Black Immigrant Daily News

The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) will be embarking on a yearlong campaign that will focus on improving service delivery to persons with disabilities (PwDs) and the elderly.

The campaign, which will begin with Fire and Life Safety Awareness Week activities, from October 23 to 29, will see the brigade engaging with PwDs, both adults and children, and senior citizens and their caregivers.

Groups such as the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities, Jamaica Society for the Blind, Jamaica Association for the Deaf and Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, are partnering with the brigade in the undertaking.

Commissioner of the JFB, Stewart Beckford, said the activities to engage the vulnerable groups will not be confined to the week of observance.

“We have always been working along with them, but they are being singled out for attention for this week. Some of the activities that we are going to be undertaking in collaboration with some of these associations will go well into the next year and so on.

” It is a partnership that will endure for some time to come because as long as they are among us, they will need that kind of attention. We plan to remain engaged with these institutions because they are a vital part of our community,” Commissioner Beckford said.

The Commissioner said that the brigade will also target persons with intellectual disabilities and partner with the Poor Relief Departments within the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to reach senior citizens.

Some of the JFB’s immediate plans include the training of fire wardens among the vulnerable population, assisting in developing emergency plans, conducting fire drills to test the response of the various groups, and helping them to identify and reduce fire hazards within their spaces.

Senior Deputy Superintendent and Public Relations Officer of the JFB, Emeleo Ebanks, shared that messages will be tailored to meet the needs of the various groups.

“We have to… reach them where they are, and for the first time ever in the history of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, we will be doing brochures in Braille. So, individuals who are blind will get that information of what to do to prevent fires and what to do in the event of fires,” he said.

He noted that the Brigade’s approach to helping PwDs extends beyond sharing information with the community to equipping firefighters to communicate with them.

“A very vital part of this, for us as firefighters, is that we will be getting some training for members of the Fire Brigade so we will be able to communicate with these individuals in a better way.

“Sign language will alert us and help us as firefighters to teach these individuals how to prevent fires and what to do in the event of one,” Mr. Ebanks said, noting that JFB personnel will also be able to engage with hearing-impaired persons encountered at the scene of fires.

The JFB will be observing Fire and Life Safety Awareness Week from October 23 to 29 under the theme ‘Preserving the Nation through Life Safety and Fire Prevention’.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Ministry of Health has reported that three more persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

As a result, active COVID-19 cases in Guyana are now at 27 including two persons in institutional isolation and the remaining 25 persons in home isolation.

Moreover, the country’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 1281, while some 70,114 persons have recovered thus far from the life-threatening virus.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Le défenseur international français de Manchester United Raphaël Varane s’est blessé au cours du match de Championnat d’Angleterre à Chelsea, samedi, avant de quitter le terrain en marchant mais en larmes…

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Black Immigrant Daily News

LONDON (AP) — Casemiro’s injury-time header earned Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.

Jorginho had looked like giving Graham Potter his first standout win against a major team in the league when converting an 87th-minute penalty.

But Casemiro rose to head past Kepa Arrizabalaga and earn United a deserved point.

The visitors arrived at Stamford Bridge on the back of their most complete performance of the season in the 2-0 win against Tottenham in midweek. And United had the best of the chances in the first half, with Marcus Rashford again failing to make the most of his opportunities in front of goal and Antony missing when one-on-one with Kepa.

With Cristiano Ronaldo cut from Ten Hag’s squad after the Portugal striker refused to come on as a substitute against Spurs, United looked in danger of paying the price for their failure to capitalize on their dominance.

Even more so when Scott McTominay brought down Armando Broja in the box late on.

Jorginho stepped up and converted from the spot.

Victory would have seen fourth-place Chelsea move four points clear of United but Casemiro ensured late drama.

Rising at the far post to meet Shaw’s cross in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Kepa got a hand to the Brazilian’s header, but could only touch it onto the post before the ball crossed the line.

“First half Rashford had two big chances, Antony one against one,” Ten Hag told BBC Sport. “You have to score goals in such moments because in top games three chances is massive. You have to score.

“We dictated the game and I am happy with that. If you concede a goal late it is difficult.”

Chelsea manager Graham Potter is still undefeated since succeeding Thomas Tuchel last month.

“It’s disappointing because we’re 1-0 ahead at the end, but over the course of the game a point is about right and I’m not sure if we did enough to win it,” Potter told Sky Sports. “A really fighting performance from us, we improved a lot after 30 minutes so we will take what we get.”

United had a scare when Raphael Varane had to leave the field after 60 minutes with an apparent knee injury.

The France international was in tears as he departed, raising concerns over his participation in the World Cup.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Labour Relations Consultant Henderson Bass is calling for clarity on statements made by Government Spokesman Lionel “Max” Hurst concerning the liquefied corpses which had to be buried hurriedly this week.

Those bodies were being housed in a refrigerated container on the compound of the old Holberton Hospital, and reportedly began decomposing after the cooling unit broke down.

Hurst claims that five bodies known to have been hurriedly interred on Thursday had been unclaimed by any relatives. However, Bass says he does not believe this story and he asks how many missing or homeless persons might have died over these past months.

Bass says Hurst is a stranger to the truth and no one should believe what he says.

Seeming to contradict Hurst’s statement about the bodies being unclaimed, however, was an Observer Radio caller who, on Wednesday night, advised the public that he had been notified of his brother’s remains being buried the next day.

The deceased was a well-known figure whose funeral many relatives and friends had hoped to attend.

Meanwhile, there remains some controversy about the use of the refrigerated container.

A source reminds REAL News that the refrigerated unit was intended to store bodies that had tested positive for COVID-19. However, by some accident, the source reveals, the body of a man who did not have the virus was recently placed in that container.

This, the source says, was a breach of the storage protocols and a potential source of contamination – not only for the body, but for those who would handle it in the course of a post-mortem examination, as well as the police officers and witnesses.

Given that the five known bodies were not autopsied, REAL News asked the source what would be listed as the cause of death on their death certificates. However, the official could not say what decision had been taken by the Coroner in that regard.

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