Black Immigrant Daily News

The Antigua and Barbuda government is defending the decision to allow for a Antigua Airways to operate flights from West Africa directly to the Caribbean island saying the investors will be engaged in a wet lease “which means all that is required is to have the financial resources to lease not only the plane but all of the supporting personnel.”

Antigua Airways is to begin operations next month and a formal agreement was signed between the government and Nigerian publishing and printing firm, Marvelous Mike Press Limited, last month.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told legislators he is confident that the new airline will get a handling company to assist them and that they have been getting technical expertise from LIAT based in St. John’s.

“It is a wet lease…it will start as charter service,” Browne said, adding that his administration “has not made any money available to Antigua Airways.

“What we did do is to list it as a CIP (Citizen by Investment Program) project and one in which we have allocated up to ten CIP files and if and when they are subscribed then we will get I believe about 20 percent of the shares”.

Under the CIP program, Antigua and Barbuda provides citizenship to foreign investors who make a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the island. The CIP or CBI also exists in other Caribbean countries.

“My understanding is that the service will start as a charter service, they are also trying to have a sustaining relationship with LIAT 2020 when we would have operationalized LIAT 2020 and we have been told so far that the arrangements to lease the plane and to start operating are on target,” Browne said.

A Cabinet statement last month had indicated “the firm is hoping to collaborate with LIAT, flying passengers north and south of Antigua who have come from West Africa on Antigua Airways.”

Browne told Parliament that the company running the airline is registered to operate in Antigua.

Last month, Tourism Minister Charles Max Fernandez said the third week in October is the tentative date for the first flight and there may be about three flights per week.

Antigua Airways plans to operate a Boeing 767-300ER in a 16-business and 251- economy seating configuration.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The case of Shadesha Phillip, a woman who allegedly attempted to rob the Golden Grove service station in June 2021, has been added to the High Court’s list for the January assizes. Phillip, who is in her early 20s, is said to be one of two assailants who apparently tried to rob a female pump […]

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Ministers of health throughout the Americas have endorsed a series of actions to strengthen national regulatory systems in all Member States, in order to ensure that medicines and health technologies are safe, effective and of quality, and are tailored to the needs of national health systems.

The Policy to Strengthen National Regulatory Systems for Medicines and Other Health Technologies, adopted today by the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) sets out a series of recommendations to strengthen governance and capacities of regulatory systems, improving regional integration and promoting convergence.

“Regulatory systems are critical for ensuring the availability of quality medicines and other health technologies, such as diagnostics and personal protective equipment, as well as for promoting equitable access to these products,” said James Fitzgerald, Director of Health Systems and Services at PAHO.

“They are also vital in enabling countries to create the necessary ecosystems for the development and production of medicines and health technologies, including current efforts to boost regional production of vaccines in Latin America, which is key to ensuring future pandemic preparedness,” he added.

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The recommendations included in the Policy aim to support countries in strengthening the governance and stewardship of regulatory systems; ensure that these systems are consistent, transparent and based on best practices; improve regulatory harmonization and convergence; and adopt new evaluation systems based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Benchmarking Tool.

Throughout the past decade, the region has made vast improvements in the development of oversight capacity and systems, including in the designation of eight National Regulatory Authorities (NRA’s) of regional reference with the necessary installed capacities to effectively oversee and sanction the approval of pharmaceutical products.

Recent reforms within NRAs have also led to more transparent approval processes, with corresponding improvements in access to medicines and other technologies.

Despite this progress, however, significant challenges and existing asymmetries persist: “in Latin America and the Caribbean, the allocation of financial and human resources for NRAs has remained relatively static over the last five years, while the pharmaceutical market has continued to increase in value, volume and product complexity,” said Fitzgerald.

The manufacture of increasingly complex medical products also requires stronger surveillance and oversight, yet many NRAs have insufficient capacity in post-marketing surveillance or pharmacovigilance.

The new policy aims to tackle these issues, in line with the sustainable health agenda for the Americas 2018-2030, by ensuring that all Member States have robust and efficient regulatory systems in place.

SOURCE: Pan American Health Organization/ SLT

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Black Immigrant Daily News

El cielo estuvo parcialmente nublado ayer al anochecer sobre Puerto Rico. La actividad de los aguaceros aumentó y las tronadas comenzaron a formarse justo fuera de la costa y sobre Guayama poco después de la medianoche.

Los aguaceros y tronadas aumentaron sobre el sur de Puerto Rico y se extendieron tierra adentro durante el ínterin. Las cantidades fluctuaron desde 1.52 pulgadas en Guayama hasta alrededor de quince centésimas de pulgada en el interior. Los vientos fueron generalmente brisas terrestres en un flujo ligero del sureste.

Se espera otro día de cielo parcialmente nublado a mayormente nublado hoy. Algunos sectores del centro de Puerto Rico, de sur a norte, se despertarán con lluvia de ligera a moderada a medida que avancen los remanentes de las tronadas.

De lo contrario, el cielo de la mañana dejara entrar un poco de sol cálido y el flujo de viento del sureste calentara las elevaciones más bajas en el norte uno o dos grados más que ayer.

Se espera que las máximas de hoy alcancen los bajos 90 grados en las elevaciones más bajas hasta los altos 70 grados en las montañas más altas. Los vientos estarán de 6 a 12 mph con algunas ráfagas más fuertes dentro y alrededor de las tronadas.

La mayoría de las tronadas se desarrollarán durante las horas de la tarde y algunas serán lo suficientemente fuertes como para dejar de 1 a 2 pulgadas de lluvia y causar inundaciones urbanas y de riachuelos. Los aguaceros y tronadas disminuirán sobre la tierra esta noche, pero continuarán sobre las aguas locales. El patrón inestable continuará el lunes y martes, con una onda tropical moviéndose a través del área el martes.

Los navegantes pueden esperar oleaje de entre 1 y 3 pies a través de las aguas y pasajes cercanos a la costa y hasta 4 pies sobre las aguas mar afuera del Atlántico hoy y el lunes. Los vientos de suaves a moderados del sureste continuarán entre 10 y 15 nudos. Tronadas aisladas con áreas de lluvias fuertes y ráfagas de viento breves seguirán siendo posibles en sectores de las aguas y los pasajes locales. Existe un riesgo moderado de corrientes marinas a para el norte de Puerto Rico desde Aguada hasta Fajardo y Culebra hoy.

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