Black Immigrant Daily News

La alcaldesa de Salinas, Karilyn Bonilla, informó que se encuentran en una fase de recuperación y verificación tras culminar las fases de rescate y respuesta luego del paso del huracán Fiona en el fin de semana.

“Estamos levantando un centro para determinar, en efecto, si el estimado preliminar que creemos de casas que se vieron afectadas por la inundación, ya sea parcial, o totalmente, es correcto”, expresó la ejecutiva municipal al resaltar que hubo inundaciones por las altas marejadas.

Además, informó que ya hay 50 de casi 400 refugiados que tuvieron en un momento, los cuales, a algunos de ellos, tuvo que rescatar en lo que catalogó como una operación titánica, y que continúan afectados algunos tramos en la carretera #1. La alcaldesa, a su vez, hizo un llamado al Gobierno para suplir sus necesidades.

“El pedido al Gobierno central es, número uno, que se activen rápidamente esos equipos de trabajo que tienen que hacer las evaluaciones de daños en los pueblos porque esas evaluaciones de daños no las podemos hacer los municipios solos. Tienen que venir el componente federal, que es FEMA, y el componente del Estado, que es el COR3, en conjunto con los municipios y con las agencias que se tiren a la calle”, expresó Bonilla.

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Por su parte, el teniente coronel Josué Flores, comandante de las Fuerzas de Tareas del Sur de la Guardia Nacional, reiteró que, en efecto, Salinas fue uno de los municipios más afectados.

“El enfoque del día de hoy es limpiar caminos, abrir brechas […] La idea es tener acceso a nuestro equipo de suministros, todo el equipo que haya que mover pesado tenga acceso […] La cantidad de agua, las pulgadas que cayeron en Cayey y en Salinas, creo que no se esperaban y nadie las había visto en el pasado”, destacó el funcionario al alabar la labor de los municipios que han trabajado en conjunto con el cuerpo de seguridad, que continúa tratando de llegar a comunidades incomunicadas y sin suministros, aparte de colaborar para energizar el país.

Por otra parte, informó que desalojaron dos centros de envejecientes en Cayey, para un total de 35 personas encamadas, en un espacio que estaba a punto de derrumbarse.

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Mientras, la líder comunitaria de Las Mareas, en Salinas, Jacqueline Vázquez describió como devastador el paso de Fiona por el municipio debido a las inundaciones causadas por la veintena de pulgadas de lluvia.

“Es crucial. El mangle era crucial. Eso era nuestra protección. Esa era la primera barrera, nuestra protección […] Lo estamos viendo, lo estamos sufriendo y lo estamos sintiendo […] Nos desprotegieron y el Gobierno dio luz verde para todo esto porque no son las personas que construyeron aquí [a] las que yo les echo culpa. Son el Gobierno que dio completamente luz verde”, expresó la líder.

Asimismo, informó que el Centro de Tutorías Punto Educativo, en donde sirven a los niños de las comunidades, quedó bajo agua. No obstante, se movilizan para recolectar equipo de limpieza y reactivar El Fogón, espacio comunitario en donde se gestionan alimentos para quienes lo necesiten.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A contingent of six RCIPS attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on Monday.

The officers attended the funeral parade with Detective Sergeant Daucea Scott, head of the Cayman Islands’ Domestic Violence Investigation Team and a 30-year veteran within the RCIPS.

They participated along the route of the procession after beginning duty at 5am, Cayman time.

Throughout the day, they assisted with crowd control and essential general policing duties and rotated positions with DS Scott on parade wherever possible.

“The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, in support of the attendance of His Excellency The Governor and the Honourable Premier, were honoured to have taken part in the funeral service in London for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” says Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne.

“The RCIPS representatives — comprising three male and three female officers — were led by Detective Superintendent Peter Lansdown, himself a former London Metropolitan Police Officer, have been selected from various departments across the service and have represented the Cayman Islands with great pride in ceremonial uniforms. It was indeed a great honour for the Service to be part of this historic and solemn occasion in London,” Byrne added.

Governor Martyn Roper stated: “It really was quite fitting that representatives from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service took part in the funeral proceedings for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II…. RCIPS personnel joined representatives from police forces across the Overseas Territories and the United Kingdom in London. I, like others across our islands, are proud of their service at this historic event.”

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The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) gathered virtually on September 13, 2022 for the 23rd ECTEL/NTRC Consultative Forum.

The aim of the session was to provide a platform for the NTRCs and ECTEL to discuss their budgets and work plan for the financial year 2022/2023.

It was also used to provide an update on the Universal Service Fund (USF) projects in each Member State and share lessons regarding the projects’ implementation.

In his update, the Secretary/Coordinator of NTRC Grenada, Mr. Lawrence Samuel identified several achievements attained over the last 20 years which include the promotion of open competition and the promotion of ubiquitous access and update of telecommunication services amongst others.

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However, despite the achievements he said there are still a few gaps to be addressed, such as the need to ensure greater quality of service monitoring.

Some of the USF projects being undertaken in Grenada include a project on public safety and disaster management, a Solar ICT Centre built in a rural community and the staging of an Intergenerational Boot Camp where computer literacy and skills were relayed to participants over forty years old.

Next was a presentation by the Director of NTRC St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Ervin Williams. He told the gathering that in speaking with the new Minister with responsibility for electronic communications, Honourable Konris Maynard, it is evident that he is ready to support the Ministers in the other Member States to follow through with the passage of the Electronic Communications (EC) Bill.

Mr. Williams also provided an update on a project for a health information system for the Ministry of Health under the USF.

Mr. Apollo Knights, NTRC St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Secretary/Director said some of the main programmes being undertaken include a review and update of the National Broadband plan for the island, which formed part of a pledge to the International Telecommunication Union initiative on connecting people everywhere; the execution of the 24/7 online project comprising four lots covering the provision of free wireless internet access at community centres, learning resource centres, playing fields, NGOs and some tourist sites. He also mentioned that a new tourism app would be completed soon.

Mr. Knights said the app will support the creation of more local content as well as help support eco-tourism.

Mr. Craig Nesty, the Executive Director of NTRC Commonwealth of Dominica indicated that their consumer protection initiative is underway.

Their website has been updated to ensure it is more consumer centric, he also noted that customers are being encouraged to file complaints using the correct channel instead of airing their grievances on the radio.

Some of the initiatives being undertaken by the NTRC include the staging of Code Camp Caraibe for children 8 to 16 years geared at providing computer literacy and problem-solving skills and the launching of the Net4All initiative which provides broadband services for $10EC per month to persons in need.

To wrap up the presentations from the NTRCs, NTRC Saint Lucia’s Administrative Officer, Ms. Joanita Alexander said public awareness continues to be their focus and they plan to disseminate information on the Commission’s operations through a variety of media platforms, roadshows, town hall meetings and educational programmes.

Ms. Alexander also provided an overview of their recently held Summer Tech programme which served sixty (60) form Four students from Secondary Schools island wide.

Some of the USF projects being implemented in Saint Lucia include the provision of internet connection at the National Skills Development Centre; the provision of computers and internet connection at the Boys Training Centre and the smart bus shelter connectivity project among others.

The meeting ended with an update from ECTEL’s Managing Director (Acting) Ms. Cheryl Hector Fontenelle on the Directorate’s work plan for 2022/2023. She announced that the Directorate is in the process of developing a business continuity plan with a focus on resilience.

She said, “We are committed to working with our governments to ensure the digital transformation of our economies, as such we have to transform our own organisation to have a very robust IT infrastructure”.

Ms. Fontenelle also spoke about ECTEL’s role in the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project (CARDTP) which involves the review of the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the electronic communications sector and the development of a Regulatory Impact Assessment Framework.

Additionally, Ms. Fontenelle provided an update on the status of the Electronic Communications (EC) Bill in each ECTEL Member State.

SOURCE: Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority

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