Black Immigrant Daily News

Los alcaldes de Villalba, Yauco y Toa Baja hicieron un nuevo llamado al gobernador Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia para que no demore más en la solicitud para activar el fondo de emergencia que responda a las necesidades en los municipios a raíz del huracán Fiona.

El primer ejecutivo municipal de Villalba, Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, describió el evento como una pesadilla mientras continúa con 12 personas refugiadas, carreteras medio incomunicadas (la PR-149 y PR-150, por ejemplo), derrumbes e inundaciones. Asimismo describió que su municipio continúa sin luz, a la vez que son muchas las personas sin el servicio de agua potable.

“Me comuniqué con el señor gobernador. Hablé con él, le planteé la preocupación y la necesidad de que se active el fondo de emergencias cuanto antes. Necesitamos ese fondo de emergencia para continuar la recuperación. O sea, tú sabes que los municipios, económicamente, no están bien, y hemos tenido que sacar de donde no tenemos”, resaltó Hernández Ortiz al destacar que aconseja a sus colegas, incluso a quienes tienen su primera experiencia en un desastre natural.

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Rescatan a 55 personas tras salida del río Yauco

Por su parte, el alcalde de Yauco, Ángel “Luigi” Torres Ortiz, informó que la PR-127 está incomunicada debido a que el río Yauco salió de su cauce, situación que también provocó el rescate de 55 personas de las comunidades aledañas. Además, informó que fue fallida la construcción de un dique preventivo tras el huracán María por el Cuerpo de Ingenieros y el Gobierno.

Por otra parte, informó que las familias de la comunidad del sector Ciénagas pasaron a pernoctar tras la emergencia, pero indicó que aún no han tenido acceso al fondo de emergencia por los temblores del 2020 para atender dicha necesidad.

Nota relacionada: Denuncian que 25 a 30 familias viven en módulos de madera que se podrían caer “con un soplo”

Al igual que su homólogo, pidió al primer ejecutivo activar el rescate económico para su municipio, quien le respondió que ya está en conversación con la Autoridad de Asesoría Financiera y Agencia Fiscal (AAFAF).

“Es algo necesario para todos nuestros municipios para poder asistir esta emergencia. Creo que el llamado es muy correcto del presidente de la Asociación (de Alcaldes, Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz). Ayer tuve un diálogo con el gobernador, también hablamos de ese tema, de la importancia de que se agilice ya, en las próximas 48 horas, para poder comenzar este proceso de recuperación”, indicó García Ortiz.

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4,000 familias afectadas en Toa Baja

Asimismo, el alcalde de Toa Baja, Bernardo ‘Betito’ Márquez García, indicó que la zona oeste, que incluye el casco urbano, es la zona más afectada al momento, y que han rescatado, al menos, a 10 personas. Por otra parte, especificó que en esta ocasión la zona de Levittown no se inundó en comparación con el huracán María, y específico que podrían estar afectadas 4,000 familias.

“Yo estoy seguro y reclamo que ese fondo debe activarse. O sea, los alcaldes necesitan ese fondo y sé que esa es una consulta que tiene que hacer, también, el gobernador con la Junta de Control Fiscal. Así que esta es otra de las emergencias que los alcaldes tenemos que darle el frente y se hacen necesarios los fondos que sean requeridos para poder ayudar a nuestra gente a atender sus necesidades imperiosas”, expresó Márquez García.

Mientras, el gobernador Pedro Pierluisi indicó, en conferencia de prensa, que estamos en una etapa de respuesta de la emergencia, aunque adelantó y reconoció que los daños son catastróficos.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation awarded $10 million in scholarships to students at the secondary and tertiary levels, to help bridge the financial gap of these students this academic year.

Thirty secondary students, drawn from each parish in Jamaica, were awarded $60,000, to cover the cost of tuition and school-related expenses.

These scholarships were presented in recognition of JMMB Group’s 30th anniversary, and serve to honour the memory of the late co-founder of JMMB, Joan Duncan, whose dream was to empower ordinary Jamaicans to access opportunities to better themselves, their families and communities.

Additionally, 17 students enrolled at a local university, pursuing a range of degree programmes (with the exception of medical sciences, dentistry, architecture, engineering and law), have received $6.8 million in new scholarships, for their final year of enrollment. The foundation also disbursed $1.4 million to existing tertiary scholarship recipients. The funding will cover the cost of tuition, books and other expenses.

The competitive application process saw over 600 applicants being shortlisted and interviewed, with the recipients being selected based on their financial circumstances; academic performance; and involvement in extra-curricular activities or voluntary work in their schools and or communities.

Speaking at the recent award ceremony held for the secondary school recipients, at the Terra Nova Hotel, Patricia Sutherland, chairman of the foundation, encouraged the students to “believe in yourselves and the power of choice, to unlock your inner greatness, by making positive choices that will transform your lives and make your parents proud.” She also shared words of wisdom to the parents and guardians, reminding them to, “listen keenly to your children and be an ever-present support system for them.”

In addition to the financial support the foundation provides, all scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to participate in online training sessions led by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation team.

Kim Mair, CEO of the Foundation, shared, “We believe in the holistic development of individuals and, as such, we want to provide our scholarship recipients with the tools they need to transform their lives, build healthy relationships, shift their mindset and unearth their greatness.

As such, our transformational training will cover self-awareness; reflection paradigm-shifting; critical-thinking; and visioning, among other areas.” Adding, “Our tertiary beneficiaries are also offered career guidance, through an initiative dubbed the ‘Leadership, Involvement and Innovation, Financial Literacy & Education (LIFE) Accelerator’ programme.”

This year-long programme is designed to assist budding professionals to better transition to the world of work and tap into the skills and mindset needed to live purpose-driven lives, by offering professional development sessions, mentorship and coaching, and facilitating community involvement and transformational training.

The scholarship programme is a part of the foundation’s mandate to support youth and nation-building, through education and transformational training.

Over the last five years, the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation has awarded over $50 million in scholarships to approximately 250 students at primary, secondary, tertiary and special needs institutions.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

News

COMMONWEALTH TALKS: A screengrab of a video posted to YouTube showing President Paula-Mae Weekes being interviewed on Sunday by a SkyNews journalist at the offices of the TT High Commission in London. – YouTube

PRESIDENT Paula-Mae Weekes has said with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, more and more Commonwealth nations may make a clean break from the monarchy.

She made her feelings known during an interview with a SkyNews journalist on Sunday at the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission in London. That interview has since been posted to social media, including YouTube.

Asked her view on the state of the Commonwealth now that a new monarch, King Charles III, is on the throne, Weekes said, “There is a feeling now, that after all these years, that the sovereign now should be the people.

“And that to have a sovereign from a country that is far removed not only geographically but culturally…might not necessarily be the best thing at this time in the nation’s development.

“So I think that perhaps the process (to remove the monarchy as head of state) will begin speeding up in various territories.”

Trinidad and Tobago has been a republic since 1976.

The President’s comments came after King Charles met with leaders/heads of state of Commonwealth countries over the weekend, when he personally thanked them for coming to London to attend his mother’s funeral on Monday.

Last November 30, Barbados became a republic within the Commonwealth with a president as its head of state.

Leaders of at least six other Caribbean countries have said they plan to remove the king as their head of state. They include Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis.

According to various news sites online, there are 14 countries outside the UK where the king is head of state: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu.

In these countries, the king will appoint a representative – such as a governor general – recommended by the popularly elected leader, such as the prime minister or president.

Commonwealth countries which are not within the realm do not have the king as their monarch and elect a head of state from among their own people.

Asked what would be going through her mind during the funeral, which marks the final chapter in an era in which Elizabeth II sat on the throne for 70 years, Weekes told the SkyNews journalist, “I really would have to carry my handkerchief with me, because it is quite possible that I may shed a tear for the queen.”

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