Black Immigrant Daily News

Just over $11.8 billion in contracts for the construction of the Schoonord, West Bank Demerara to Crane, West Coast Demerara four-lane highway were signed earlier today at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Present were Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Andre Ally; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), Dr. Emanuel Cummings; Chief Executive Officer of CHPA, Sherwyn Greaves; CHPA Director of Projects,  Omar Narine; and Deputy Director, Intakab Indarjeet.

Minister Collin Croal and other officials of the Housing and Water Ministry along with contractors after the signing

Greaves in outlining the project scope stated that the highway features 4.1 kilometres of a dual carriageway reinforced concrete road with an emergency lane and medians.

Works also include the rehabilitation of 2.4 kilometres of roadways and the construction of 2 roundabouts, 11 reinforced concrete box culverts, 36 pre-stressed bridges, and road signage and markings.

The Chairman of the Board underscored the importance of the project, as it will ease traffic congestion for thousands of Region Three commuters and improve access to housing schemes along the route.

Meanwhile, Minister Croal further stated that the project will energise economic activities in the region by creating job opportunities, aiding the expansion of the agriculture industry and processing facilities and the construction of industrial complexes such as the Wales Development Project and the multi-billion-dollar ‘Port of Vreed-en-Hoop’. (MOH&W)

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Black Immigrant Daily News

First Lady Her Excellency Arya Ali on Wednesday joined more than 2,000 young leaders from across the globe at the One Young World 2022 Summit in Manchester, United Kingdom, where she participated in a panel discussion on education, gender equality, and women in leadership.

Earlier in the week, Mrs. Ali joined the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markel, along with other political and business leaders at the opening ceremony.

On Wednesday, the First Lady shared the stage with former First Lady of Colombia, María Juliana Ruiz, for a First Lady’s Session which focused on global challenges which disproportionately affect women and girls.

Mrs. Ali and Mrs. Ruiz are founding members of the Global Network of First Spouses which works closely with the One Young World group to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the area of gender equality, Mrs. Ali underscored the need for women to be economically empowered to lead independent lives.

“One of the reasons gender-based violence exists is because of an imbalance in power relations between men and women and this often time happens because women do not have equal access to the same economic opportunities as men,” she said.

To support the economic advancement of women, the First Lady shared that her office has been providing fully funded academic and technical skills training scholarships to victims of domestic violence who are in institutional care.

One Young World 2022 Summit in Manchester, United Kingdom

She also brought into the spotlight, her groundbreaking period poverty project – dubbed the Menstrual Hygiene Initiative – noting that it has been one of the barriers to girls receiving a quality education.

Referencing a recent study by the Ministry of Education which shows that girls are at a high risk of experiencing learning loss or dropping out of school altogether because of their inability to afford or access sanitary pads, Mrs. Ali told the gathering of more than 2,000 young people that she could not sit by and not do anything about it.

“This is why I embarked on an ambitious initiative… which aims to provide every school-aged girl free sanitary pads at no cost to them. This provides our girls equal access to educational opportunities. Better education for our girls will mean better economic opportunities for them,” she stated.

Shifting her attention to women in leadership, Mrs. Ali dismissed the idea that women ought to prove that they deserve a seat at decision-making tables.

“Defending why the representation of women in leadership positions matters is akin to defending someone’s right to live. The fact that women make up just about half of the world’s population is sufficient enough a reason for us to be represented equally at all levels of decision making,” Mrs. Ali said to a thunderous round of applause.

She went on to add that for too long women have sat on the sidelines and watched men make decisions that impact their personal and professional lives and they have had little to no input.“No longer will we be complicit. No longer will it be a man’s world,” she said, to another round of applause.

The One Young World Summit brings together youths from all over the world who are actively working to positively transform the socio-political landscape in the areas of human rights, the environment, gender equality, discrimination, and injustice. (Office of the First Lady)

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Autopistas de Puerto Rico, empresa que tiene a su cargo la administración del puente Teodoro Moscoso, anunció hoy, jueves, el cierre temporero del puente, en ambas direcciones, este sábado, 10 de septiembre, comenzando desde las 6:00 de la mañana hasta las 6:00 de la tarde, debido a la filmación de una producción audiovisual.

Se exhorta a los conductores a tomar vías alternas como la PR-26 para rutas entre San Juan y Carolina, y el Ramal 8 si conduce entre Río Piedras y Carolina.

Se exhorta a los conductores a estar atentos a los mensajes variables ubicados antes de las entradas al puente.

El Puente Teodoro Moscoso es una infraestructura que conecta San Juan con Isla Verde desde 1994.

Nota relacionada: Anuncian cierre temporero del puente Teodoro Moscoso

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Black Immigrant Daily News

El alcalde de Toa Alta, Clemente “Chito” Agosto, anunció que a partir de mañana, viernes 9 de septiembre, y durante todos los viernes del mes, habrá un centro fijo, en el Coliseo Lauro Dávila, de pruebas para detectar el coronavirus.

“Es importante mantenerse cuidando ante los casos de COVID-19 que siguen reportándose en el país. Exhortamos a los ciudadanos a realizarse las pruebas para detectar el virus y así cortar las cadenas de contagio”, expresó el primer ejecutivo municipal.

Las pruebas se realizarán los viernes 9,16, 26 y 30 de septiembre, desde las 8:00 a.m. hasta las 12:00 p.m. mientras duren. Asimismo, se informó que el servicio estará disponible para residentes en Toa Alta y pueblos limítrofes. 

La iniciativa es posible gracias a una colaboración del programa SAMYR (Servicios de Ayuda, Monitoreo y Rastreo de COVID-19) y el Departamento de Salud, según el comunicado.

Esta mañana, Salud reportó nueve muertes por COVID-19, por lo que la cifra se ubica en 5,016 desde que llegó la enfermedad a la isla en marzo de 2020. Además, registraron 294 personas hospitalizadas

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The European Central Bank made its largest-ever interest rate increase Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in a global stampede of rapid rate hikes meant to snuff out record inflation that is squeezing consumers and pushing Europe toward recession.

The bank’s 25-member governing council raised its key benchmarks by an unprecedented three-quarters of a percentage point for the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The ECB usually moves rates by a quarter-point and had not raised its key bank lending rate by three-quarters of a point since the euro’s launch in 1999.

Bank President Christine Lagarde said the ECB will keep hiking rates “over the next several meetings” because “inflation remains far too high and is likely to stay above our target for an extended period.” She said energy prices will stay “extraordinarily high.”

While Lagarde stopped short of predicting a recession later this year, which many economists expect, she told reporters that “recent data point to a substantial slowdown in euro-area economic growth, with the economy expected to stagnate later in the year and in the first quarter of 2023.”

The bank’s jumbo increase is aimed at raising the cost of borrowing for consumers, governments and businesses, which in theory slows spending and investment and cools off soaring consumer prices by reducing the demand for goods.

Analysts say it’s also aimed at bolstering the bank’s credibility after it underestimated how long and how severe this outbreak of inflation would be. After reaching a record 9.1% in August, inflation may rise into double digits in coming months, economists say.

The war in Ukraine has fueled inflation in Europe, with Russia sharply reducing supplies of cheap natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and run factories. That has driven up gas prices by 10 times or more.

European officials decry the cutbacks as blackmail aimed at pressuring and dividing the European Union over its support for Ukraine. Russia has blamed technical problems and threatened this week to cut off energy supplies completely if the West institutes planned price caps on Moscow’s natural gas and oil.

Some economists say the ECB’s interest rate hikes, including a half-point hike at its last meeting in July, could deepen a European recession predicted for the end of this year and the beginning of 2023, caused by higher inflation that has made everything from groceries to utility bills more expensive.

Lagarde said the bank, however, did not foresee a fall in economic output under its current assumptions. A 2022-23 recession could occur only under a “really dark” worst-case scenario where all Russian natural gas is cut off, alternative supplies are not available and governments have to resort to energy rationing, she said.

Energy prices are beyond the ECB’s control, but the bank has reasoned that rate hikes will prevent higher prices from being baked into expectations for wage and price deals and that decisive action now will forestall the need for even bigger hikes if inflation gets ingrained.

Europe’s central bank “wants to fight inflation — and wants to be seen as fighting inflation,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.

Though energy prices and government support programs to shield consumers from some of the pain will “have a much bigger impact on inflation and the depth of the looming recession than monetary policy,” he said.

Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank, also said the coming recession “will be driven by energy prices and not by interest rates.”

Higher rates could help the fight against inflation by raising the euro’s exchange rate against the dollar and other currencies. That’s because the euro’s recent slide to under $1 — driven by soaring energy costs and dampening economic prospects — makes imported goods, including energy, more expensive.

The ECB has lagged other global central banks in raising rates. Central banks worldwide scrambled after being wrong-footed by inflation fed by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have sent energy prices higher and restricted supplies of parts and raw materials.

The sudden campaign to raise interest rates follows years in which borrowing costs and inflation stayed low because of broad trends such as globalization, aging populations and digitalization.

The ECB’s benchmark is now 1.25 per cent for lending to banks. The Fed’s main benchmark is 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent after several large rate hikes, including two of three-quarters of a point. The Bank of England’s key benchmark is 1.75 per cent, and the Bank of Canada on Wednesday raised its benchmark by three-quarters of a point, to 3.25 per cent.

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