Caribzone News Highlight


Jamaica

A sum of $255.2 million has been allocated for the Justice Sector Reform Programme as outlined in the 2020/21 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

The the project seeks to strengthen the quality of service delivery and access in the justice sector; improve the treatment of children in the criminal justice system, and to enhance sector governance and the capacity of Government to deliver sector policy objectives.

For the upcoming fiscal year, the program seeks to renovate and equip two family courts (Mandeville and St. Ann); retrofit a justice center in St. Thomas; and conduct pre-investment activities for a family court in St. Catherine and three justice centers in St. Andrew, Clarendon, and St. Catherine.

As of December 2019, nine-justice centers were operationalized in St. Andrew, Manchester, 
Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, St. James, St. Mary, St. Ann. Trelawny and Portland.

In addition, two family courts were established in Clarendon and Trelawny.

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Jamaica

Three-hundred and ninety teachers have left the public school system since September, Karl Samuda revealed yesterday. However, he insisted that there is no need for panic.

Samuda, the minister without portfolio who is overseeing the education ministry, said this is a a small percentage of the island's 26,000 primary and secondary teachers, and that the ministry is already implementing measures to buffer the impact and fill the gaps.

Responding to media reports of teachers resigning in droves, Samuda stressed at a news conference yesterday that the number of resignations may seem very alarming.

“But when one considers that we have a total teaching population of just under 24,000, this amount comprises about 1.6 per cent... so it has impacted on the ministry but it is not at a level where we need to be alarmed. We would be alarmed if we were not monitoring it, and we have not taken measures to correct it,” he said.

The majority of the resignations have come from secondary schools, with region one, which comprises Kingston and St Andrew, accounting for 134, the bulk of the resignations.

Seventy-eight teachers in region two (Portland, St Thomas, and St Mary) have quit; 37 from region three (St Ann and Trelawny); 69 from region four (St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland); 40 from region five (Manchester and St Elizabeth); and 32 from St Catherine and Clarendon, which comprise region six.

He also made the point that while some teachers leave for positions overseas, not all have left the island, as some have taken up other opportunities here.

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Guyana
A team from JetBlue Airways Corporation (JetBlue) met with the Director-General, Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field and his team at the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on January 28, 2020 to discuss the carrier’s application for commencement of non-stop scheduled air services on the Georgetown to New York route from April 2, 2020.
A release today from the GCAA said that JetBlue’s team was led by Adam Schless, Director, Aircraft Transactions & International Counsel who shared the airline’s long term vision and plans for the Guyana market.
JetBlue proposes to operate daily flights using a new Airbus A321-271NX aircraft with seating capacity for 200 passengers.
The release said that the scope of JetBlue’s application is covered under Article 3 – Authorization of the ‘open-skies’ Air Transport Agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Government of the United States of America. Article 3 of the Agreement says:
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Trinidad & Tobago

Machel Montano is now a married man.
The King of Soca wedded his long-time girlfriend, Renee Butcher, at the Red House in Port-of-Spain last Friday.

The Valentine’s Day ceremony was held in a hallway, located on the southern side of the building. Montano was dressed in a white suit. His bride came in wearing white two-piece pants and off the shoulder top outfit with a trail attached. She wore a colorful flower hairpiece.

Pastor Clive Dottin officiated the ceremony. The guests, close friends, and relatives of the couple, were also dressed in all white. Red House staff and other personnel lined the balcony on the top floor with their cameras in hand to record the historic event.

The wedding was the first marriage ceremony to be held at the building since it was restored and reopened.


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National

The Americas reported more than 3 million cases of dengue in 2019, the largest number recorded in the Region so far, according to the latest epidemiological update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
These figures exceeded the 2.4 million cases reported in 2015 during the previous largest dengue epidemic in the history of the Region. That year, almost 1 400 people died of dengue.

Despite the increase in the number of cases in 2019, thanks to intense efforts from the countries, the case fatality rate – or the percentage of cases of dengue that progress to death – has been kept below the expected 1 per cent (0.05 per cent in 2019). In 2019, more than 1,500 died of dengue

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