Caribzone News Highlight

Regional

The Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) has US$90 million in financing as well as other funding available which it is prepared to make available to regional states, at very reasonable interest rates, to bolster their efforts to cope with the ravages of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

“COVID-19 is all-embracing, and all our DMCs (donor member countries) are faced with the challenges at the same time. The CDB’s financial and technical assistance interventions in the current situation will be targeted towards the most vulnerable within our societies, and we are giving the highest priority to strengthening social safety nets. As it relates to financing, we have already identified some US$90 million which we are resourcing and which we had committed earlier, and other resources that are yet to be committed, and these come from our ‘soft window’. We are talking about very low-cost financing with long-dated repayment periods,” President of the CDB, Dr. Warren Smith, disclosed last Friday.

Dr. Smith was a participant in the virtual Vice-Chancellor’s Forum, hosted by The University of the West Indies (The UWI) on its UWItv platform under the theme ‘Caribbean Unity of Plurality – the regional response to COVID-19’. The forum featured regional experts discussing the implementation and impact of various national policies across the region in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Jamaica

Right behind Kenny Rogers, Keith ‘Bob Andy’ Anderson has decided to join the choir of Angels in heaven. He was 76.

Glory Music principal, Tommy Cowan, confirmed to The Gleaner, that Anderson, who had been ailing for some time, passed away at home in Stony Hill, St Andrew, last Friday.

“I have spoken to the family and they say he died peacefully. He was not in any pain,” Cowan shared. “His daughter, Bianca, was by his bedside, and so too was her mother.” 

News broke on Wednesday that the entertainer, who had been battling cancer for some years, was gravely ill.

When The Gleaner spoke to Cowan that evening, he said that he was in the process of “sending Bob a message of encouragement.” In the early 1970s, Bob Andy, whose career spanned several decades, recorded with Marcia Griffiths as the duo Bob and Marcia, initially for Studio One, but later under producer Harry J's tutelage.

They had a major UK hit with the song, Young, Gifted and Black, and went on tour in England together. Anderson was conferred with Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander for his contributions to the development of Jamaican music by the government in October 2006.

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Trinidad & Tobago

The death toll for the COVID19 pandemic has risen to three in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. An elderly man was the second person to succumb to the virus.

In a statement, the ministry of health said the man had pre-existing medical complications. In offering condolences to the family, the ministry urged the public to respect patient confidentiality and allow the family the space to cope with the death of their loved one.

The health ministry, meanwhile, also revealed that one person who was being treated at the hospital for the virus has been discharged.

Meanwhile, a healthcare worker at the Scarborough General Hospital has tested positive for the virus. 

The Tobago Regional Health Authority says the worker has been isolated and meetings held with members of staff who have been provided with psychological support.

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Sports

Businessman Robert Hadad has been named to chair the normalization committee appointed by football's world governing body FIFA to run the affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TFFA).

In a statement, FIFA said Hadad, the 53-year-old CEO of family-owned company Hadco, will chair the committee, while Judy Daniel will serve as deputy chairperson. Nigel L Romano was also named a member of the committee and FIFA said that after consultation with continental governing body Concacaf, it will appoint two more members in the coming days.

“The members of the TTFA normalization committee will assume their duties with immediate effect and, as per standard procedure, will have to pass an eligibility check. Their confirmation will be contingent upon the outcome of the eligibility check,” FIFA said.

Last Tuesday, the Zurich-based institution announced the decision to remove the TTFA Board and appoint a normalization committee after a joint assessment of the TTFA carried out by itself and Concacaf, found “extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt”, leaving the local body “facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.

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Guyana

Three weeks after voters cast their ballots in a regional and general election, President David Granger is appealing for “calm” and for the population to await the ruling of the Supreme Court and the final declaration of results by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

In an address to the country last Friday night, Granger, who led the ruling coalition, A Partnership for National Unity plus the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) into the March 2 polls, said that 18 days after casting ballots “everyone anticipated that this electoral process would have been completed by this time.

“Our democracy has allowed for interested parties to approach the Supreme Court of Judicature for judicial review of our electoral laws. This legal process is ongoing, and we must await the ruling of the court. The electoral process is incomplete,” he said.

The main challenge to the coalition in the election has come from the main opposition People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which has accused the authorities of wanting to rig the elections in favor of the ruling coalition.

On Friday, the High Court began hearing an injunction granted to a private citizen blocking GECOM from ordering a recount of the case of the ballot in all 10 regions. Some 10 political parties fielded candidates in the election, underpinned by a projected economic boom due to the recent oil find on the island.

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