Caribbean RoundUp

Canadian low cost carrier, Sunwing Airlines,  has confirmed plans to have flights between Canada and Freeport, Bahamas resume on Dec. 17.

The island’s Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Aviation said Sunwing will return to The Bahamas after a two-year absence.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investment and Aviation, Chester Cooper welcomed the resurgence of Grand Bahama as a major tourist destination

He said that the airline’s return to the Grand Bahama Island this holiday season, speak to the viability of the product.

“Airlift and stop over visitors are critical to the economy of the Grand Bahamas and this will provide a much needed boost for the economy.”

The minister of the Gran Bahama, Ginger Moxty also welcomed business back to the island after the pandemic.

Sunwing is based in Toronto and offer serve from airports across Canada to destination across the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.

Barbados is “heartened” at the upgrade given to the island by the United States, which has given CARICOM counties mixed reviews for their efforts to deal with Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

Washington in its 2022 report indicated that some of the countries did not even meet the “maximum standard for the elimination of trafficking,” but in a statement, Barbados Attorney General and Minister of Legal

Affairs, Dale Marshall said Bridgetown is heartened to learn that Barbados has been upgrade to Tier2, adding that the “upgrade represents significant work on the port of the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons.”

Marshall said that this upgrade cannot be taken for granted and the task force and government will not rest on their hands.

The government has never secured a trafficking conviction under the.Trafficking in Persons in Preventing Act (TIPPA). The anti-trafficking conviction under the Trafficking in Persons Act (TIPPA). The anti-trafficking law did not provide penalties that were commensurate with other serious crimes.

The government did not contribute for training for any officials.

CARICOM legal professionals are being urged to apply for a fellowship which offers the opportunity to learn about and apply the protection mechanics of the Inter -American Human Rights System’s in the area of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, diverse and intersex persons.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  (IACHR)  System said the Fellowship for the Rapporteurship  on the Rights of LGBTI Persons will be the period September 2022 to 2023.

The scholarship is aimed at legal professionals in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

IACHR said the successful applicant must necessary commit to work in their country of origin for the maximum of two years for the precondition and for guarantee of the human rights of the LGBTI people.

Four Jamaicans who were wanted for crimes, including murder in their homeland, were deported from the Cayman Islands recently.

According to the Cayman Islands and Border Control, one of the persons, Neville Butler, is wanted for murder.

Butler had been hiding in the Cayman Islands since July after he entered illegally by boat with another Jamaican, Rudolph Shaw.

The other two unnamed men are wanted for questioning in connection with serious offenses.

All four men were arrested in Cayman during an operation will appear in court next month.

Guyana is constructing a US$153 million Pandemic and Material Hospital, alongside the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor that President Dr. Irfaan Ali underscores the effort to the country’s move towards the cutting edge of health, delivery and education.

The hospital which will have 256 beds, is a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Guyana and Austria.

Ali told the launch of the project recently that bilateral  relations are very critical for the development of any country and that the standard Guyana is adopting will position the hospital to be a “traffic driver” for services in the region.

He said the aim is to put Guyana at the cutting edge of health, delivery and education, and that the project will be done in accordance with the FIDIC Yellow Book standard that guides any project to achieve greater reciprocity between the employee and contractor and to incorporate international best practices among other things.

Accordingly, much of the high-end equipment which will be used to outfit the hospital will be coming from the United Kingdom (UK).

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the opening of the Kingston Logistics Park ( KLP) is a significant investment and  will bring more economic growth and job creation in Jamaica.

He said the opening of the KJP is a big deal… it demonstrates us, as a people, leveraging our God-given ideal location an using our natural assets to create prosperity for our people

This development means more foreign exchange earning and higher quality jobs,” he said at the official opening of the facility recently.

The Kingston Logistic Park, which incorporates 18 ,000 square meters of warehouse space, falls under the wider Logistics Hub Initiator (LHIZ)designed to position the country as a global destination in cargo trans-shipment and the logistics industry.

The Jamaica government is also looking to make the island a planning supply hub for a local tourism sector and for the other tourism-dependent nations in the region.

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have committed to working together to make trade easier among member countries.

One of the ways they plan to do so is by reducing the many non-tariff barriers, which stand in the way of production.

Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his delegation arrived in Trinidad last Thursday on a three-day state visit for bilateral talks on trade, transport, energy and agriculture.

Rowley told a press conference that the non-tariff tariff barrier- restrictions on the trade outside of tariff system-will undermine CARICOM’s goals of creating efficient single market and economy (SME) if not controlled.