Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Ministry of Works through the Project Implementation Management Unit and the Ministry of Creative Industries and Innovation are teaming up with the private sector in Antigua and Barbuda to launch a campaign aimed at increasing road safety awareness.

The initiative forms part of the National Socially Inclusive Road Safety Awareness Communication Strategy themed “Mission Safe Roads for All,” featuring the seat belt campaign slogan “No Matter How Far, Buckle Up!”

This historic initiative will highlight the importance of road safety and the first campaign priority of seatbelt wearing through an elaborate float that will be part of the Community Carnival program on July 16th and introduce the public to some of the communicative materials.

The Socially Inclusive Road Safety Awareness Communication Strategy 2022 – 2030 is designed to guide the development and implementation of evidence-based best practice public awareness campaigns up to 2030 to improve road safety and help to achieve key United Nations 2030 global road safety targets.

The Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Works and Head of the National Road Safety Council, Ambassador Clarence Pilgrim is of the opinion that the partnership with the Minister of Creative Industries and Innovation sets out to heighten public awareness of seat belt wearing for drivers and front seat passengers at a critical time for road safety in the twin island state.

He believes that by showcasing the Road Safety Carnival float in 2022 and by mobilizing community support, this will serve to educate the public about high-risk behaviors and create a behaviour change that will result in the reduction of road fatalities and traffic collisions nationwide.

The strategy was developed through a partnership approach with over 60 stakeholder agencies from government, industry, business, and civil society entities providing their feedback and input.

The Public awareness campaigns will complement and be coordinated with legislative reform, police enforcement and engineering initiatives.

The Director of the Ministry of Creative Industries and Innovation Ms. Petley O’Keiffe, recognizes the issue of road safety as a critical one, especially during the festive Antigua Carnival season, and calls on patrons to use the roads responsibly throughout the festive season.

Ms. O’Keiffe is pleased about the partnership between the Project Implementation Management Unit and the Ministry of Creative Industries and Innovation and looks forward to future collaborative efforts throughout project implementation.

She hopes that the carnival float in the parade will be seen as a symbol of the Socially Inclusive Road Safety Awareness Communication Campaign and will encourage all road users to embrace Mission Safe Roads for All.

Ongoing Road Work————————————————————————————————————————-

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda Second Road Infrastructure rehabilitation Project is still ongoing with road work underway on Valley Road North, Sir Sydney Walling Highway and Old Parham Road.

There are traffic interventions in some areas with the traffic being controlled by flag persons.

Road users are advised to proceed with caution when traveling in the work zones.  For additional information please contact the PIMU via email: [email protected] or call us: 562-9174/6 or 562-7782

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Black Immigrant Daily News

PriceSmart, the operator of 50 wholesale cubs in the Caribbean and Latin America, says its membership base is at an all-time high, with over 1.75 million accounts in its third quarter.

The new record follows the April 2022 opening of its Portmore club in St Catherine, Jamaica — PriceSmart’s second on the island.

PriceSmart reported that its net merchandise sales grew to almost US$1 billion in the third quarter ending May 2022 of its fiscal year, up 12.8 per cent over the comparative period last year.

PriceSmart CEO Sherry Bahrambeygui said the sales performance improved even after taking into account a negative currency impact of 2.2 per cent.

Comparable net merchandise sales for the 47 warehouse clubs that have been open for greater than 13 1/2 calendar months increased 12.8 per cent for the 13-week period ended May 29, 2022, compared to the comparable period of the prior year.

Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted comparable net merchandise sales negatively by $18.6 million or 2.2% versus the same period in the prior year.

Total revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 increased 15.1 per cent to $1.03 billion compared to $895.3 million in the comparable period of the prior year.

Bahrambeygui noted, however, that like many other retailers, PriceSmart has not been spared the impact of global supply chain disruption and abrupt shifts in consumer demands.

Despite making strategic investments in inventory to remain in stock and capture higher levels of sales, the CEO said supply-chain issues have disrupted the flow of inventory.

She also noted that inflation has influenced consumer behaviour by shifting the demand away from discretionary and toward more essential items.

“As a result, we have been experiencing excess inventory, primarily in the area of hardlines,” she said.

Hardlines refer to non-personal items such as sporting equipment, appliances or electronics.

“Our hardlines and other non-food categories are characterized by a higher penetration of imported items that tend to correlate with discretionary spending, the CEO explained.

To this end, PriceSmart said it has taken decisive action to swiftly sell through excess inventory and quickly rebalance its inventory mix as it has experienced higher than normal markdowns.

“Our plan is to handle this quickly and efficiently in order to be well-positioned for the holiday season.”

PriceSmart said it is likely to see some margin pressure in the fourth quarter but expects it will be far less than the third quarter.

“We see this as a point in time. We have gained many new important insights. We expect soon to return to our healthy, historical margin structures.”

In the meantime, Bahrambeygui said PriceSmart remains focused on its plan to drive growth through expansion of its global real estate footprint, increasing the value of the membership, and driving incremental sales through PriceSmart.com and through the creation of additional technology capabilities.

PriceSmart is also expanding in the region and has purchased land to open its third warehouse club in El Salvador.

The company had 50 warehouse clubs in operation as of May 31, 2022, compared to 47 warehouse clubs in operation as of May 31, 2021.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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