Black Immigrant Daily News

A road traffic accident on the Philip Goldson Highway claimed the life of Jorge Vargas, 21, a sixth-form student of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, and as many as six persons were severely injured when an ambulance crashed into the mini-bus in which they were traveling back home to Corozal.

by Charles Gladden

RANCHITO, Corozal District, Thurs. Oct. 13, 2022

A collision between an ambulance and a mini-bus between Miles 82 and 83 of the Philip Goldson Highway in Ranchito Village, Corozal, caused injuries to a number of students and a sick minor, and claimed the life of a sixth-form student of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, Jorge Vargas, 21. Vargas and four other students had been traveling in a mini-bus en route to Corozal Town, where his mother was waiting to pick him up, when an ambulance which was carrying a sick minor and was heading in the opposite direction, crashed into the vehicle.

The collision occurred when the ambulance, which was transporting the sick minor and her mother from the Corozal Community Hospital to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, attempted to overtake a truck and collided head-on with the mini-bus, which was being driven by Carmelo Kau, 49, and was taking the students to Corozal Town after a day of classes.

(Notably, while reports have mentioned that the ambulance was overtaking a truck, it is known that incoming traffic must pull over to the side of the road, thus allowing a vehicle being used by first responders, such as an ambulance, to pass through. On Thursday, October 13, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, noted at a police press briefing that many Belizean drivers have shown a reluctance to do so. “That’s one of the issues we have here in Belize. Only in Belize do certain things happen. We know already that once you hear the ambulance, the police, or the fire siren, it means that you must clear the way for an emergency, and certain drivers just have no regard [for] that and would want to race with the ambulance or with the police or the fire truck, which is wrong,” Williams said.

It has been reported that a total of twelve persons were injured — including the driver of the ambulance, Louis Canelo, 33, and the nurses who were accompanying him.

One of the first persons to arrive at the scene was the Dean of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, Hugo Gonzalez, who told members of the local media that he was alerted by a teacher of the school about the accident.

“When I got there, some of the students had already been transported to the Corozal Community Hospital, then I saw the body of Jorge Vargas was still on the scene of the accident,” he said.

While Vargas died at the scene, three other students of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, as well as a student at another institution, sustained serious injuries.

According to Gonzalez, the condition of one of those students, Anthony Tzib, who is from Patchakan Village, seems promising, since Tzib, who was taken to the Corozal Community Hospital, recognized Gonzalez when he went to the hospital and “called [him] by name”. According to Gonzalez, another injured student, Armando Patt, was transported yesterday morning from the Corozal Community Hospital and is now being treated at the Northern Regional Hospital..

The third student, however, Aaliyah Marokin, 20, suffered multiple fractures — including to the hip, arm and leg— as well as abrasions to her head. Her family was reportedly told at the Northern Regional Hospital that she would need emergency surgery by a specialist. and she was thus transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but according to the family, she did not receive the urgent surgery when she arrived at the KHMH but was placed on a waiting list and given morphine. She will thus be at home for as long as three weeks before the surgery takes place, and the family is distressed about the further harm she could suffer as a result of the delay.

“When she reached to Belize, they told her they would just give her morphine for the pain, bandage her hand, her leg, and they told her they would not be doing any surgery and that she would be on a waiting list and this surgery could potentially take place until end of month’s time. Now, she’s a 20-year-old with her whole life there — what if any complications happen, infections, happen. She has a broken leg, a broken hand, and all you can do is just bandage it? We need reasons as to why she’s on a waiting list…. telling us a waiting list, telling a mother who had previously went through a loss that her next child is there crying out of pain and all you could give her is morphine to put her to sleep, and if she gets addicted to this drug, what are we going to do?,” a relative of Marokin lamented to 7News.

The family is reportedly seeking possible assistance from other medical facilities or private practitioners and is asking the Ministry of Health to intervene.

The fourth injured student, Jaheem Williams, was reportedly in and out of consciousness and reportedly received an emergency CT scan when he was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Vargas would have graduated with honors in December, when he would have received an Associate’s degree in Business Entrepreneurship, and the school is planning to have a program tribute in his honor and to issue an honorary Associate’s degree to his parents at the graduation ceremony.

Dr. Rafael Riveroll, a cousin of the deceased, told local media, “Right now, he was doing Business and he was trying to finish up sixth form because due to difficulties then, now they managed to send him to finish sixth form, so that was his main goal, and I think right now it’s more heartbreaking to find out that he did achieve his 3.0, honor roll, and he did receive some awards just day before yesterday.”

According to Gonzalez, there is currently a sorrowful mood on the campus of the college.

“When we got here this morning, a lot of the students were very sad. Some came to offer their condolences. Teachers are going through a very difficult time coming to accept the fact that he is no longer with us. In the history of our school, this is the second student we have lost [in] the fifteen years we have been in operation. Some teachers couldn’t really have a class, especially his homeroom had to undergo some sessions with the counselor during the course of the day because they were very unstable and could not concentrate,” he said.

According to Riveroll, Vargas would routinely be at home after classes at 2:30 p.m., but on the day of the accident, Vargas contacted his mother to inform her that he would be late, as he needed to stay and prepare for a presentation at school. He was to have called his mother at 3:30 p.m. to notify her of his arrival so that she could pick him up at My Lights, but it was a call that she would never receive.

Dr. Riveroll mentioned to local reporters that Vargas was very active in the community. He recently participated in the Corozal Carnival and was a well-known athlete who played for Pelican FC, an amateur football club in Corozal.

AMANDALA was able to speak to a teammate of Vargas, Abner Itzab, who told us that the two were both members of the Pelicans FC and that their bond grew when they became classmates at CEMJC.

Itzab said that Vargas had the drive to become the best player on the team, but was also willing to assist his friends — both on the football field and in the classroom.

On Wednesday, October 12, the Ministry of Health and Wellness sent its condolences to the family and friends of those affected by the tragedy via a press release and strongly condemned irresponsible driving on the highways.

The Director of Public Prosecution’s office will issue recommendations on whether charges will be brought against any of the drivers in connection with the collision.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Member of Parliament (MP) for St James Southern, Homer Davis, is recommending that additional steps be taken to incentivise agriculture, in order to attract more younger persons.

“The cohort of farmers in my constituency is at an average age of 60 years old and it is time to refresh, reset and re-energise the sector by making agriculture more attractive [and] economically viable to our young people,” he said.

Mr. Davis, who is also Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Western Region), was making his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives, on October 12.

He suggested that more should be done to provide lands, through lease, to engage more young persons in the field.

“There are thousands of hectares of arable lands; they are all idle and I would say to the Ministry of Agriculture, if we are seriously looking at food security for Jamaica, we should identify some of these lands, and not just identify these lands but to engage a younger generation of farmers,” Mr. Davis argued.

“By doing so, we can extend to these young farmers long-term lease on these at peppercorn rates. The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) knows the landscape and I would recommend that a comprehensive study of the soil type in the area of Southern St. James [be done] and based on their findings, make these lands available to young farmers at peppercorn rates,” he added.

The Member of Parliament pointed out that approximately 200 farmers have been assisted this year.

“We have supported several of our farmers with technical support, working with RADA and have donated seeds, fertilisers, baby chicks, equipment, and other farm supplies,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Davis also called for the construction of sub-fire stations in Cambridge and Maroon Town.

“To get from Barnett Street Fire Station to Cambridge is a 35 to 40-minute drive, and that’s Cambridge proper; to get to Maroon Town is a similar time period. We need to make sure that we have first responders in these rural townships that can deal with immediate fire or immediate emergencies,” he said.

He informed that since the start of the year, there have been 41 fires in his constituency, resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Destruction Of The Poor Is Poverty

By Makeda Mikael

Antigua people are by far some of the most elegant poor you will find in the Caribbean. In the most terrible times our people refuse to beg, even the crackheads in the days of Golden Peanut on High Street preferred to trade a kick in the rear for a small change, rather than beg.

Taking money in exchange for a kick, how low can ‘they’ get would be the cry, but going a little beyond the act is the unwillingness of the poor and rejected to take anything for free. Gone are those days.

The wave of petty crimes carried out with guns, knives and machetes in our country in these days is a cultural breach, brought on by extreme poverty of the poorest in our society; nobody cares because those who are elected to care are also destroyed, because, ‘the destruction of the soul is vanity’ and their souls are dead.

We don’t know and are afraid to know, just who are the persons committing these crimes, breaking into schools, churches, daycare centers, homes of women living alone, women walking alone, and even schoolchildren cannot grow up in peace unmolested.

The mystery of the church and the altar have all been desecrated and rendered powerless! And as the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe wrote, ‘things fall apart!’

When things fall apart, it begins with the destruction of the poor who are the first to lose their inconsequential jobs, the first to lose credit, and the first to feel hunger.

The trading of anything and everything is visible all over the dirty smelly city of St. John’s and the outskirts, even the bus drivers and uniformed persons are prepared to exchange their services for some pedophile sexual activity with our children.

Much of this is brought on by poverty as culture cracks, and the destruction of the soul begins.

All vanity, all is vanity in the destruction of the soul! In our daily call to worship of the elusive dollar, the need to survive demands we and our families eat.

The poor also need to eat! Everyone knows how the rich eat, they live on the hills, drive their expensive cars, they have maids and other inconsequential helpers, all subject to exile on the breadline for the smallest infraction.

The rich and powerful in Antigua have destroyed their souls by the vanity of their existence, and their program of destruction, while ignoring the needs of the poor.

Poverty encourages crime, and successful crime establishes gangs, and even though Antiguan semi-gang members have elevated themselves through politics, there is a ruthless, angry youth developing from the scum of poverty, heartless, clearly destructive, both male with crime and young women with promiscuity. I

f these young people are not saved, the total destruction of their souls will definitely cause abject poverty and destruction like Haiti.

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 It is essential that we strive for a society in which all people, everywhere, have reliable access to nutritionally adequate and environmentally sustainable food. On 16th October, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) joins its partners and the Caribbean people in observing World Food Day 2022 with the theme “Leave NO ONE Behind”.

We must allude to the fact that there is a close relationship between dietary health, food security, and food safety. This is evident in recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ukraine/Russia unrest – these events have exacerbated food insecurity and inflation, which has kept prices at all-time high levels and threatens to continue until the end of 2024.

Amidst these crises, the people of the Caribbean, have continued to struggle to earn a living and meet their basic food requirements.

According to a survey by the World Food Programme, from August 2022, 4.1 million people in the English-speaking Caribbean have been affected by food insecurity, with a significant increase of over one million affected since February 2022.

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Additionally, climate change which had a negative effect on the patterns of trade, production, and consumption of commodities.

Over time, weather patterns have impacted agricultural practices, crop production, and food crop nutritional quality.

Due to the susceptibility of germs, potentially toxin-producing microorganisms, and other pests to climatic factors, the effects of climate change may influence the frequency of some food-borne diseases.

“At CARPHA we implement an integrated One Health approach to ensure safe food, which encompasses a multi-sectoral, multi-collaborative, cross-sectional approach to ensure that integrated food-borne disease surveillance is carried out in our Member States, linking the epidemiological, laboratory, environmental and veterinary aspects of foods safety. We encourage stakeholders to work collectively to identify measures that will encourage individual and community food safety initiatives, early detection of potential threats at each link along the farm to table continuum and implement solutions. We are at the forefront of building the Region’s capacity through advanced food safety training and certification and enhanced food safety laboratory test capabilities,” stated Dr. Lisa Indar, Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division.

We all have a role to play. Thus, CARPHA sends out the call to all – farmers, research and academic institutions, civil society organisation, private businesses – to increase collaborative and supportive efforts to guarantee that the Caribbean’s food safety practices are improved.

Governments are encouraged to employ a unified health policy to promote safer food options from farm to fork.

Let us come together to build food systems that can withstand the impacts of potential future global disasters.

 As a Region we need to take a leave no one behind approach — encourage the production and consumption of nutrient-rich, locally sourced, low-cost foods; make a concerted effort to respect food and the environment by wasting less; and support initiatives that reduce poverty and hunger.

Everyone counts… we must ensure that no one is left behind.

SOURCE: Caribbean Public Health Agency

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Cu exigencia di 11 aña di prison

ORANJESTAD (AAN): Riba Diabierna, Fiscal di Husticia a exigi un castigo di prison di 11 aña contra e sospechoso Jonathan K. di 25 aña di edad, kende ta worde acusa di un intento homicidio di un agente policial di rango brigadier di Cuerpo Policial di Aruba.

   Tur cos a cuminza Diadomingo 1 di Mei 2022 un poco despues di 2:35 am, ora cu un Polis Motoriza a para un Toyota Tercel color berde cu number A-34229 pa un control di trafico. El a duna e chauffeur un señal pa para, y el a cumpli cune. El a para e vehiculo riba caminda grandi di Playa pa Noord, net otro banda di e rebendedor di Sherwin-Williams na Boegoeroei 85-D. Polis a bay pa atende e chauffeur, cu el a reconoce como e hoben recidivista Jonathan K., un persona cu na numeroso ocasion a haya problema cu Polis y cu Husticia.

  Diripiente Jonathan a sali bay cu su auto diripientemente, primi trot y cu velocidad halto, caminda el a lastra e agente policial casi 100 meter y a bay riba un palo di luz, y a lage benta abao net dilanti Boegoeroei 26-A.  E auto mes cu Jonathan tras di stuur a sigui core y desaparece.

   E agente policial di 31 aña di edad a resulta muy gravemente herida den e caida y boksmento cu e palo di luz.  Polis bin haya e Toyota Tercel aki para como 140 meter mas leu for di unda el a laga e agente policial benta abao. E Tercel tabata abandona y a djis lage atras blokeando garage di un cas na Boegoeroei.

   Mas despues a haya den e auto un arma di candela. Banda di posesion di e arma aki ta acusa e sospechoso tambe di a menaza dos persona na un lugar nocturno e mes anochi ey cu un arma di candela.

   E Diadomingo mainta ey, Jonathan K. di 25 aña biba na Papaya a bay entrega su mes, y mesora el a wordo deteni y encarcela.

   Ministerio Publico ta tuma e sospechoso sumamente na malo cu el a comete violencia contra un agente policial. Trahadornan di ayuda manera polis mester worde yiust proteha contra tur forma di violencia. Sigur den un caso manera esaki cu no tabatin ningun motibo pa violencia.

   Corte lo dicta sentencia riba 4 di November pa 8:15’or di mainta.

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