Caribzone News Headlines

 

Jamaica

HARVARD University Professor Orlando H Patterson led a field of more than 120 Jamaicans who were announced on Thursday, August 6 – Independence Day - as recipients of national honours and awards for 2020.

Patterson, who is now 80, was appointed a member of the Order of Merit (OM), Jamaica's third-highest national honour.

A historical and cultural sociologist, he previously held faculty appointments at his alma mater The University of the West Indies (UWI) and London School of Economics, where he received his PhD.

The list includes, Merlene Ottey, the iconic queen of track & field athletics and Daphne Mahoney, of the Mustard Seed Charities.

The awards and honors will be presented by the Governor General, Sir Patrick Allen, on Monday, October 19 – National Heroes Day, at King’s House.

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National

Already smashing records, this year's hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season is about to get even nastier, forecasters predict. In the coming months, they expect to run out of traditional hurricane names and see about twice as much storm activity as a normal year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) yesterday upped its seasonal forecast, now predicting a far-above average 19 to 25 named storms — seven to 11 of them to become hurricanes and three to six of those to become major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph). That's a few more storms than the agency's May forecast. The agency increased the chance of an above average hurricane season from 60 per cent to 85 per cent.

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Jamaica

In the middle of national celebrations marking the island’s 58 Anniversary of Independence, Jamaica has seen a spike in corona virus cases.

 The warnings were serious enough to force a meeting of the Cabinet last Thursday, to respond to a jaw-dropping 30-case spike in COVID-19 infections within a 24-hour span in Jamaica.

Fearing that the early alarm could be the tip of the iceberg, the surge is set to trigger tighter restrictions even as Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ditched moral suasion to get compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

It is one of Jamaica’s largest single-day spikes since the pandemic broke, signalling worry for the administration as it seeks to keep the economy open as a recession looms amid the possibility of a second wave of the virus causing further crisis. A looming election, tantalizingly teased by the prime minister, also complicates the equation.

The total number of cases in Jamaica has now reached the 1,000 mark.

There are 149 active cases under observation, including seven moderately ill persons.

Holness has blamed the emerging crisis on “a few” who he labelled as “weak fences” for the dilemma facing the Government.

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Sports

The Caribbean Premier League says its players, officials and administrators have arrived in Trinidad and Tobago and that 162 people who travelled into the country have tested negative for COVID-19.

The CPL said the teams will now be kept in quarantine in the official hotel for 14 days and undergo regular testing.

If anyone from in the group is found to have contracted the coronavirus they will be removed from the hotel and placed in further isolation.

“It has been a colossal effort by all involved to get everyone safely into Trinidad and Tobago,” tournament operations director Michael Hall said in a statement.

“Our main priority is the health and well-being of all those involved in CPL and the wider population in the host country, to have got through this first step without any cases is encouraging news, but we will remain vigilant.”

Players, coaches and support staff have travelled to the Caribbean from all parts of the cricket world.

The West Indies team lost a three-test series in England last month, the first international cricket to be played after the sport was shuttered globally.

The Caribbean players had to spend time in quarantine in Britain before the series started, and had to remain inside so-called bio-secure bubbles at match venues.

The Twenty20 tournament begins August 18, and 33 games will be played at two venues in Trinidad.

The first match has last year’s runners-up, the Guyana Amazon Warriors, playing the Trinbago Knight Riders.

The final will take place on September 10. Barbados Tridents are the defending champions. The other teams are; St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Zouks and Jamaica Tallawahs.

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Guyana

A former member of parliament and housing minister was sworn in on Sunday, August 2, as Guyana’s ninth executive president, ending a five-month, drawn out legal battle and contentious fight over flawed votes and uncertainty over who will lead the South American nation amid a historic oil find.

Irfaan Ali

 Mohamed Irfaan Ali, leader of the opposition People’s Progressive    Party/Civic (PPP/C) coalition, was declared president of the English-speaking nation earlier Sunday by the Guyana Elections Commission, or GECOM. In its declaration, GECOM said the PPP/C had won the disputed March 2 presidential and regional election.

The long-awaited announcement came after chief elections officer, Keith Lowenfield, finally submitted an elections report based on the results of a 33-day national recount that was conducted by GECOM and observed by the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc – CARICOM.

The submission cleared the way for GECOM Chairwoman, retired justice, Claudette Singh to make the official elections declaration.

The report shows that the PPP/C won 33 seats in Parliament to the outgoing government’s A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition’s 31.

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Calling for his supporters to remain calm, outgoing President David Granger said his coalition will respect the elections declaration, but will challenge the declared results lawfully, peacefully and purposefully.

Stay tuned!

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