response from the bank.

Browne said he was hoping that the situation would not be delayed further and would be able to get the sales agreement situation rectified soon.

Caribbean

A call has been made for Africa and the Caribbean to forge a free trade agreement by executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Pamela Coke-Hamilton at the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in, Nassau, Bahamas recently. She also noted that both regions had such an agreement in place with the European Union.

She said, “Trade agreements are one way to help bring down barriers and new opportunities. We already have useful precedents that show us what works and what doesn’t. And what can be improved, such as the economic partnership agreements both regions have with the EU and why we need to come together to understand what an African Caribbean Treaty Framework would look like.”

She added, “I’d like to posit that if a region as small as the Caribbean can negotiate in a reciprocal free trade agreement with Europe, then why should we not be able to do one with Africa?”

She pointed out that both regions had resources which could help with challenges such as supply chain disruptions or food insecurity as well as several other issues experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for the past decade, trade between the regions has not improved but rather seen a downward trend.

She continued, that the road ahead of the two regions is long if they are going to actually achieve that potential in practice. Achieving trade of US$1.8 billion means getting rid of trade frictions and getting investments into the right sectors.

The forum is being held in the Caribbean for the first time, and Central Bank Governor for the Bahamas John Rolle said it was timely given the Caribbean economic recovery and growth post-pandemic, which still faces major threats to climate change.

Grenada

The Grenada government recently said that it is expected to pursue civil and criminal proceedings against a former government minister whose telephone bill were more than EC$100,000 from July 2016 to July 2019.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Claudette Joseph told a news conference that the matter against Sheldon Scott, who served as a senator from 2013 to 2016, is being pursued because he failed to stop using a mobile telephone that was issued to him as Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister following the 2013 general elections.

“On demitting office, without authorisation or permission, and in breach of the conditions under which the mobile phone was issued, Scott retained it and unlawfully used it for his personal or other purposes. “During such unauthorised use, the government continued to pay the service provider, Digicel, for all charges incurred. This state of affairs continued until July 2019, when the matter was brought to the public domain,” Joseph told reporters.

That matter came into the public domain after Kem Jones, a political talk show host who is known to be associated with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), said on his radio program in 2019 that the number used by Scott showed that for the months of April to June 2019, he incurred almost EC$70,000 in charges.

An investigation conducted by the telecommunications providers publicly stated that the leak of the government associate’s bill did not originate from within the operations of Digicel Grenada Ltd.

In a statement after the scandal broke out, Scott accepted full liability and responsibility for all charges incurred on the number assigned to him and promised to repay the money. However, Joseph told reporters recently that no payment was made to the government.

Scott was served with a pre-action protocol letter giving him seven days to work out a formula for a 90-day repayment plan.

Guyana

The Bank of Guyana has revoked the cambio licence held by the Mohamed family, after two family members were sanctioned by the United States for their roles in public corruption in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

“Members of the public are hereby advised of the revocation of the licence of Confidential Cambio situated at Lot 29 Lombard Street Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown in accordance with the Dealers in Foreign Currency (Licensing) Act 1989. As a consequence, the entity is no longer authorised to conduct the business of buying and selling of foreign currency,” the notice stated.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it in addition to imposing the sanctions on Nazar Mohamed, his son, Azruddin Mohamed and their company Mohamed Enterprises, two other entities, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing Team, for being owned or controlled by Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, respectively were also included.

Guyana Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed that the cambio licence would be cancelled and said that the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Bank of Guyana would be conducting an assessment of the implications of the United States’ sanctions on Guyana’s financial sector.

Jagdeo also dismissed suggestions that the Irfaan Ali government was protecting the Mohameds.

‘We are neither witch-hunting the Mohameds nor are we protecting the Mohameds,” he said, adding that the Mohameds have a right to due process under the law and could also ask the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to be removed from the list.

Haiti

Haiti’s transitional council appointed a new Cabinet, marking the final step in rebuilding the government that will now lead a country under siege by gangs.

Government spokeswoman Kettia Marcellus confirmed the existence of the new Cabinet and its ministers to the Associated Press.

Carlos Hercules, the attorney for Prime Minister Garry Conille, was appointed as minister of justice and public security. Conille himself will be interior minister. Jean Marc Berthier Antoine will be defence minister.

As gangs controls at least 80 percent of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the country is preparing for the UN-backed deployment of a police force from Kenya expected in the coming weeks.

More than 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of the year and more than half a million others were displaced. Co-ordinated attacks by gangs forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign and his Cabinet was dissolved. Gunmen took control of police stations, opened fire on the main international airport and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons.

Conille has pledged to crack down on the violence.

Dominique Dupuy, a UNESCO ambassador who was once a member of the transitional council will be foreign affairs minister. Others in the new Cabinet include Ketleen Florestal, minister of economy and finance. Antoine Augustin will be the minister for education.

However, it was not made clear when the new Cabinet would be sworn in.

St. Lucia

St. Lucia is reporting a significant increase in cases of people suffering from gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines typically caused by viral, bacterial or parasitic infections.

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs said that the cases were being presented to healthcare facilities throughout the island and that so far this year, over 700 cases of gastroenteritis have been recorded.

It said that this is a 30 percent increase as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Gastroenteritis is often characterised by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, and fever.

Authorities said that several factors may be contributing to the rise in gastroenteritis cases.

“We observe that the symptomatology and ease of resolution of the symptoms of the affected cases suggests a viral cause of the gastroenteritis. The Ministry of Health is working towards identifying the exact causative agents for this outbreak and encourages persons to submit stool samples for testing.”

The ministry also said that consuming contaminated food or water can spread gastrointestinal infections, especially in settings with poor hygiene or sanitation practices. This can be further compounded by inadequate water supply.

It also warned that close contact with infected individuals or exposure to contaminated surfaces could facilitate the transmission of gastroenteritis within the community and house- holds.

— Compiled by Devika Ragoonanan