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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Today Thursday August 18, 2022 the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs reports a total of 82 new cases of COVID-19 from samples processed on Monday August 15, 2022 and Tuesday August 16, 2022.

This is from a total of 392 samples, of which 368 samples are from the Ezra Long Laboratory and 24 samples from the Laboratory Services and Consultations Limited.

These samples were collected from August 12, 2022 to August 16, 2022. This number of positive cases makes up 20.9% of all the samples processed on these dates.

These new cases bring the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 28, 461.

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Confirmation was also received of the recovery of 21 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. This brings the number of active cases in country to date to 139. Currently, there are eleven positive cases of COVID-19 admitted at the Respiratory Hospital, of which one is critically ill.

To date, a total of 54, 739 individuals have been fully vaccinated. Another 5, 166 are partially vaccinated and 7, 765 have received their booster shot.

Vaccination will take place at various Wellness Centres as per the published COVID-19 vaccination schedule. Vaccination will be available from 9am to 4pm.

SOURCE: Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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The Caribbean can benefit twofold from an extreme labour shortage plaguing the United Kingdom, says the CEO of a regional online recruitment service.

“We’ve already seen a noticeable uptick in foreign employers, especially from the UK, recruiting local Caribbean talent,” says Joseph Boll, Caribbean Employment Services Inc. CEO, “but there are opportunities from the other way around as well.

“Just as UK employers want to hire Caribbean workers, thousands of British workers are looking to leave home to live and work abroad. This is where remote work programmes in the Caribbean can come to the forefront and use that desire to their advantage.”

Boll notes the already-high pent-up demand for travel as COVID-related restrictions have eased around the world.

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“The Caribbean is already a highly desirable destination for visitors,” says the CEO, “but why stop there? There is a growing digital nomad market, where remote workers travel the world to live in different locations while still working for their employers back home. The Caribbean can benefit by making this easy and welcoming them.”

One such example is the Work From Bermuda programme, which that nation’s government said contributed some $28 million to the local economy.

Since its launch in August 2020, the Work From Bermuda programme garnered 1,315 applicants, of which 1,127 were approved and 234 remain in the country as of August 2022.

The Bermudian government says it intends to continue the widely successful initiative, hailing the programme as “a win-win for both visitors and Bermuda”.

Last year, Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Charles Jeffers II told Remote Worker UK, an affiliate of Caribbean Employment Services Inc., of the programme’s tremendous success. He highlighted the economic boost to tourism as well as local businesses and the local rental accommodation market.

Up to now, those benefits show no sign of slowing down as the government of Bermuda says it “continues to be encouraged by the number of new applications submitted weekly and the number of individuals who are choosing to renew their stay for an additional year”.

Boll notes that several other Caribbean nations had launched similar remote work programmes, though their levels of success are not widely known.

“Other countries should take note of the UK’s labour climate and Bermuda’s success and put the two together,” says Boll, a staunch advocate for remote work.

“There are benefits to be gained from Caribbean residents working remotely; from them taking advantage of work abroad opportunities in the UK; and from Caribbean nations letting foreigners live and work in their locales for short periods of time. The conditions are right; we just have to reach out and seize that opportunity.”

SOURCE: Caribbean Employment Services Inc./ SLT. Headline photo: Internet stock image.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The House of Assembly is currently debating a bill that would create a new statutory body for water and sewerage, and most legislators expressed overwhelming support for the plan before going into a closed-door committee session on Tuesday afternoon.

The Water and Sewerage Department is currently spending about $22 million a year to subsidise water operations, with residents only paying about $5 million of the overall $27 million cost.

Government hopes to help remedy the situation by creating a new statutory body, but details of that move still need to be hashed out, leaders said Tuesday. The Water and Sewerage Authority Act, 2021, which was introduced by Deputy Premier Kye Rymer, came for a seconand third reading during Tues- day’s HOA sitting.

Mr. Rymer, who is also the minister of communications and works, said the proposed legislation is “transformative” and would be the “impetus for some major changes that will dramatically improve the management for the delivery of potable water to residents.”

The minister described the plan to make the Water and Sewerage Department into a statutory board as a move that residents “need and deserve.”

Questions

But Opposition Leader Julian Fraser warned that the proposed legislation would result in increased water prices for consumers, and Health and Social Development Minister Marlon Penn said the authority would cost the territory $40 million per year or more. Both members found issues with a lack of a “plan” in the bill itself and urged their colleagues to consider the importance of a clear policy position.

“I don’t want to see this board formed and everyone expects a miracle from this board,” Mr. Fraser (R-D3) said. “I don’t want to see the board formed and they walk into the Water and Sewerage Department and get buried in the culture.”

He argued that the bill does- n’t provide a “map” for how the board will proceed with its tasks, and added that more details are needed.

“I am convinced that with proper leadership and using the existing model that we have, there is hope that an authority for water and sewerage can turn things around,” he said. “All we need is a minister who is committed and understands what the problems are.”

Mr. Penn, however, said that it’s important to “fix the problems that we face” by trying something different.

“We need to give this shift an opportunity,” he added.

The minister also noted that many concerns surrounding the water system in the territory already had been voiced in the House.

“We have to ensure that there’s a clear policy position on the way forward for this authority, and I think the committee stages of this bill are going to be critical for us,” he said. “There are some very specific and deliberate things that we need to do as a House to ensure this authority functions the way it’s supposed to function.”

High costs

Mr. Penn (R-D8) added that the territory has a distribution problem and needs to commit to infrastructural in- vestments. He also stressed the importance of accountability, transparency and value for money in establishing the board, and called for a strategic plan with a phased approach to fixing distribution issues.

“If we’re going to move, let’s move properly,” he said. “There’s too much money at stake. And not just the money: [Water] is a human right.”

Government backbencher Mark Vanterpool (R-D4) said the bill may not be “perfect” but with “more experience” the government will be able to make amendments in the future.

Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development Shereen Flax-Charles said she supports the bill, noting that the system needs improvements.

During the sitting, she shared messages that she’s received from residents who are “sick and tired” of the problems that have plagued the territory for decades.

“We have to fix this problem,” Ms. Flax-Charles said. “We have to try something different. We can’t continue to say that we’re one of the top destinations for tourism in the Caribbean and the locals, the residents, can’t get water and the tourists can’t get water.”

‘A significant step’

Government backbencher Vincent Wheatley (R-D9) also expressed his support for the bill, stating that water problems should have been fixed a “long time ago” and that making WSD a statutory body is a “significant step toward addressing” the issue.

Similarly, opposition member Carvin Malone (R-at large) said he supports the “brilliant initiative” by Mr. Rymer, who has also worked on efforts like adjusting the traffic flow in Road Town.

“This is a minister that gets things done,” Mr. Malone said of Mr. Rymer.

Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley agreed with Mr. Malone’s statement and said that establishing the authority is “another opportunity for [Mr. Rymer] to drive progress forward.”

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