Black Immigrant Daily News

Despite recording nearly 4,000 accidents in the last five years, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is pointing out that it has recorded a significant reduction in crashes involving its buses during the period.

The reduction, according to the JUTC, is because of several factors, including sanctioning delinquent drivers and engaging the police to conduct road safety sessions with its employees.

As previously reported by Loop News, the State-owned bus company’s units were involved in 3,963 accidents between April 2017 and March 2022.

The breakdown of the number of crashes each year over the last five years.

While emphasising that the total number of crashes includes those where third parties are at fault, and/or contributed to the accidents, JUTC noted that an analysis of the data reveals a few things.

“Firstly, that since April 2017 to March 2022, there has been a 57 per cent reduction in accidents. Secondly, year over year, the number of accidents have been trending down from 1,049 in 2017 to 1,033 (16 fewer accidents) in 2018.

“Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 33 per cent decline in accidents with 891 and 543, respectively. While for 2021 to March 2022, there were 447 accidents,” JUTC told Loop News.

“We are coming from a period where the number of accidents was particularly high but have since stabilised, which suggests we are doing something right,” said Corporate Communications Manager Cecil Thoms.

Thoms said JUTC has implemented several mitigation programmes, which are bearing fruit, “and we will continue on this thrust”.

He said these include but are not limited to:

-Constant training and retraining;

-One-on-one dialogue with members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force on road safety;

-Internal accident reduction sessions

-Applying disciplinary sanctions where possible/necessary

“Our goal is to not have any accidents, but this is not an ideal world, and so from time to time, there will be. Nonetheless, we will continue to do all we can to preserve life and property and encourage road users and other motorists to do the same,” Thoms said.

“While safety is our utmost priority, we cannot predict collisions, accidents or incidents, for example, stone throwing. However, we can and have been engaged in several mitigation programmes to reduce accident numbers,” he added.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is launching #DoYourShare to support mental health, a campaign that seeks to curb the stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental health conditions, and promote positive interactions that improve their search for help.

Various studies show that stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behaviors towards people with mental health problems are common.

Through messages on social media, using #DoYourShare, people are invited to break the silence, share their stories, and have an open and honest conversation about how one really feel, and thereby, provide mental health support and reduce stigma and discrimination.

“The more we talk about our mental health, the closer we get to reducing the stigma that surrounds it,” said Renato Oliveira e Souza, chief of PAHO’s Mental Health unit. “And when the stigma diminishes or disappears, seeking and receiving support becomes more feasible,” he added.

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Mental health conditions are common around the world and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a general impact across the population.

A study published in The Lancet estimates a 35% increase in depressive disorders and a 32% rise in anxiety disorders in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020, due to the pandemic.

“It is possible for most people to recover from mental health conditions if they receive the necessary care,” Oliveira e Souza said. “For that to happen, health professionals must ensure a safe environment and provide quality, inclusive care that is free of labels,” he added.

“PAHO’s campaign is crucial to helping people understand that any of us can face a mental health condition at some point in our life, and that this doesn’t have to block our goals and dreams in life,” said teacher Sahar Vasquez, who experienced a mental health condition firsthand and is now a member of the Organization’s High-level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19.

In addition to ending the stigma and discrimination that stand in the way of recovery, PAHO’s campaign urges national authorities to guarantee funding for mental health care, train more professionals in this area, and distribute them appropriately, so that everyone who needs them can access them.

People who visit the PAHO website will be able to access videos, infographics, social media cards, and other resources on what they can do to reduce stigma and discrimination, share their story, and support mental health.

More than 30 countries in the Region of the Americas have joined the initiative so far, and will carry out various awareness-raising activities.

The campaign was launched on the eve of World Mental Health Day, which is celebrated annually on October 10 to raise awareness about mental health issues around the world.

The day is also an opportunity to mobilize support to improve the mental well-being of the population.

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental health is a basic human right.

SOURCE: Pan American Health Organization

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Black Immigrant Daily News

La 16e édition du Festival International “Contes et Musique dans la Cité” sera lancée demain, mardi, à la bibliothèque Schœlcher par l’AMI (Association Martinique Images).

France-Antilles Martinique

491 mots – 10.10.2022

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Black Immigrant Daily News

NATATION

Les mois se suivent et se ressemblent pour le jeune nageur, désormais médaillé d’argent à la coupe de la Comen (Confédération méditerranéenne de natation) à Belgrade (Serbie).  

France-Antilles Martinique

191 mots – 10.10.2022

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A 28-year-old man from Lawrence Tavern in rural St Andrew was denied bail when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court Friday on a charge of housebreaking and larceny.

Orane Dacres, along with another man, is accused of breaking into a house in his community and taking electronic devices, including a cellphone, tablet and a laptop.

His father, whom it is alleged returned the stolen cellular phone to the complainant, may also have to face the court.

Dacres made his second appearance in court Friday, where a bail application was made on his behalf by attorney Cecile Ashton.

His co-accused, 20-year-old Tejay Beckford, also of Lawrence Tavern, was also arrested but pleaded guilty on August 12.

Dacres has denied the charges brought against him. He was remanded as he had previously been convicted and sentenced to serve time in prison on similar charges.

The previous conviction was also handed down in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in 2017.

Current allegations are that Dacres and Beckford broke into the house on the night of July 21, 2022, and stole the items.

It is reported that the complainant, who knew the accused, saw them in the house and called the police.

The prosecution is alleging that Dacres’ father brought a cellular phone to the complainant, who identified it as one of the items stolen from the home.

Dacres and Beckford were arrested on July 22, 2022, questioned and charged. Dacres is to be brought back to court on November 16.

The parish judge also ordered that the police interview the father of the accused to ascertain how he came into possession of the cellular phone or charge him with receiving stolen property.

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