Black Immigrant Daily News

C&W Communications has unveiled its strategy to help bridge the digital divide across the Caribbean.

An initiative entitled ‘JUMP’ has been introduced by the operators of the Flow, Flow Business, C&W Business and BTC brands in a bid to foster greater digital inclusion in a region that today still enjoys less than 50% broadband penetration.

“Low broadband penetration in the Caribbean contributes to diminished opportunities for individuals, communities, and local economies, but with the support of funding partners, we aim to significantly close this gap within three to five years through a comprehensive programme that focuses on providing access, devices, and digital skills,” said Rosario Veras, Senior Director, Marketing and Operations, C&W Communications.

Veras was speaking to an audience of regional heads of state and heads of government, along with regulators, telecom operators, and industry stakeholders at CANTO’s 37th Annual Conference & Trade Exhibition in Miami.

“Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of digital technologies are available to everyone, and we must have intentional digital inclusion strategies and strive to eliminate institutional and structural barriers to technology accessibility,” she added.

Veras said ‘JUMP’ was a long-term investment aimed at changing lives, unlocking the potential of economies, and truly enabling progress across the Caribbean.

“We are committed to harnessing our resources and capabilities so more students can connect to their virtual classrooms, more people can benefit from telehealth and job seekers can improve their search for work and application access. Our core social mission is to connect everyone to the internet – irrespective of their income or where they live,” she said.

C&W Communications will be partnering with regional governments, along with non-profit organisations and private sector partners to ensure the success of JUMP.

“The digital divide is a large, multifaceted issue that requires holistic solutions, and a successful strategy requires building innovative partnerships, so we must co-create solutions in partnership with the communities we serve to ensure no citizen is left out,” she said.

“There is a role for each business, government, and community, and we are hoping to create an opportunity for all to bring their energy, commitment and collaboration on the mission of uplifting our region.”

Aamir Hussain – CANTO

Aamir Hussain, Chief Technology & Product Officer at Liberty Latin America, the parent company of C&W Communications, also addressed the conference on ‘The Future of Broadband in the Caribbean’.

“Broadband is a fundamental right of every citizen, and although there are currently 27 million users in the Caribbean, this only represents 60% of the total population and therefore there is a tremendous opportunity for growth,” he said.

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Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram. –

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram said the BA.5 sub-lineage of the omicron variant was detected in 41 per cent of the samples sent for genomic testing in the last week. He said the variant was only detected in TT the previous week.

At the Health Ministry’s weekly covid19 media conference on Wednesday, Parasram said the BA.5 variant was driving a new wave of infections around the world.

“To date, omicron continues to be the dominant variant of concern in TT, with BA.2 narrowly remaining the dominant sub-lineage at 45.5 per cent of recent omicron samples. BA.4 was detected in 9.1 per cent of recent samples, and BA.5 was detected in 41 per cent of last week’s omicron samples, noting that it was first detected a week prior to that, so it seems to be gaining speed and overtaking BA.2 and BA.4 both locally and internationally.

“A couple of weeks ago, we would have had one delta variant as well, so there seems to be a very low presence detected in circulation.”

Parasram said some of the cases were reinfections. He said it was difficult to quantify the number of people who would be reinfected, especially if they had a mild version of the disease and did not need to seek treatment.

“In TT we haven’t quantified a particular percentage that has been reinfected, but most of the new variants of concern are prone to reinfection. This is why we have stressed on the booster programme and the importance of getting boosted, as another element of reinfection is the element of waning immunity over time.

“Most studies have suggested that you should get a booster every six months, then a second booster four to six months after that. It may not completely prevent infections, but will prevent severe disease outcomes in terms of morbidity and mortality related to them.”

The CMO said there has not been a great increase in cases at the long covid clinics thus far, but monitoring would continue in light of the increase in BA.5 cases.

“Arima has a specific clinic dedicated for long covid, while in other hospitals it has been integrated into the internal medicine clinics.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the ministry would continue monitoring the numbers of covid19 cases as it had done after the removal of each restriction.

“We monitored after Christmas and New Years when we were expecting a spike, after Taste of Carnival, we monitored when we dropped the TTPass requirement and then the proof of vaccine, we monitored after the two large mass events in the Brian Lara Stadium and Port of Spain, and we will continue to monitor after Sunday. The next two-three weeks, by the end of July into early August will give us an idea of the effect.”

He congratulated the population on continuing to wear masks after the lifting of the mandate.

“Masking remains mandatory in health care facilities. We noticed in the public a lot of people remain masked, and it shows that they are managing their personal risk and doing the right thing. There are the odd people making comments, but the vast majority are taking the thing seriously and I’m pleased and grateful that masks were not ditched wholesale.”

Deyalsingh said he noted that many businessplaces were doing away with the requirements for hand sanitising, and appealed to them to continue inviting their patrons to sanitise.

“It’s not the law, but the three recommendations of wearing a mask, washing your hands, and watching your distance are still fashionable and should still form part of the public health landscape.”

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Keston Morris. –

Marilyn Wilson wants to bury her son. She is hoping that whoever killed him will at least give her an opportunity for closure by letting her know where his body is.

Newsday spoke with Wilson at her Production Avenue, Sea Lots, home on Wednesday.

The mother of six said she has accepted that her son Keston “Chos” Morris, 33, is dead, although police is still treating his case as that of a missing person.

She said she saw her son’s body on social media pages.

“I didn’t believe he was dead until I saw pictures for myself. I saw them and I say ‘That is my child, they kill him.’

“All I want, all I would like to have, is his body, his remains, because they say they chop it up.

“We don’t have any confirmation, but the people responsible say we can’t find that body at all, no matter how hard we try. My consolation is I know he dead, may his soul rest in peace somewhere, wherever it is.”

Wilson said her son, who was released from prison in 2018 after eight years on remand for murder, was always partying, seemingly to make up for lost time while in prison.

In April 2018, Morris, Reinaldo Marcano, 36, Raymond Birot, 45, Jirt Serrette, 32, Gerard Hepburn 24, Devon Samuel, 24, Terrence “Trix” David, Keon “Taliban” Lawrence and Joel “Snake” Roberts, 25, were all freed of murdering Ameil George, 24.

George, of Building One, Harding Place, Cocorite, was murdered on January 18, 2010. He was attacked near his home by a group of men during a robbery and was chopped multiple times.

Morris was part of what police called the “Dirty Dozen” after 12 men were charged with George’s murder. In July, the three others, Shawn Villafana, 23, Sherwin Alexander, 32, and Richard “Bulls” Thomas were acquitted.

Relatives, who were around when Newsday visited but did not want to be identified, recalled last seeing and hearing from Morris on July 16 after he planned to go to a party with his sister and some of her friends in the area.

That day he was seen leaving the area in a white Toyota Axio. One relative said he told those who saw him in the car that he was safe. He was never seen or heard from since.

Wilson said, on Sunday she began seeing pictures and hearing rumours that he was killed in Central Trinidad but police had no information on that. Calls by relatives to police stations and hospitals were fruitless in finding him.

Wilson said after seeing three photos of her son tied up, two where he looked alive and one with him looking as though he was dead with what she believes to be a gunshot to the head, she was convinced he was killed.

She said her son must have been betrayed because in one of the photographs he appeared shocked at who was having him tied up.

Relatives said all the photographs they saw came from Morris’ phone. They said the killers were using his Instagram account to send photos and, in some cases, were liking images of him missing. They questioned why police had not tracked his phone to find his body and/or his killers.

Asked why she was so calm speaking about her son in the past tense, Wilson said she accepted that he is dead and had cried before. She believes a time will come when her son’s killers and or their relatives will have to cry.

Wilson said Morris was anticipating his son’s first birthday on Sunday and had plans to go to the Radisson Hotel with his siblings and their children to celebrate.

Relatives said Morris was a “ladies man” who did not work, but was cared for by the women in his life – some of whom knew about the others and had no issue sharing him.

“He is a lucky fella when it comes to girls because he had many,” Wilson said.

Asked why someone would want to kidnap and kill him, Wilson said: “We live in communities that warring each other, so enemy grab him. They want to make it look like is Sea Lots, but is not Sea Lots. Is enemy hands he end up in.”

She could not swear that her son “don’t do nothing,” but could only testify to what he told her and he never told her he was involved in criminality.

“My only hope is to ask God, even if it is in whole, in pieces, in whatever, just for a body to bury – that’s all I want, a body to bury. Even if is just a fingernail, just to say my final goodbye and ‘Son rest in peace.’”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Birth control pills can help you avoid pregnancy, but they can also have other benefits.

While birth control is the most common reason people use the pill, more than half of users rely on it to regulate their periods, relieve endometriosis symptoms, prevent ovarian cysts, and help with PCOS, cramps, PMS, and anaemia.

Birth control contraceptive pills have been very easy to obtain in St Lucia in recent years. Although the Pharmacy Act of 2007 states that contraceptive pills are a prescription-only drug, until recently, purchasers were often not required to present their prescriptions.

The Pharmacy Council observed that many pharmacies throughout the island were selling contraceptives without a prescription, which is against the law, and has recently enforced this law.

“That law has always been there, we are just enforcing it. If you check the Pharmacy Act of 2007, the requirement is you need a prescription to purchase contraceptives. There are a lot of things that we need to enforce. We see it happening too often and people are just walking into a pharmacy and buying contraceptives without a prescription. The pharmacies are dispensing contraceptives without prescriptions so we are enforcing the laws and pharmacies need to abide by the laws,” the Pharmacy Council said.

While contraception requires a prescription, morning-after pills (emergency contraceptives) can be purchased without one. According to the Council, morning-after pills are a pharmacy-assisted drug that does not require a doctor’s visit.

“The emergency contraceptive pill is a pharmacy-assisted drug, which means it can only be purchased from a pharmacy authorised by a pharmacist, and the consumer has to be counseled by the pharmacist. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription to get the emergency contraceptive pill.”

“There are different forms of contraception, there are different formulations, there are different ingredients in contraceptives, and that is the reason why you need a prescription. You have to be examined by a physician and the physician will be in a better position to determine which form of contraceptive is better for the patient.”

The Pharmacy Act of 2007 states:

A pharmacist shall at all times have regard to the laws and regulations applicable to pharmaceutical practice and maintain a high standard of professional conduct.

A person who contravenes a provision of this Act for which no penalty is specified commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

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