Caribbean News

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Anyone wanting to leave Trinidad and Tobago on a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight will need an exemption from the Ministry of National Security, the twin-island republic’s flag carrier said Monday.

CAL said in a customer advisory that effective immediately, all departing passengers must adhere to the new online exemption process implemented by the Ministry of National Security under the country’s COVID-19 measures.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Government has made it clear that it will only have bilateral discussions with Venezuela once the Nicolas Maduro administration releases the Guyanese fishermen illegally detained in the Spanish-speaking nation last week.

Trinidad and Tobago has been allocated an initial 100,000 to 120,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine via the COVAX Facility, which will be delivered by March, according to Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh.

He said over the weekend that this initial allocation will provide vaccines for at least 50,000 people, as half of the vaccines will be reserved to ensure that each recipient receives the required two doses.

Three persons of interest have been held by the police following an incident in the northern parish of Trelawny in which a woman was killed during a church service on Sunday morning.

The police report that Andrea Lowe-Garwood was shot dead at about 10:30am (local time) during a service at the Agape Christian Fellowship in the parish capital of Falmouth.

Lowe-Garwood, who worked at the National Commercial Bank in the second city of Montego Bay, was participating in the service, when the shooter, who was seated behind her, opened fire, hitting her several times.

Sections of Guyana were rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), it received reports of an earthquake of shallow depth of 10 km with epicentre near Boa Vista on the border with Brazil which occurred today at 3:05 pm (local time).

The United States Geological Survey listed the earthquake as 5.7 on the Richter Scale and located the epicentre at 83 km south south east of the town of Lethem.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced the suspension of all flights to the Caribbean for the next three months, as his government seeks to keep COVID-19 variants out of the country.

The restrictions go into effect on Sunday.

“New variants of COVID-19 pose a real challenge to Canada. That’s why we need to take extra measures,” Trudeau said at his daily press conference as he announced that Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat had all agreed to suspend their flights to the Caribbean until April 30.

Regional heads of government have been asked to help cover the cost of severance entitlements of over EC$70-million to former employees of regional carrier, LIAT.

In a letter, dated January 22, the Court-appointed administrator, Cleveland Seaforth, said that as of April 2020, the total unpaid entitlements to workers across the region, amounted to EC$119,006,962. Of this amount EC$79,011,337 is in respect of the employee’s legal severance entitlements.

Well known calypsonian Sandra Des Vignes Millington, better known as “Singing Sandra” is dead.

News of her passing was announced officially on her personal Facebook page at about 7am (local time) on Thursday.

Barbados and other Caribbean countries awaiting Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax facility could have access to them soon as the Pan American Health Organisation reveals they will be distributed from March.

The update was provided by Assistant Director, Jarbas Barbosa during a press conference Wednesday.

The COVAX facility is expected to deploy two billion doses of vaccines made by producers that are pre-qualified with the World Health Organization.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that police will be increasing patrol of the areas frequented by the homeless and government will be providing additional bed space for those vulnerable citizens in the Corporate Area.

He delivered the promise on the heels of heinous attacks that left four homeless men dead and two others wounded in Kingston and in the Half-Way-Tree area of St. Andrew between Sunday night and Monday morning.