Montserrat

Electoral College: The people who ultimately pick the US president

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:10:01 +0000

Electoral College: The people who ultimately pick the US president admin Mon, 12/14/2020 - 16:10

Monday, December 14, 2020

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Original Article

Electoral College: The people who ultimately pick the US president

BBC Reprint By Sam CabralBBC News, Washington US election 2020 The US presidential election was five weeks ago, but the votes that officially anoint the next president are just about to be cast. When Americans go to the polls in presidential elections, they are not directly voting for president. They are actually voting for a […]

Montserrat

Caribbean

Territory added to EU ‘grey list’

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:50:01 +0000

Territory added to EU ‘grey list’

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admin Mon, 06/20/2022 - 17:50

Thursday, March 17, 2022

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Business - The BVI Beacon

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Territory added to EU ‘grey list’

The Virgin Islands has been added to the European Union’s “grey list” along with nine other jurisdictions in the Caribbean and elsewhere, the EU Council announced after its meeting on Feb. 24.

Besides the VI, the EU added the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Israel, Montserrat, Russia, Tunisia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vietnam, bringing the total list up to 25 jurisdictions.

Although the inclusion does not mean that any penalties or sanctions will be levied against the territory, according to the EU, the move represents a significant setback after the territory rushed through economic substance legislation at the end of 2019 in order to meet EU requirements on tax reform.

In a Feb. 24 press release, the EU Council said that the list reflects “ongoing EU cooperation with its international partners and the commitments of these countries to reform their legislation to adhere to agreed tax good governance standards.”

The countries on the grey list are working toward meeting the EU’s tax standards, the release stated.

According to the EU, criteria for the list cover tax transparency, fair taxation and preventing tax base erosion and profit shifting. The organisation called implementation of the list a “dynamic process,” and noted that the next revision is scheduled for October of this year.

Anguilla, Botswana, Costa Rica, Dominica, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Qatar, the Seychelles, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay were previously added and remain on the grey list.

The blacklist, which remained unchanged after last month’s announcement, currently includes American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States Virgin Islands, and Vanuatu.

VI response

At a press conference late last month, Premier Andrew Fahie urged onlookers not to view the move as a censure of the territory.

He said the grey-listing meant the VI has “substantially met all international tax standards set out by the EU, but that ongoing improvements are being made to implementing tax good governance.”

As a result, he said, it has been grey-listed while it implements policies and procedures in the territory’s Country-by-Country Reporting framework.

“No defensive measures flow from being on such list and the BVI is still a cooperative jurisdiction,” he said. “Once the BVI meets these commitments, it will be removed from the annex.”

He added that the territory “takes its international obligations seriously” and had already been finalising the necessary steps to ensure successful implementation of the recommendations.

This week, BVI Finance CEO Elise Donovan directed queries to the Premier’s Office. Director of Communications Dr. Arliene Penn said, “BVI’s addition to EU’s Annex II is a positive rating for us because it acknowledges that BVI is a cooperative jurisdiction that has implemented measures (in the case of the Country-by-Country Reporting) in accordance with the high international standards prescribed. The BVI remains highly committed to the transparency and international cooperation agenda.”

The EU has hinted for some time that it would seek to modify its requirements for the list, the latest iteration of which was announced last October.

In February 2021, the European parliament passed a resolution calling for a measure that would automatically blacklist British territories like the VI, the Cayman Islands and the Channel Islands that have a zero percent corporate tax rate — and that now have a weakened voice in the EU in the wake of the United Kingdom’s split from the organisation.

The resolution did not mention the VI at the time, but it came before the revelation that nearly two-thirds of companies named in the far-reaching Pandora Papers investigation last year were based in the VI.

Panama, which is already on the EU blacklist, was host to the second highest number.

World response

Meanwhile, the EU Observer reported late last month that tax-reform campaigners are already applauding the news.

Chiara Putaturo, a campaigner with the non-profit Oxfam, praised the move, but complained that the Cayman Islands was not included.

“If the [new] grey-listing … is confirmed, we will see some real tax havens finally at risk to be blacklisted [in the future],” she said. “However, there are still other tax havens that are left off the hook, … such as the Cayman Islands, because the criteria remain weak.”

History

As in other OTs, leaders in the VI have long criticised the EU’s blacklists as arbitrary and misleading, maintaining that the territory’s financial services industry is tightly regulated in keeping with international standards.

Nevertheless, the VI was grey-listed along with other jurisdictions in 2017. In March 2018, the EU concluded that the VI, the Bahamas and Cayman needed further technical guidance from the EU and had until the end of 2019 to adapt local legislation, which resulted in the Economic Substance Act being rushed through the House of Assembly in late 2018.

Thanks to this move, the VI was white-listed, alongside 16 other jurisdictions, in February 2020.

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Business

Sue over blacklist, says economist

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:40:01 +0000

Sue over blacklist, says economist

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admin Mon, 06/20/2022 - 17:40

Thursday, April 28, 2022

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Sue over blacklist, says economist

Caribbean countries that live in fear of being blacklisted by the European Union should band together and take legal action, according to Barbados-based economist and Caribbean policy expert Marla Dukharan.

“I felt like there should be some legal recourse that should be pursued collectively,” Ms. Dukharan said on Feb. 23 on the regional livestreamed show “Territories Talk,” hosted by Shaina Smith-Archer, chairwoman of the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association.

The EU blacklist often comes under fire in the VI for being a moving target.

Ms. Dukharan said it is also unfair. EU member states such as the Netherlands and Ireland are “well known for their extensive money laundering and tax evading activities,” but have never been included on any EU blacklist, she said.

To her, this suggests Eurocentrism or even racism, and perhaps an effort to undermine countries that are “eating part of their pie,” she said of the EU.

Grey-listed

In February, the territory was added to the EU’s “grey list,” along with nine other jurisdictions in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

Besides the VI, the EU added the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Israel, Montserrat, Russia, Tunisia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vietnam, bringing the total on the list up to 25 jurisdictions.

Although the February inclusion does not mean that any penalties or sanctions will be levied against the territory, the move represents a significant setback after the VI rushed through economic substance legislation at the end of 2019 in order to meet EU requirements on tax reform.

The standards for inclusion on the EU lists have frequently changed, and Ms. Dukharan pointed out that the European Parliament itself has noted problems with the selection process.

In 2021, the legislative body proposed that the tax regimes of EU member states be scrutinised along with the rest of the world and subject to blacklisting if they don’t measure up.

“That tells you that you have a legal leg to stand on, because they, the policymakers, have acknowledged that we are not applying our own standards to our own member states, and that’s not fair,” she said. “Why is it that our countries have not come together, found a law firm that will represent us collectively, and taken them to court over this action?”

Fighting back

She added that even a statement from the Caribbean Community condemning the actions of the EU is simply “not strong enough.”

“I think if all of the countries came together from the Pacific and the Caribbean and agitated and protested, I think that there is a chance,” she said. “For example, if you appeal to the United Nations, you appeal to the World Trade Organisation, somebody is going to hear you. But when each individual little tiny micro state appeals individually, it is just white noise.”

She also recommended that countries that object to the blacklist expel EU ambassadors.

“The second thing I think we need to do is take diplomatic action,” she said.

With changing criteria, she noted, even countries that have satisfied the Financial Action Task Force and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development standards still run the risk of being blacklisted.

“But we don’t have the courage to do these things because we are small and we are insecure maybe,” she said.

Current list

In a Feb. 24 press release, the EU Council said that the grey list reflects “ongoing EU cooperation with its international partners and the commitments of these countries to reform their legislation to adhere to agreed tax good governance standards.”

The countries on the grey list are working toward meeting the EU’s tax standards, the release stated.

According to the EU, criteriafor the list cover tax transparency, fair taxation and preventing tax base erosion and profit shifting. The next revision is scheduled for October.

Anguilla, Botswana, Costa Rica, Dominica, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Qatar, the Seychelles, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay were previously added and remain on the grey list.

The blacklist for “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions, which remained unchanged after the February announcement, currently includes American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States VI, and Vanuatu.

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Bank pushes procurement progress

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:30:01 +0000

Bank pushes procurement progress admin Mon, 06/20/2022 - 17:30

Thursday, April 28, 2022

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Business - The BVI Beacon

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Bank pushes procurement progress

As the latest step in the Caribbean Development Bank’s efforts to help Caribbean governments get better value for money, the bank has launched a new phase of its public procurement reform programme with a workshop in the Virgin Islands.

“Better expenditure management provides a foundation for building stronger and more inclusive economies,” CDB Head of Procurement Douglas Fraser said. “This can be achieved through robust public procurement that provides transparency and accountability by promoting civil society participation, stimulating private sector growth and investment, and encouraging wider improvements in governance.”

The CDB has held procurement workshops in the VI before, most recently in September and October of 2018. That session focused on educating public officers about general procurement principles, planning, red flags and ethics, and generally helping ensure that governments get good value for money, according to CDB representatives in the territory at the time.

That workshop came on the heels of two previous CDB opportunities in 2018: an August workshop for businesses interested in competing for public contracts and a procurement development session for public officers in April 2018.

This new stage of the procurement programme, launched this month and expected to last until mid-2024, will involve helping countries with completing outstanding legal and regulatory reforms, forming dedicated procurement institutions, developing standard procurement documents, and establishing electronic procurement systems, the bank stated.

According to a CDB spokeswoman, the phase kicked off with a six-day, 47-participant workshop in the VI from March 21-30. It focused on “training of procurement practitioners throughout the public service, including state-owned enterprises,” in concordance with the newly passed Public Procurement Act, she added.

Separate tailored sessions were provided to Cabinet, suppliers, the deputy governor and senior managers including permanent secretaries, and others, with a total of 150 people trained across all of the sessions, according to the spokeswoman.

Before the procurement reform started in 2018, CDB as sessments found that few countries had dedicated procurement, legal or regulatory frameworks, the press release stated. In addition, the bank added, existing systems relied on “outdated” financial and administration acts.

“Often appropriate institutional structures were not in place to undertake and oversee procurement and almost none of the public servants were dedicated to procurement, whilst those involved in procurement lacked suitable qualifications,” the bank wrote.

The bank has reason to be invested in procurement in the VI: It launched a $65.3 million reconstruction and rehabilitation loan project in the territory in April 2018, which is designed to fund various infrastructure efforts and capital projects, including the reconstruction of the new West End ferry terminal; the construction of a new Department of Disaster Management building; and the rehabilitation of schools.

Also in the past four years, the bank embarked on legal and regulatory reform in Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis.

“Typically, public procurement can account for more than 10 to 15 percent of a country’s gross domestic product, but the amount can be considerably higher for small island developing states such as those in the Caribbean, where $8 to $11 billion is spent every year on public procurement,” the bank wrote. “Consequently, there is significant need for CDB to support its borrowing member countries’ development objectives in this area.”

OECS states

The CDB added that it has also advocated for all of the Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States members to join and participate in the Inter-American Government Procurement Network to share technical knowledge and best practices, with the result that “for the first time all the OECS procurement leads had a venue to meet and build technical relationships,” the bank stated.

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CDB’s public procurement reform programme enters second phase

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 10:50:01 +0000

CDB’s public procurement reform programme enters second phase

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admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 10:50

Monday, April 18, 2022

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Barbados Advocate - Business

Original Article

CDB’s public procurement reform programme enters second phase

CDB’s Head of Procurement, Douglas Fraser.

THE Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has started a new phase of its public procurement reform programme, which is helping Eastern Caribbean countries to increase efficiency and effectiveness in govern- ment procurement.
The second stage of the programme, which will include finalising legal reforms and establishing electronic systems, kicked off with a 47-participant workshop, held recently in the Virgin Islands.
“Better expenditure management provides a foundation for building stronger and more inclusive economies. This can be achieved through ro- bust public procurement that provides transparency and accountability by promoting civil soci- ety participation, stimulating private sector growth and investment, and encouraging wider improvements in governance,” said CDB Head of Procurement, Douglas Fraser.
Before the procurement reform started in 2018, CDB-financed assessments showed that few countries had dedicated procurement legal or reg- ulatory frameworks. In ad- dition, existing systems re- lied on outdated financial and administration Acts. Often appropriate institu- tional structures were not in place to undertake and oversee procurement and almost none of the public servants were dedicated to procurement whilst those involved in procurement lacked suitable qualifica- tions.
Typically, public pro- curement can account for more than 10-15% of a country’s gross domestic product, but the amount can be considerably higher for small island developing states such as those in the Caribbean where US$8-11 billion is spent every year on public pro- curement. Consequently, there is significant need for CDB to support its Borrowing Member Countries’ development objectives in this area.
In the past four years, with support from the Bank, legal and regulatory reform took place in Antigua and Barbuda and the Virgin Islands, and is at an advanced stage in Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Across the Member Countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), chief procurement officers and other senior procurement officials were appointed, often in newly created posts. Some 20 senior officials from across Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent received Diplomas in Procurement and Supply, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), through the Caribbean Procurement Training Programme, after long-term study.
CDB also actively advo- cated for all of the OECS countries to join and participate in the Inter- American Government Procurement Network to share technical knowledge and best practice, with the result that for first time all the OECS procurement leads had a venue to meet and build technical relationships.
The second phase of the procurement reform, estimated to last until mid- 2024, will involve the completion of the outstanding legal and regulatory reforms, the formation of dedicated procurement institutions in the countries, the development of stan- dard procurement documents and support for the introduction of electronic procurement to provide for greater transparency and efficiency.

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Crowley cuts back, but VI safe for now

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 20:20:01 +0000

Crowley cuts back, but VI safe for now

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admin Wed, 02/23/2022 - 20:20

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

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Business – The BVI Beacon

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Crowley cuts back, but VI safe for now

The maritime shipping giant Crowley has pulled out of parts of the Leeward Islands, but it will continue to serve the Virgin Islands, a company spokesman told the Beacon this week.

On Oct. 9, Crowley announced that it would cease shipping to much of the LeewardIslands at the end of that month.

At the time, it announced that sailings to Tortola and the United States VI would alternate between a Thursday or Saturday departure each week, with one southbound sailing leaving Port Everglades, Florida on average every 10 days. Service between Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands was also discontinued in October.

“These adjustments provide a more reliable sailing schedule between Port Everglades, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, so our customers can plan their shipments effectively,” the company announced.
Meanwhile, Crowley has discontinued service to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saba, St. Barthelemy St. Eustatius and Montserrat.

Here, the pullout may make shipping to those locations more complicated, but Crowley is not VI customers’ only option. Other carriers, including Tropical Shipping, still ship both full container loads and less-than-container loads to ports in the Leeward Islands.

Nevertheless, Christopher Haycraft, managing director of Island Shipping, Tropical’s VI agent, told the Beacon this week that the Crowley pullout came as “a shock.”

“The largest carrier in the region does not see it as a profit margin worth the effort,” he said.

But in the long run, he added, competition could be good for the region as other carriers move in to fill the void.

“Multiple carriers [are] still working for this market,” he said. “Crowley are still shipping into St. Thomas every 10 days, so there is still a basic service.”

Speculation that Crowley may also pull out of the VI circulated recently, but a spokesman for the company told the Antigua-based Daily Observer the rumours were false.

“Crowley continues to serve the Caribbean region as it consistently has for 50 years, including but not limited to the USVI, BVI, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and more,” spokesman David DeCamp told the newspaper in October. “However, the Leeward Islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, will not be served after the end of October.”

According to the Observer, Mr. DeCamp denied that the pullout was related to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that “Covid-19 has not resulted in any material service disruptions.”

This week, Mr. DeCamp reiterated the previous position.

“Crowley continues to serve the BVI and USVI uninterruptedly, as well as providing service to multiple other Caribbean islands,” he told the Beacon.
Though some areas have been “strategically realigned,” he added, “multiple other ocean carriers” are serving them.

Monifa Brathwaite Marrero, spokeswoman for the US Virgin Islands Port Authority, confirmed to the Virgin Islands Daily News in December that the agency had not received any notice that Crowley plans to pull out of the USVI and added that “the executed contract between Crowley and VIPA is still in place.”

However, the company appears aware of the concerns and reportedly has addressed them internally.

Earlier this month, the Daily News reported that Caribbean Services Director Jennifer Juarez told Crowley employees in an email titled “Operations update” that “as per the information we have been given, we are talking of reducing space at the terminal due to the closure of services to Leeward Islands, reducing container output.”

She added in the email that as further details arise, she would alert employees.
“Like all businesses, we continue to review how to reduce costs and remain competitive,” she wrote, according to the newspaper.

A receptionist at EZ Shipping, which is the VI agent for Crowley, said no one authorised to comment was available this week. Messages for Oleanvine Maynard, managing director of the BVI Ports Authority, were not immediately returned this week.

The pullout from the Leeward Islands comes amid complaints of skyrocketing prices and a scarcity of some goods.

Stakeholders told the Beacon in October that pandemic related disruptions in the global supply chain could see the territory facing higher than-usual prices and scarcity of some goods.

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Government gives green light for promoters to stage events

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 18:20:01 +0000

Government gives green light for promoters to stage events

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admin Fri, 12/10/2021 - 18:20

Saturday, June 19, 2021

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Entertainment – Barbados Today

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Government gives green light for promoters to stage events

Barbadians can now look forward to attending fetes once again as Government gives the green light for promoters to have events that are limited to 150 people in one location.

This announcement came from Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who also told the nation during a press conference today that the ongoing curfew will be removed completely from June 30 to allow for greater economic activities to resume.

However, Mottley said though promoters can now start planning regulated events while working closely with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and National Cultural Foundation (NCF), she made it clear that Barbados is not ready for mass events, including Crop Over, which has been cancelled for a second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said: “We are going to take a chance with respect to certain types of activities. It is not practical or possible for us to have our traditional Crop Over event, it isn’t. We haven’t prepared and we don’t have sufficient time to do it properly. Band leaders and costume designers take time. As you know, all like now they would be deep into production if we were having Crop Over in the traditional way.

“We are not ready or comfortable for mass-based events like a carnival. But we do feel like the time has come for us to open up to people who want to free up a bit and who want the opportunity to take a little back seat from the tension of the last six months. And we all know that July is a month that we all associate with taking that little relief in the middle of the year”.

Those persons who will be included in the 150 attending party-related events must be fully vaccinated 14 days prior to the event, or must have a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours, Mottley stressed.

And acknowledging that the pockets of band leaders have been hurt as a result of the pandemic, Mottley announced that mechanisms are being put in place to support these persons who earn a living from the creative sector.

On that note, Mottley explained that band leaders who usually have bands involved in junior and Grand Kadooment, will be given a BDS$10 000 grant, while those who only have one band annually will receive BDS$7 500.

She said the NCF will also be giving BDS$5000 to tent managers while Government will be underwriting the cost of streaming tent-related events through the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to allow the public to “have some fun and enjoyment in their lives”.

Mottley also announced that party promoters will be given BDS$5000 in addition to other assistance with infrastructural costs.

The Prime Minister noted that because of the inability to monitor pleasure craft vessels while at sea, they can only operate dockside and must adhere to all the COVID-19 protocols.

Mottley also announced that Barbados will create a bubble for fully vaccinated passengers from low-risk Caribbean countries, including Dominica, Anguilla, Montserrat, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands and Bermuda. She indicated that persons from the listed countries arriving in Barbados with a negative PCR rest can immediately enter from June 30.

She said: “We are conscious that our brothers and sisters in St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia are not yet quite at that point. And indeed prior to holding this press conference I spoke to my brother Prime Minister Ralph Gonzales from St Vincent and the Grenadines and we are hoping to have bilateral discussions over the course of the next week to two weeks to see how best we can collaborate on testing, on vaccinations, recognizing also that there is a lot of movement between Barbados and the Grenadines and that they have effectively not had any issues in the Grenadines”.

Government has set a tentative date of July 16 for the resumption of spectators at sporting events, following discussions between the Ministry of Health and relevant sporting agencies, Prime Minister Mottley also indicated. (AH)

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Caribbean

OECS Health Ministers discuss Health System Strengthening and Laboratory Advocacy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 07:50:01 +0000

OECS Health Ministers discuss Health System Strengthening and Laboratory Advocacy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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admin Fri, 12/10/2021 - 07:50

Friday, December 3, 2021

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OECS Health Ministers discuss Health System Strengthening and Laboratory Advo…

Ministers of Health of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States(OECS) examined strategies to strengthen Ministries of Health at the 7th Annual meeting of the OECS Council of Ministers of Health convened virtually on Wednesday, November 24.

St Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG), was among states present at the meeting that was convened under the theme: Health System Strengthening and Laboratory Advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic, chaired by Anguilla’s Premier and Minister of Health,Dr. Ellis Webster, a release states.

In his welcome address, the Chairman referenced the adage “health is wealth”, and emphasised the importance of providing necessary resources for health system strengthening.

The meeting highlights are as follows:

Dr. Avion Bamodu, Programme Director for Health at the OECS Commission informed of the strategic refocusing of the OECS Commission to meet the dynamic needs of its Member States. The Council of Ministers acknowledged and supported the OECS Health Programme and its donor-funded projects: the OECS-World Bank Regional Health Project; the Global Fund HIV TB Elimination Project; the World Diabetes Foundation Projects; and the European Union-funded InterregCARES Project. The Council of Ministers pledged to increase human resources to support the delivery of the OECS Health Programme.

A proposal from the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique for the creation of a Caribbean Institute for Nuclear Imaging based in Martinique, which will host a Cyclotron – PET Scan, to advance cancer care in the OECS subregion.

The Council of Ministers of Health acknowledged the contributions and strategic partnership of CARPHA, the OECS Commission’s Health Unit and the OECS Commission’s Pooled Procurement Service (OECS PPS). Dr. Joy St. John and staff of CARPHA provided updates on regional and sectoral co-ordination, epidemiological surveillance, lab testing, support to the COVID – 19 vaccine programme, the Tourism Health Programme, capacity building, risk communication and resource mobilisation. CARPHA provided updates on its work to strengthen lab quality management including the development of a regional plan to address biosafety and biosecurity and the adoption of national lab policies through the efforts of the Caribbean Public Health Lab Network.

Dr. Yitades Gebre, PAHO/ WHO Representative for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean countries and staff presented on PAHO’s work to improve vaccine equity in the OECS subregion, vaccine deployment, procurement of medical equipment, protect and train health workers, risk communication and COVID-19 remote laboratory strengthening. The Ministers of Health endorsed PAHOs recommendations to strengthen leadership and governance for the Essential Public health functions, to strengthen primary and community care, to increase and sustain public financing in health, the implementation of digital health solutions, to improve access to quality health services, and to strengthen laboratory capacity.

Dr Carlene Radix, Head of Human and Social Division at the OECS Commission recognised Anguilla as the most vaccinated country in the OECS subregion. Anguilla has a vaccination rate of over 60% of their population.

Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Caribbean Medical Laboratory Foundation presented on laboratory regulation and accreditation noting that labs provide 80% of the information needed for clinical decisions and are critical for accurate diagnoses and responses to disease. The ministers agreed to champion the lab service mandate for standards adoption, policy development, legislation and regulation at Cabinet level, to prioritise the identification of resources for laboratory accreditations, Quality Management Service development and support resource mobilisation efforts.

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Cuthbert Knights shared the country’s experience in implementing a decentralised laboratory business model with separate lab budgets. Dr. Wayne Felicen, Laboratory Director for St Lucia, shared country experience on the integration of laboratory quality and health service quality. He shared on the St Lucia National Quality Policy 2016-2026, and the introduction of ISO 15189 on the Regulatory Standard for Medical Laboratories.

The meeting received a briefing from Abraham Weekes, senior technical specialist responsible for quality assurance at the OECS PPS on the integral nature of pooled procurement of laboratory equipment and supplies to this transformation.

The Meeting concluded with an endorsement of the recommendations for health system strengthening and laboratory advocacy by the 7th Council of Ministers of Health. The Meeting benefited from the presence of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), and the Caribbean Med Labs Foundation.

OECS Member states attending were: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Montserrat, Martinique, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

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News

Get ready for “Oliver Oriole Adventures” Book Series

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 09:50:01 +0000

Get ready for “Oliver Oriole Adventures” Book Series

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admin Sat, 10/09/2021 - 09:50

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

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Entertainment – The Bajan Reporter

Original Article

Get ready for “Oliver Oriole Adventures” Book Series

In this new series, join Oliver Oriole as he journeys across the Caribbean learning about the different islands, their music, culture, food, language and more. Get ready for what is about to be one of the most exciting new characters in children’s education. “ Oliver Oriole Goes To” will be a new way to learn and understand what is so unique about the Caribbean and it’s cultures.

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ECCB celebrates 38 years of service to region

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 21:20:01 +0000

ECCB celebrates 38 years of service to region

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Tuesday, October 5, 2021

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ECCB celebrates 38 years of service to region

THE EASTERN Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is celebrating 38 years of service to the governments and people of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union(ECCU).

A release notes that the agreement establishing the ECCB as the monetary authority for the eight participating governments, was signed on July 5,1983 in Trinidad and Tobago and the ECCB was officially commissioned on 1st October 1983, replacing the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCA) which was established in March 1965.

The primary objective of the ECCB is to maintain the stability of the Eastern Caribbean Currency and the integrity of the banking system. The Bank also has the mandate of providing policy advice and promoting the economic development of its eight member countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Governor of the ECCB, Timothy N. J. Antoine says: “ As we celebrate our 38th anniversary of the ECCB, we do so with profound gratitude for the framers, founders and all who have contributed along this journey. Today, in this turbulent economic season, the ECCB stands and shines as a bulwark of resilience and beacon of strength and remains firmly focused on socio-economic transformation for the shared prosperity of the people of our Currency Union.”

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