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THA secretary for Health, Wellness and Social Protection,
Dr Faith BYisrael. –

After the pandemic delayed cataract surgeries, THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Production Dr Faith BYisrael has announced their impending resumption.

Addressing the virtual post Executive Council media briefing on Friday, BYisrael said since taking up the post, she has received a number of calls and complaints from people awaiting cataract surgeries in particular. This service, she said, will resume in August.

“You would soon, particularly if you are one of those on the list for some time, be getting a call that you need to come in and do some pre-assessment work in order for us to get these surgeries done.”

She said the groups of doctors for these surgeries will have to be mobilised, adding that it may take “a month or so before we are actually able to start doing the surgeries.

“We hope to be able to clear the backlog with the schedule that we are working on.”

On the issue of the monkeypox virus, she said health professionals on the island have started working on public health policies and processes to be implemented “if and when” the island records its first case.

Pointing to the recent case in Jamaica, BYisrael said, “Because we see it coming closer to us, we have to be prepared.”

She said apart from the very basic plans provided by the Ministry of Health, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Regional Health Authority are actively working on ensuring the island is prepared.

“We had a meeting where we were being very clear on the types of communication needed, both internal and external communication.

“We were also clear on the kind of processes that need to be put into place to determine where we would place someone for example if we are going to quarantine them after we identified them as having monkeypox and what we do in the various circumstances.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

By Jason Miller

In today’s scenario, countries offering citizenship in lieu of economic investment in small island countries is increasing rapidly. These countries’ citizenship by investment programme has become notable consideration over the last years for the people looking to diversify their wealth. Investors seeking to explore some parts of the world will be offered the best fund options via the CBI Programme. 

Some Caribbean nations, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, the small island countries, offer citizenship by investment programme to propose profitable investment opportunities worth considering.

However, Obtaining alternative citizenship in Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia offers a number of benefits for the investors. These benefits enable individuals with favourable opportunities to plan and spread their wealth, reduce citizenship application timelines, extend citizenship to the family, a wide range of investment programmes, advanced living standards and relish the benefits of living in modern, diverse countries.

Moreover, the investment threshold is not as high as in other countries. Individuals invest less to access the same benefits offered by relatively large countries.

Shorter citizenship application timeline:

While seeking alternative citizenship, the citizenship timeline or the time it takes to go from investor to citizen makes a big difference. According to the 2021 CBI Index, the processing of citizenship applications in small island countries is faster than in other countries offering similar programmes. According to the same report, track CBI processing options are available at an additional cost.

This is particularly important for time poor investors looking for effective and trusted options with little or no residence.

It must be noted that fast track options do not reduce the amount of due diligence performed on individuals. The same multilayer approach conducted by various external and local firms along with international police authorities applies to these programmes.

Obtaining citizenship with family:

The rise of increasingly complex family relationships is driving investors to seek CBI programs that allow for a more diverse range of family members to be included under a primary application.

Even though a majority of CBI programmes provide for the inclusion of spouses and minor children, only a handful of countries do so for adult children and extended family.

Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia were ranked high in this regard according to the CBI Index of 2021. These countries have multi-family member categories that can be considered with one primary application. The degree of flexibility in these categories means that points are awarded for adult children, parents, grandparents and even siblings.

Investors who are seeking a second citizenship in these Caribbean countries do not have to worry about the breaking of family ties that comes with relocation and immigration.

Wide range of investment programmes:

Every investment option is evaluated based on its rate of return. When considering a CBI option, the types of investments are thoroughly scrutinised because they form basis of the income that investors will receive in the foreseeable future. The broader the investment programmes are, the better the diversification of an investor’s portfolio.

Individuals applying for the Dominica CBI can make contributions to the Economic Diversification Fund and Real Estate. The former supports private as well as public projects within the country whereas the latter entails investment in approved real estate projects.

St Kitts and Nevis offers a wide range of CBI options such as the Sustainable Growth Fund. This option follows the Dominica CBI focus which is the public and private real estate development.

Key investments in St Lucia include the National Economic Fund Investment and real estate amongst others. This diversification of investment options is advantageous because it enables investors to select suitable investments that are in line with their risk appetite.

High standard of living:

The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), which encompasses factors such as life expectancy, education, access to healthcare, safety, and income is used to determine a country’s standard of living. Dominica, St Kitts, and Nevis, and St Lucia have an HDI of 0.742, 0.779, and 0.759 respectively.

These country indices are higher than the Do you want to experience life-gaining courses in one of the most amazing countries in the world?

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Put a smile on your face and start planning your adventure today!It is all possible and very likely for you to experience. where most investors come from, and they indicate fairly high standards of living.

Outside of economic factors, small island countries island countries rank high in terms of freedom of expression, civil liberties, and political rights which all contribute to a high standard of living. Investments in these countries also tend to offer considerably stable returns because of reduced political risk from upheavals or conflict.

Low minimum investment outlay:

According to the CBI report of 2021, small island countries offer relatively lower investment outlays for their CBI programmes. 

The minimum investment outlay is an important measure because it is one of the most practical and foremost considerations for all investors. Overall, small island countries had the lowest minimum investment requirements, with some as low as USD 100 000 in Dominica.

The low investment outlay means that investors can access similar benefits that come with being a citizen of a country, without paying a fortune.

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Reginald Armour –

The Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain has been selected as the venue for lawyers to debate a motion of no confidence against Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, on July 15.

Armour is expected to attend the meeting which will be held both physically and virtually. The meet is expected to begin at 2 pm.

A notice to members last Friday said the meeting will address the matters set out in the requisition of 40 attorneys who called on the council to convene a special general meeting to debate the no-confidence motion over his role in the ongoing United States civil asset recovery case related to fraud allegations in the construction of the Piarco International Airport.

Lawyers will also vote on if a call should be made for Armour to resign as attorney general.

Only financial members will be allowed to vote.

On June 15, the group of attorneys presented the requisition to the association’s council, led by attorney Kiel Taklalsingh.

In the original requisition, Taklalsingh said he and the other members who signed the petition felt the issue should be discussed by the membership, as it concerns the integrity of the legal profession.

“Respectfully, these allegations, if left unaddressed, have the potential to erode public confidence in our profession, the administration of justice, and the rule of law,” Taklalsingh said.

In announcing the date for the debate of the motion, Lalla said the association had written to Armour “advising him of your letter wherein a requisition for a special general meeting (SGM) was made.”

Armour, 65, who was appointed Attorney General in a surprise Cabinet reshuffle on March 16, failed to disclose his full involvement as a defence attorney for former government minister Brian Kuei Tung and Renee Pierre who are charged in the Piarco case when he met with US lawyers prosecuting Kuei Tung and others in a $200 million civil asset forfeiture case dragging on in Miami for 18 years.

On May 2, a US judge automatically disqualified Armour and the law firm Sequor Law on the grounds of an apparent conflict of interest as Armour was both chief prosecutor and a former defence attorney.

The government has since retained another US law firm, White and Case, to appeal the ruling by US judge Reemberto Diaz only against the disqualification of the law firm.

A request for an expedited appeal has been thrown out by the US appeal court. Former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi has replaced Armour as the client representative for the government in the US lawsuit which comes up for trial in September.

The Law Association has also opened a separate investigation into the AG’s conduct and has made a request for all the documents in the matter.

In a full-page newspaper advertisement, published after public commentary over what transpired in the case, Armour denied he misled the US Court when he initially claimed he only played a minor role in representing Kuei Tung, which was limited to research and note-taking.

Armour claimed that his initial affidavit to the court was prepared while he was in Europe on vacation and he did not have access to his office records to full recall the extent of his involvement in the case over 14 years ago.

He also claimed that he was not allowed to rectify the error when he had an opportunity to verify his records shortly after.

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File photo

A quarry contractor whose contract was terminated by Readymix Ltd in 2013 has appealed a judge’s dismissal of its breach of contract claim.

The appeal of Woodford Construction came up for hearing on Friday, before Justices of Appeal Mira Dean-Armorer, Vasheist Kokaram and Malcolm Holdip who at the end of an all-day hearing, reserved their decision to a date to be fixed.

Woodford Construction appealed the November 22, 2018, decision of Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams who, in her ruling, held that the contractor’s contract with Readymix was not prematurely and wrongfully terminated.

In her decision, Quinlan-Williams held she was satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that Readymix had good cause to terminate the contract, dismissing Woodford Contruction’s claim for damages.

In Woodford Construction’s claim, the company argued it had a contract with Readymix for the excavation and payment of high-quality pitrun from its Bermudez Quarry.

Readymix alleged it was not satisfied Woodford verified the actual quantity of pitrun extracted and removed from the quarry between the period November 2013-July 2015.

Woodford was required to pay Readymix $21 plus VAT for a cubic yard of pitrun and excavated approximately 214,332 cubic yards during the period in question.

In 2015, Readymix advised of the termination of the contract, giving no other reason than it had “embarked on a comprehensive review of its operations.” The termination notice also said the company has decided that it would be in the best interest of all stakeholders to discontinue the current structure.

In defence of the claim, Readymix maintained there was an implied term in its contract that entitled it to terminate with immediate effect if pitrun was “carried past” Readymix’s checker without stopping for it to be verified.

The company asserted that on three occasions, Woodford’s truck left the quadrant without being checked and this breach amounted to a “theft of Readymix’s pitrun supply.”

In arguing the appeal for Woodford, senior counsel Anand Ramlogan argued that Readymix kept changing the goal post looking for a way out in an attempt to justify its actions.

He said at first they said the termination was because of “reorganisation” of its operations, then it alleged the contract was illegal since Woodford did not have a mining licence.

He said Woodford was not to blame since there was no need for Woodford to have a separate mining licence.

He added that it was only after the Mexican-owned Cemex Ltd took over Readymix’s operations, did the company allege his client was operating illegally.

Ramlogan said there was “not a single line” in the judge’s decision to show she paid regard to the constant shifting of Readymix’s case.

He also complained of the finding of conspiracy in relation to the alleged theft of pitrun.

“She made a judgment on a case not argued or pleaded.”

In resisting the appeal, Readymix’s attorney Jason Mootoo maintained the company was entitled to terminate the contract and the judge was entitled to consider the admissible evidence before her.

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