Gov't willing to discuss hazard pay with unions

Errol Barrow –

Icon, Leader,

National Hero

Pages 4-6

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WHILE the Government is opento discussions with the unionson the matter of hazard pay forvarious categories of frontlineworkers, Prime Minister MiaAmor Mottley says the unionsmust present their proposals inwriting, and those will beweighed against what the coun-try can afford at this time.

During a virtual press confer-ence yesterday from Ilaro Court,Mottley indicated that while sheis “sensitive and sympathetic”to workers’ concerns,

Government has to be responsi-ble, as every effort has to bemade to keep the country stable,given the significant drop off inrevenue from tourism, the mainrevenue earner.

“I get it and I want to givesome level of hazard pay, but Iam putting you on notice thatthe quantum can only be whatthe traffic can bear and the traf-fic at this stage has had a 90percent reduction in tourism.Wewill give more for the nature ofthe hazard, but we cannot give

beyond what we don’t have andI don’t think any of us wants togo back into a hole where we areincapable of coming out,” thePrime Minister said.

With that in mind, shefrowned on workers taking in-dustrial action without evenputting their request on thetable, and called on the NationalUnion of Public Workers, whichhas been representing workersacross the public sector, not tocloud the issue. PM Mottleywent on to say that she has sug-

gested to Minister of Health, Lt.Col. Jeffrey Bostic, that therehas to be a distinction betweenthose who are literally onCOVID-19 frontline and thoseworking in the background tohelp preserve our health systemand different aspects of oureconomy, and do not necessarilyface the same level of risk.

“We are responsible people, ifthe proposals are reasonable wewill look at them. But what Ican say is that there has to be adistinction between those who

are on the frontline of COVIDgenuinely, with respect to swab-bing, or with respect to medicaltreatment, or with respect evento the labs... But I am also say-ing that the Minister of Financemay have to later in the year,look and see how we are going toclose the gap between what weare spending and what we areearning,” said Mottley who holdsthe portfolio for Finance,Economic Affairs andInvestment.

DISCUSS on Page 3

Gov’t willing to discuss hazard pay with unions

ARTIST HEATHER-DAWNScott has added her voice tothose who oppose the formerofficial residence ofBarbados’ first PrimeMinister, Errol Barrow,being leased to the Duke ofEdinburgh’s International

Award Barbados Charity.She has even taken it a step

further and has placed a ban-ner which carries the message,“Not here so, our mirror imagesays no” out front the Lot 2,Culloden Farm, St. Michaelproperty. She did so on

Wednesday while supported bymembers of the Pan AfricanCoalition of Organisations(PACO) who were present.

Scott said the banner will beup for “two to three days” butshe wanted to ensure it waserected ahead of Errol Barrow

Day, which will be celebrated onThursday [today]. She said shewanted to stimulate discussionand cause Barbadians to thinkabout the built heritage that wehave and what we can lose.

“This is my response to an ar-ticle in the paper by Reverend

Onkphra Wells and I read andmy immediate reaction was thatwe cannot let this building go toDuke of Edinburgh. It is ErrolBarrow’s state home, it is hisresidence. He chose to live hereand to think that we can have

BANNER on Page 2

Artist, Heather-Dawn

Scott and John “Tifase”

Howell stating why they

oppose the former official

residence of Barbados’

first Prime Minister, Errol

Barrow being leased to

the Duke of Edinburgh’s

International Award

Barbados Charity.

NOT HERE SO!

2 • Thursday January 21, 2021 The Barbados Advocate

BANNER from Page 1

the Duke’s flag flying… onhis house, it seemed so ir-reverent to me. It seemslike a complete mistake.So I immediately just saidI am going to make a ban-ner.”

Scott said she has noth-ing against the Duke ofEdinburgh’s InternationalAward Barbados Charityand described it as a“healthy thing intellectu-ally and physically. It isgood especially with chil-dren.” However, she is ofthe view that the property“long ago should havebeen used as a museumto Barrow or the arts orsomething Barbadian, notsomething from

Edinburgh”.“For me, it hurts me be-

cause it is our loss and tolet this building get to thisstage and still nothing. Itis nothing to do withCOVID. COVID is new,this house has been herefor too long in this state. Iam just hoping that peo-ple realise what we haveand what we don’t use.”

Voicing his support forthe placement of the ban-ner, PACO’s John “Tifase”Howell stated he hopespersons walking and driv-ing by “will be able to seeand hopefully, it will stirup an educational pur-pose and people wouldwant to know who is thisreal Errol Barrow, theyounger people, that this

sign should be up and ho-nouring him in some spe-cial way and for the firsttime they may be know-ing this was the officialresidence just like IlaroCourt is to the PrimeMinister of Barbados

right now.”Last week, a resolution

was laid in the House ofAssembly to lease theproperty to the Duke ofEdinburgh’s InternationalAward Barbados Charityfor 25 years. (MG)

Despite the recent surgein COVID-19 cases, theMinistry of Tourism andInternational Transport iscommitted to ensuringsafe, efficient and smoothtravel for travellers, espe-cially those who are out-bound and in need of therequisite negative COVID-19 tests.

Senator Lisa Cummins,Minister of Tourism andInternational Transportgave the above assuranceduring a recent press con-ference, which saw key of-ficials giving a COVID-19update.

“Since last Sunday asyou are aware,we stood upa call centre and we havereceived hundreds of callsat the call centre, sincethat time. Along with theMinistry of Health, wehave been working on en-

suring that our visitorsand our travellers are ableto benefit from gettingtheir test results, but wehave also been focusingsince Tuesday, on dedicat-ing resources at the (Best-dos Santos Public HealthLaboratory) to allow forpersons to travel seam-lessly” Minister Cumminsrevealed.

“We know that therehave been some chal-lenges. We know thatthere have been difficul-ties with persons still get-ting their test results ontime and that it is stillregetable, but we give youthe commitment that as acountry and as a govern-ment, we are workingthrough those issues” sheadded.

“Since Tuesday thisweek, over 234 persons

have been able to come tothe Dos Santos Lab, toable to benefit from a com-bination of PCR tests foroutbound travellers whoare moving out to Canadaand for those travellerswho are moving out to theUK and we are very ap-preciative of the partner-ship with our airline part-ners” she further com-mented, noting that trav-ellers have been able tobenefit from rapid antigentesting at the lab.

Cummins also revealedthat of the 234 originallynoted, there were 145 vis-itors, including visitingBarbadians and returningnationals and in additionto these, there have alsobeen 89 locals who as a re-sult of the introduction ofadditional testing support,have been able to have an

antigen test provided, ifthere were in quarantinehotels.

Those persons whosebusinesses were closed asa result of positive casesand who spent the requi-site time in quarantine,were also able to benefitfrom being released.

The Tourism Ministeralso indicated that addi-tional systems are beingput in place for those whowill continue to travel inthe coming week.

Travellers outbound onCaribbean flights and alsoCanadian flights, aremeanwhile being urged tomake contact with the callcentre at 628-4150 or theMinistry, so arrangementscan be made for them to flyout with a negative PCRtest result and the re-quired certification. (RSM)

PRIME MINISTER MiaAmor Mottley says sig-nificant progress hasbeen made with thebacklog at the Best-dosSantos Laboratory re-garding the processingof COVID-19 tests.

Mottley made the dis-closure in a press confer-ence yesterday to updatethe country on the lateston the COVID-19 pan-demic, as she revealedthat Cuban doctors andlab technicians who haverequested to help boostthe local complement ofmedical staff, are set to ar-rive on island tomorrow,and the virologist from thePan American HealthOrganisation (PAHO) whowill train additional stafffor the lab, is expected toarrive early next week.

“What has been good isthat we have been work-ing with him [virologist]over the course of the lastweek, ten days and as aresult of that there havebeen significant improve-ments in the efficiencyoutput of the lab, particu-larly through pooling andother mechanisms thatthey have used,” shestated.

The PM’s commentscame as she spoke of thenew four-tier system em-ployed since Monday,January 11th to prioritisetesting, which she saidhas been bearing fruit.She referred also to effortsbeing made to release per-sons from quarantine,through the use of therapid antigen test onthose who have been inquarantine for 10 days.

“With respect to wherewe are since the introduc-tion of categories I amhappy to report that evenas we speak the majorityof persons who have notyet heard will be hearingtoday [Wednesday],largely because the labhas completed over thecourse of the last few daysover 3100 tests. But moreimportantly for you, onthe last two days what re-mains are the categorythree and the categoryfour tests from the 18thand 19th of January,” shestated.

The PM indicated thaton Monday the lab re-ceived 1054 samples to betested, of which 854 werecompleted and on Tuesdaya total of 570 sampleswere received and up tothe time she spoke, 210

were completed. She saidwhat remained to be donewere samples from cate-gory three - second andtertiary contacts and cat-egory four – persons whohave not been knowinglyexposed to the virus, butwant to be tested.

“…I have spent five ofthe last seven nights inand out of the lab makingsure that we can deliveron these issues, this hasbeen a difficult time forthe country. It’s challeng-ing, largely because of theexplosion in the numbersof tests… and we havehad serious difficultieswith some of them, but wehave been able to respondadequately,” she stated.

The Prime Minister’scomments came as shesaid Barbados has beenworking with local, re-gional and internationalpartners to address thechallenges the countryhas been facing.She spokespecifically of thePAHO/World HealthOrganisation which up toearly this week providedrapid antigen tests andpersonal protective equip-ment and Guyana, whichprovided “significant vol-umes” of tests andreagents.

Going forward, PMMottley said that thecountry will as early asnext week have in its pos-session two new testingmachines and plans aremoving apace to have twonew labs up and running.She indicated that the pri-vate sector labs, one ofwhich will be attached toa hospital, are currentlygoing through the regula-tory process and havebeen in “deep discussion”with the Ministry ofHealth in order to speedup those efforts.

Mottley told those tun-ing into the press confer-ence, that while the coun-try is seeing light at theend of the tunnel, the fightis not yet over. As such,she is urging Barbadiansto continue to wearmasks, practice social dis-tancing and sanitise theirhands regularly.

“The best defender ofyou protecting yourself isyou, the Government cando all that we want to doto set the rules and set thecontext... but the power ofagency and the power ofaction lives in each andevery one of us,” she main-tained. (JRT)

Progress

being made

Tourism Ministry working to assist

outbound travellers in getting tests

Nuff said!

Chairman of the Pan African Coalition of

Organisations (PACO), Reverend Wayne Onkphra

Wells was present to support artist, Heather-

Dawn Scott.

The banner which is out front the the former official

residence of Barbados’ first Prime Minister, Errol

Barrow.

A POLICY decision hasbeen taken in relation tothe counting of COVID-19deaths for the country.

According to Minister ofHealth and Wellness, Lt.Col. Jeffrey Bostic, anyonewho passes away, havinghad respiratory respira-tory symptoms and havingtested positive for COVID,will be counted as aCOVID death. His com-ments came during a pressconference yesterday,where key officials gave aCOVID-19 Update.

Bostic revealed that thecountry has on record nineCOVID-19 deaths giventhe policy decision, whichcomes after health officialswere previously investi-gating the death of an 84-year-old Barbadian manas possibly related to thevirus, which has now beenconfirmed as the eighthcase and after an 83-year-old Barbadian man whopassed away at the hospi-

tal on Tuesday, also testedpositive for the virus.

In relation to the latestdeath he noted, “The de-ceased is an 83-year-oldmale who presented to theAccident and EmergencyDepartment yesterdayand he was seen at theAccident & EmergencyDepartment. He passedaway, but the COVID testwhich was taken by theA&E Department cameback positive”.

“The 83-year-old malewas seen earlier at theA&E Department back onthe 12th of December anddischarged to the home ofhis relatives and (onTuesday) and an attemptwas made to have himbooked into a small nurs-ing home in the south ofthe country, where hewould have spent approx-imately an hour-and-a-half, before he was takento the A&E Department,where he passed away,”

Minister Bostic said, not-ing that contact tracing ef-forts are ongoing at thenursing home.

He then stated, “I mustsay at this point in timethat a policy decision hasbeen taken that as long asa person who passes awayand had respiratory symp-toms and tests positive,wehave taken the decisionthat we will count that asa COVID death, whichmeans that we are now atdeath number nine, be-cause the 8th case which Iwould have mentionedsome time ago, that is nowa COVID death. So thereare nine deaths fromCOVID for Barbados.”

For the entire COVIDperiod, 93 070 tests havebeen conducted to date,yielding 1 156 positivecases. Of these cases, 758positive cases have beenrecorded for the month ofJanuary this year, from 22815 tests.Since last week’s

reporting,5 850 tests werecarried out, yielding 120positive cases and over theperiod of three days, up toyesterday, 1 556 testsyielded 15 positive cases.

For the eighth deathwhich was reported, 17tests were carried out forthe 17 primary contactsidentified via contact trac-ing and 16 of those testscame back negative,with 1positive.That positive testhas been linked to theWest Coast cluster.

Manager of IsolationFacilities, Dr. Corey Fordemeanwhile says that inprimary isolation at theHarrison Point Facility,there are currently ninepatients. Seven areBarbadian, one is fromTrinidad and the otherfrom Guyana. Two pa-tients there are on ventila-tors – one,a 45-year-old fe-male from Trinidad who iscritically ill and a 48Barbadian female as well.

GIVEN the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic,management of theQueen ElizabethHospital (QEH) is urg-ing members of thepublic not to simplyturn up at the hospitalor present to theAccident andEmergency (A&E)Department for care,without calling aheadfirst. Potential patientsshould also be awarethat there is a triagesystem in place, forthose visiting A&E.

Acting Director ofMedical Services at theQEH, Dr. Clyde Cave re-vealed the above during apress conference yester-

day, where key officialsgave a COVID-19 Update.During that press confer-ence, Cave outlined thepractices which are inplace to protect staff andpatients as well.

“The first thing we askis that you call ahead toour Help Desk, at 536-4800. That is staffed byprofessionals, doctors andexperienced nurses whocan provide first-aid anddirect you as to the course.It may be best not to actu-ally come to the hospital atthat time and there maybe other things that youare advised to do,” hestated.

“When you arrive at theAccident and Emergency

Department, the first stopwill be the tent outside,where a triage is per-formed. That is the proce-dure where we assess thestate of the patient'shealth, but also their rela-tive risk for COVID. Thisis first in the form of aquestionnaire and we askthe public please to behonest and forthcomingwith all of the answers tothe questions. This is foryour own safety, but alsofor the safety of other pa-tients in Accident andEmergency at the timeand also for our staff,”Cave stressed.

He further explained,“On the basis of thattriage, patients are di-

rected either to a [specific]area where respiratory ill-nesses and other COVIDlikely or possible cases arecared for in isolation facil-ities or to the regularAccident and Emergency,where they have also pre-cautions in place to pre-vent COVID transmis-sions, but obviously not asrigorous as in the [specific]area.

“Once you have been as-sessed and seen by a doc-tor, the decision then willbe to have a COVIDscreening test or not.There is sometimes adelay, during which timewe are waiting for the re-sults of that test, but thatdoes not hold up the med-

ical care which is beingprovided to patients inneed. Once we have thattest back, then patientsare directed then either tothe isolation facilities ifthey are positive or admit-ted to either the general

hospital and in the gen-eral hospital, we also havepractices and proceduresto minimise any kind ofspread, because like in thecommunity, we have to bealways vigilant,” Dr. Cavesaid. (RSM)

Thursday January 21, 2021 • 3The Barbados Advocate

VACCINES from

Back Page

Dr. Gebre, however, high-lighted that it was impor-tant for each country toscale up and start early.He added that having ad-equate regulatory func-tion to accept the vaccinealso needed to be consid-ered.

“To start early, countrieshave to cover three things,readiness, indemnifica-tion and their ability. Inthese three orders we arenow working with thecountries, how ready arethey to receive the vaccineusing a checklist and thenwe define which countriesare ready to receive evensome of the pfizer (vac-cine) doses earlier. Sosome of those countriesmay receive the vaccine inlate January or earlyFebruary,” said Dr. Gebre.

Further negotiationsmay be required by coun-tries to acquire more vac-

cines,but Dr.Gebre statedthat this would occur afterthe commencement of vac-cinations.

“The 70% may not bereached through theCovax Facility,however asmanufacturing continuesand as countries are ableto accept and start vacci-nations, there is a possibil-ity to enter additional ne-gotiations for additionaldoses.

Beyond the assured 20per cent of vaccine doses,the doctor contended thatthe rest would come even-tually but not likely beforethe end of 2021. He statedthat the sheer volume ofdoses, upward of five bil-lion, required to satisfythe 190 countries wouldtake time to manufactureand distribute.

“Even if we had themanufacturing capacityglobally, the health systemis not able and ready todeliver all vaccines withinthat period.” (AS)

Steps to obtaining

vaccine addressed

Triage system in place at

A&E Department to

prevent spread of virus

Acting Director of Medical Services at the QEH,

Dr. Clyde Cave.

New policy decision as country

gives update on COVID deaths

DISCUSS from Page 1

The Prime Minister’scomments came as shemaintained that her ad-ministration has been

more responsive to theneeds of public servantsincluding nurses, thanany other government inrecent years.

“Now have we done

everything? No wehaven’t. But you can askthe customs officers, youcan ask almost every cat-egory of worker in thiscountry, we have bent

over backward to facili-tate and to look at gen-eral terms and conditions.But I issue a warning atsome point the Ministerof Finance is going to

have to step in, and atsome point the Ministerof Finance will ask howare we going to pay for allof this, and at some pointthe Minister of Finance is

going to have to makesure the balances arethere, because what wewill not do is topple thiscountry over,” Mottleycontended. (JRT)

‘BLP more responsive to public than any other’


By Dorian Bryan

NATIONAL Hero, the RightExcellent Errol Walton Barrow wasa man among men, a giant in localBarbadian political life, a foundingmember of a major political forceand party and an unwavering andundeterred regionalist.

We often talk about myths, legendsand those who had an impact whichexceeded the length and breadth of this166 square miles of prime real estate.Long before, Errol Walton Barrowbecame a National Hero, he emerged asa leader, being a founding member of theDemocratic Labour Party (DLP) whichcame to power in 1961.

This country will pay tribute to thisBarbadian icon and National Hero,today, and last year – 2020 – pre-COVID-19, we witnessed a series ofevents which culminated in theunveiling of a plaque at the Garden,Checker Hall, St Lucy. That plaque wasunveiled by current Prime Minister andleader of the Barbados Labour Party(BLP) Mia Amor Mottley, alongsidemembers of the Barrow family to markthe centenary of his birth.

Errol Walton Barrow was born onJanuary 21, 1920 and was the son ofReverend Reginald Barrow and his wifeand was also the nephew of eventualNational Hero, the Right ExcellentCharles Duncan O’Neal. Known as the‘Dipper’, during his time at school. InDecember, 1939, He won a scholarshipin Classics to Codrington College but didnot pursue those studies. Instead, hejoined the Royal Air Force and served inWorld War II. He was personalnavigation officer to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army at the Rhinebetween 1940 and 1942. After his stintin the RAF, Barrow studied law and wascalled to the Bar, Inns of Court in 1949.He returned home in 1950 as apractising barrister-at-law and becamea member of the Barbados Labour Party(BLP) in 1951.

In 1951, he won a seat in St. Georgefor the BLP which moved from 12members in the House of Assembly to16, thus obtaining a clear majority forthe first time. But the desire to fashion anew political force led Barrow in 1955,along with Cameron Tudor and othersto form the Democratic Labour Party.He lost his seat in the 1956 GeneralElections, but returned to Parliamentafter successfully contesting a by-election in St. John in 1958.

He, as founder-member of theDemocratic Labour Party, and came topower as Premier in 1961 and held thatposition until 1966. It was with thispower that he successfully led thecountry’s proposal to becomeindependent. When this became areality, Barrow became the country’sfirst Prime Minister. That action inLondon, led to the passage of theBarbados Independence Act of 1966which in part stated the following: “AnAct to make provision for, and inconnection with, the attainment byBarbados of fully responsible statuswithin the Commonwealth. [17thNovember 1966]

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’smost Excellent Majesty, by and with theadvice and consent of the LordsSpiritual and Temporal, and Commons,in this present Parliament assembled,and by the authority of the same, asfollows:- 1.-(1) On and after 30thNovember 1966 (in this Act referredFully to as “ the appointed day “) HerMajesty’s Government in theresponsible United Kingdom shall haveno responsibility for the governmentstatus of Barbados. of Barbados. (2) NoAct of the Parliament of the UnitedKingdom passed on or after theappointed day shall extend, or bedeemed to extend, to Barbados as part ofits law; and on and after that day theprovisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shallhave effto the legislative powers ofBarbados”.

Continued on Next Page

Errol Barrow – Icon,

Errol Barrow (centre) on a holiday voyage in 1968 from the Tobago Cays. In

photo, Captain Fergusson (right) adjusts the speed of the Ecstacy. Others

include Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Sargeant, Mr. Brathwaite and Mr. Mitchell.

Princess Margaret dances with Prime Minister Errol Barrow at the British Week

Ball in 1973.

Errol Barrow, leader of the DLP with his sister (from left) Mrs. Ena Comma, Dame

Nita Barrow and Miss Sybil Barrow.


Continued from Previous Page

Barrow held the post of PrimeMinister first from 1966 to 1976 andagain in 1985 to 1987. He also served asOpposition Leader.

After losing the election in 1976 after15 years in power to the BarbadosLabour Party and Tom Adams, Barrowreturned to power in 1986, leading hisparty to a 24-3 majority in the House.

In this paper’s tribute to the lateBarbadian and Caribbean icon, thewords ‘Barrow – a Caribbean man’proudly provided the backdrop of aretrospective into the impact which hehad on his regional peers and those whohe served in his storied political life. Inthat January 21st, 1993 article, mentionwas made to a tribute which was paid tothe late leader by former Antigua andBarbuda High Commissioner RonSanders, who stated that Barrow was ‘aman who faced much difficulty inaccomplishing the tasks which he sethimself...(but) he enjoyed the struggleas much as he savoured the conquest”.

So admired was Barrow, Sandersrecalled, that he was given a hero’swelcome after his first and ultimatelylast appearance at the CARICOMHeads of Government meeting in July1986. “What accounted for this highregard in which Barrow was placed byCaribbean people? It was not that hewas not without pomp as much as hewas without stylishness. With ErrolBarrow, what you saw was what yougot”.

Sanders praised the humility ofBarrow the man. “Through-out his term(in office), whenever he returned toBarbados, he fetched his own bags fromthe aircraft and walked to the customsdesk like any other citizen:, whileadding that Barrow was not keen onusing taxpayer funds to facilitate FirstClass travel or using large entourages.That was based on a view nourished bya deep “conviction that his country wastoo small and its resources too preciousto waste on unnecessary trappings”.

Barrow had a serious love for theindependence of the region indetermining its foreign policy. Hebelieved that Independence meant apre-disposition to operate within theworld as sole agents and thatrelationships must work for the benefitof the countries themselves. Barrowfamously stated that he was against“anybody sitting down in Washingtonand telling us what we should have inthe Eastern Caribbean is, after all acivilisation”. This was followed up in aspeech which was delivered to the 10thAnnual Caribbean-Central AmericanAction-Sponsored Miami Conference onthe Caribbean where Barrow statedthat the region was independent of theUnited States. “The utmost priority hasto be attached both by the Caribbeanand the United States to the movementfor regional co-operation...for self-reliance in the situation of theCaribbean, must necessarily meancollective self-reliance..with all themoney, all the technology and all thewill in the world, the US cannot solvethe problems of the Caribbean. The UScan contribute...enormously, but only ifthe people of the Caribbean arethemselves determined in a spirit of

self-reliance to grapple with theirproblems”. That was counter-balancedby the practical aspect of the manBarrow was, when he determined thatthe best way that the U.S could aid theregion was through “approved regionalinstitutions”.

Barrow was hailed for not only hiswork but his love of food and people.President of the DLP, Verla De Peiza,while addressing the party’s ErrolBarrow Service last Sunday, which washeld at the St. Lucy Parish Church toldthe congregation that the focus of theParty’s founder was on the people ofBarbados, and that in developing them,they then will position themselves tomake a mark on the world scene. “I amsatisfied that is still the formula forsuccess, for this country. “That we find away to single out the talents of ourindividual people; that we find a way topromote what is socially just in thiscountry. That we find a way to givespace for creativity; to give space andlatitude to those who think bigger fromthe rest of us because all have a validrole to play. The lesson of his life to beapplied to each and every one of us isthat we think deeply – what isnecessary to improve our society; ourpeople. And then take the steps,mashing a few corns along the way, butdoing it because you know it is the rightthing to do to advance our society. Hemay well have built the foundation ofBarbados, but it is incumbent upon usto send those walls up in the air,” DePeiza said.

Robert ‘Bobby’ Morris, writing in atribute by the DLP on Barrow, statedthat he was the man of the century. Hisrationale was based on theachievements made by the man himself.One was the establishment of ‘two-party democracy’. Morris charged thatBarrow was the leader and the DLPwas his army. The party was his ‘holygrail, a combination of nationalism,regionalism, social welfarism, economicdiversification and democracy”.

Morris spoke of the resilience ofBarrow, after suffering defeat in 1976.The ability to weather ten years inOpposition and then be able to riseagain to lead the country, if only for ashort time, spoke volumes of hischaracter and determination to fight forthe ideals which he believed in. “WhenBarrow led his troops in 1986 he talkedabout assuming office rather thantaking back ‘power’; he advised hissoldiers that they had to walk offseveral pairs of shoes before they couldconvince them that they were ready forthe challenge; he pulled together one ofthe most diverse and heterogeneouscollection of individuals in a socialdemocratic party – all glued by themagic of wanting to be with Barrow”, headded.

Barrow was a consummate politician,who listened, and even after his partywas rejected at the polls, continued towork for his constituents and was readyto lead when the country needed him todo so again. Even in times, when thelimits of democracy are being testedwith no elected Opposition, the lessonsof Barrow should ring true for the partywhich he helped to create and to lead.

Continued on Next Page

leader, National Hero

In 1974 Prime Minister Errol Barrow and President of the Caribbean

Development Bank Mr. William Demas (left) planted a tree on the grounds where

the new bank building is almost completed.

In 1963 regional leaders (third from left) Errol Barrow, Michael Manley and

Dr. Eric Williams met Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Trinidad.

Prime Minister Errol Barrow riding a horse back in November 1972.


Continued from Previous Page

That yearning to be like Barrow,Morris contended, extended to the mereawe which Barrow’s voice and presencecommanded. “Whether in the spokenwork, or a transmitted to the electronicor print media, Errol’s voice wasarresting and transforming. He couldcalm and control a multitude by thedepth of his thoughts, the range of hisscholarship, by quotations fished fromhis memory, the use of an arrestingphrase, the involvement of each andeveryone of his listeners in a dialogueof the mind”.

Among his achievements, Barrow, inaddition to leading the Independencesuccess, secured the right to vote for 18year olds. The sugar industry workers,especially field workers secured theright to have a certain number ofworking days free.

Free secondary education wasguaranteed for secondary and tertiarystudents. This opened the door tothousands of Barbadians of all socio-economic standings to attain theeducation which had been placed out oftheir reach.

Free school meals were guaranteedfor primary school students. A statue

remains in Independence Square astestimony to this great Barbadianleader.

Barbados’ Prime Minister Errol Barrow signing the Treaty of Chaguaramas on 4th

July 1973, with Prime Minister of Guyana Forbes Burnham and Prime Minister of

Trinidad and Tobago Eric Williams.

A candid photo of Prime Minister Errol

Walton Barrow.

Known for his love of cooking Prime Minister Errol Barrow was photographed

admiring these crabs during a trip to San Francisco.

Prime Minister Errol Barrow thrilled a large crowd when he produced a skillful

back-heel kick as he officially opened the revived St. John Parish League

Football Competition in Gall Hill in February 1987.

Statue remains in Independence Square

as tribute to this great Barbadian leader

Prime Minister Errol Barrow (third from left) taking a stop to buy some

refreshments for himself and his permanent secretary for State Enterprises

Lionel Moe (left) and the Prime Minister’s personal aide Leroy McClean during a

tour of St. Lucy, St. Andrew and St. John back in May 1987.


BEIJING – China’s auto market saw aforecast-beating performance in 2020 despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, thanks to policy support and astrong recovery in consumer demand,data from an industry association showedrecently.

The number of automobiles sold in thecountry totalled 25.31 million last year,down 1.9 percent year on year,narrowing6.3 percentage points from the declineseen in 2019, according to the ChinaAssociation of Automobile Manufacturers(CAAM).

“China continues to top the world in auto sales,” the CAAM said in a statement, attributing the industry’sstrong performance to government support, efforts of auto firms as well as ro-bust recovery in market demand.

In 2020, China produced 25.23 millionautomobiles,down 2 percent year on year,narrowing 5.5 percentage points fromthe drop in 2019.

In December, auto sales reached 2.83 million, up 6.4 percent year on year,while production totalled 2.84 million,up 5.7 percent from a year earlier.

The country’s auto market was hit hardby the COVID-19 epidemic in the firstquarter, but both production and saleshave bounced back quickly since April asfactories reopened and pent-up demandunleashed.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) inChina went up 10.9 percent year on yearto 1.37 million units in 2020 amid government efforts to encourage their useand ease pressure on the environment. InDecember alone, NEV sales surged

49.5 percent year on year to 248 000 units.The better-than-expected NEV sales

came amid government push and risingmarket enthusiasm for eco-friendly cars.In November last year, China unveiled adevelopment plan for its NEV industryfrom 2021 to 2035 that aims to accelerate the country’s transition intoan automotive powerhouse.

The proportion of new NEVs in thesales of new vehicles is expected to rise to20 percent by 2025, and vehicles used inpublic transportation will be completelyelectrified by 2035, according to the plan.

Auto exports also started to recover inSeptember,ending the weak performancein the first eight months of 2020, theCAAM said.

In December last year, China’s auto

exports surged 35.5 percent year on yearto 145 000 units,notching a historic high.For the whole year, Chinese auto firms exported a total of 995,000 vehicles.

The Ministry of Commerce introducedfresh measures this month to boost autosales, encouraging cities to optimise their restrictions on auto consumptionand incentivise rural consumption of cars.

As the Chinese economy continues stable recovery, the rebound in consumerdemand would accelerate, contributing topositive growth in the country’s auto market in 2021, the CAAM predicted.

“The Chinese auto sector bottomed outin 2020,” it said,adding that auto sales areexpected to exceed 26 million units in 2021, up 4 percent year on year.

CHINESE President Xi Jinping has writ-ten back to Howard Schultz, the chairmanemeritus of Starbucks, encouraging himand the company to play a positive role inpromoting China-US economic and tradecooperation and bilateral relations.

Xi stressed in the letter that under theleadership of the Communist Party ofChina (CPC), 1.4 billion Chinese peoplehave made long-term and arduous effortsto complete the building of a moderately

prosperous society in all respects andachieving socialist modernisation.

China will embark on a new journey tofully build a modern socialist country,which will provide a broader space forcompanies from all over the world, in-cluding American companies such asStarbucks, to develop in China, Xi said.

At the end of 2020, China adopted pro-posals for formulating the 14th Five-YearPlan (2021-2025) for National Economicand Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035,which highlights a new development pat-tern that stresses innovation, domesticdemand, quality of development andhigh-level opening-up among others.

Schultz recently sent a letter to Xi, con-gratulating China on the upcoming build-ing of a moderately prosperous society inall respects under Xi’s leadership,and ex-pressing his respect for the Chinese peo-ple and culture.

Starbucks announced in March lastyear that it would invest approximately$130 million in China, aiming to have 6000 stores in the country by 2022.

The investment will be used to open astate-of-the-art roasting facility in 2022 aspart of its new Coffee Innovation Park(CIP), highlighting the company’s ambi-tion to further globalise its roasting net-work and reinforces its strategic focus onthe United States and China as its twolead growth markets, the company said ina press release.

AN online survey conducted by the GlobalTimes shows Chinese internet users’overwhelming negativity and mockery ofthe controversial US President DonaldTrump, who started a trade war and other types of provocation against China.

The Global Times released a Weibo poston Tuesday, inviting internet users toleave a few words or sentences of their im-pressions of Trump, before he officiallyleft the White House yesterday.

Out of nearly 600 comments,“Top inter-net celebrity,” “Twitter presidency,” “TheKing of knowing everything,”“Gravedigger of US hegemony,” “Fakenews,” “Bunker boy,” “Silencer of pro-USKOL,” “Comrade Jianguo” and“Undercover agent of the Party”are thosemost mentioned by Chinese netizens.

Jianguo literally means “build the coun-try,” but in this case, internet users areusing the term to mock Trump as some-one who did his best to build up China tothe detriment of the US.

These phrases reflected the popularityof President Trump in China, and someinternet users said they were reluctant tobid Trump farewell, as he is the first USpresident to successfully entertainChinese people while wreaking havoc onthe US at the same time.

On January 5, statistics fromShanghai-based news outlet The Papershowed that Donald Trump has becomethe most searched individual on Weibo,appearing 589 times on Weibo’s trending

list in 2020, surpassing epidemic experts,online celebrities and popular heart-throbs in a very significant year in humanhistory.

Analysts said that the terms andphrases showcase a sense of humour usedby the Chinese netizens to ease their pres-sure and anger against the US amid theunprecedented hostility from the Trumpadministration.

Some international affairs observersdescribed Trump’s presidency as a turn-ing point in US history,and said his capri-cious and crazy antics have removed US’halo of “democracy and freedom”and fur-ther reminded China that it needs towork harder to stand on its own two feet.

“To me, the Trump presidency is ‘magicrealism.’ In the limited era of my genera-tion, there has never been a US presi-dent who has been able to become an ab-solute meme with his mouth full of lies,”an internet user told the Global Times onMonday.

World order, decency, common sense,justice, and all kinds of values have beenbroken by the US president.But his senseof surreal and the surreality of 2020 areso deeply integrated into a unified look,which weakens my distaste for the man:There seems to be nothing wrong with amadman in a madman’s age, she said.

“I only hope that his stepping down willtake away the bad things of 2020 withhim, so we can return to a normal lifewith order, common sense, decency andjustice,” the internet user said.

BEIJING – Chinese President XiJinping, general secretary of theCommunist Party of China CentralCommittee, on Monday inspectedthe preparatory work of the Beijing2022 Olympic and ParalympicWinter Games in Beijing.

Xi visited the Capital Gymnasium inHaidian District, the National AlpineSkiing Center and the National SlidingCenter in Yanqing District. He learnedabout venues construction and athletes’

preparations, and extended greetings toathletes, coaches and representatives ofoperation teams and construction staff in the Yanqing competition zone.

The Capital Gymnasium will stageshort track speed skating and figure skat-ing competitions for the Games,while theNational Alpine Skiing Center will holdAlpine skiing events. The NationalSliding Center will host bobsled, skeletonand luge competitions during Beijing2022.

China’s auto market sees strong recovery in 2020, despite pandemic

Xi inspects Beijing 2022

preparatory work

Starbucks encouraged to play positive

role in China-US economic ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping.

King who knows everything ‘builds up

China’: Netizens give views on Trump

Former US President Donald Trump.

FRENCH students haveplanned a series ofprotests on Wednesday todraw attention to therising mental healthproblems many say theyare suffering as a result ofthe coronavirus pandemic.

A combination ofisolation, inactivity and abroader loss of purposehas left many studentsclose to breakdown,according to universitypsychologists.

Student mental healthresources, such ascounsellors, have beenoverwhelmed by thenumbers seeking help inrecent weeks. In the lasttwo weeks alone, twoundergraduates in Lyonhave tried to take theirlives.

As in many countries,students in France havebeen unable to attendlectures for severalmonths, and many areliving away from home incramped accommodation.The closure of cafes, bars,cinemas, and gyms meansthere is little scope forsocialising or otheractivities. And since lastSaturday all of France isunder a curfew that startsat 18:00 every evening.

“I’ve lived alone in astudio apartment sinceSeptember – it’s the first

time I’ve ever lived alone,”Ryan Kennedy, a 19-year-old law student inMontpellier, told the BBC.“Not a day goes by withouta friend calling mebecause they’re strugglingwith their mental health.”

lly Benyoussef, a 20-year-old student in Paris,added: “Not being able togo to the movies or thetheatre means I spendeven more time on myphone or laptop watchingsilly videos. I really missgoing out.”

Ryan and his friendsstarted tweeting with thehashtag #GhostStudents,a term they created toreflect how students feltignored by thegovernment. It soon begantrending. “Thegovernment is treating usas if we’re children,” hesaid. “We’re not beingtaken seriously.”

Heïdi Soupault, apolitical science studentfrom Strasbourg, thendecided to raise the issuemore directly.

She sent a letter toPresident EmmanuelMacron last week. “I’m 19years old and I feel likeI’m dead,” it began. “I nolonger have dreams. If wehave no hope or prospectsfor the future at 19, whatdo we have left?”

Her letter was sharedwidely on social media,and many studentsresponded with similarsentiments of their own.

President Macron,however, urged MsSoupault and students ina similar position topersevere. “It’s hard to be20 years old in 2020,” hewrote in his response,reviving a line from aspeech he made lastOctober.“Continue to holdout... We know what weowe you. I’m asking youfor one more effort.”

“We don’t haveperspective anymore,” MsSoupault told the BBC.“There’s nothing to lookforward to.When you’re inyour early twenties, youlive intensely and socialinteractions are at thecentre of your life.”

“At first it was supposedto be temporary, but beingon the computer all daylong is tiring to the pointwhere you can’t focus onanything,” she added.“Everything just feels sadat the moment.”

The government,recognising the uniquepressure students areunder, has promised toarrange a partial returnto university lectures fromthe end of the month.

But this measure will

only apply to a smallnumber of students –mostly in their first year ofstudy – meaning manyyoung people will still facethe prospect of a long waituntil they can return tosome kind of normality.

Some fear this may leadto an increase in mentalhealth problems and,potentially, some studentsdropping out of theircourses altogether.

So what next?Universities are keen toresume in-personteaching, but the new,more contagiouscoronavirus variantmeans lockdown policiesare likely to remain inplace for some time.

“It is complicated toknow what the future willbe, but if the situationallows, we would love toresume our academic andextra-academic activities,”said Marcelle Laliberté,the dean of students at theHEC Paris businessschool.

“Among our youngeststudents half of them havesaid this situation hasimpacted their mood,” sheadded. “They miss thecampus experience a lotand are concerned abouttheir [opportunities togain] professionalexperience going forward.”

Telephone: 467-2000 News Fax: 434-1000

E-mail Address: [email protected]

Website: www.barbadosadvocate.com

WHILE the COVID-19 pandemic has caused chal-lenges for many sectors, one sector that it seems hasflourished, no pun intended, has been agriculture.

Early on, even as the country had to lock down inthose initial weeks following the first COVID cases,wewere assured that the Ministry of Agriculture andFood Security was working to ensure that there wasminimal disruption in respect of food production, andit appeared to reap success.Far from disruption, therewere reports that there was as much as a 16 percentincrease in non-sugar production in the first sixmonths of 2020,despite COVID being at our doors,andwe heard too that Government was seeking to pressadditional acres into use to help boost production evenmore.

Additionally, we heard that as part of the concertedefforts being made to ramp up agricultural production,special focus was being placed on ensuring that therewas clean planting material,particularly for root cropslike sweet potatoes, cassava and yam.The nation wasalso told that Government was targeting possible pro-tein sources, seeing chicken and rabbits as the best op-tions to pursue. The goal was to ensure that therewould be an abundance of locally grown food availablefor persons to consume, especially given the threatsposed to imports by COVID-19.

Government was not the only one pushing the ideaof agriculture, we well remember the number of ven-dors who started popping up all over the highways andbyways of this country, selling all manner of produce.Certainly this helped many a person to become gain-fully employed and earn a living to support their fam-ilies during those initial dark days.Many have contin-ued to sell produce and many more have started to getinto farming as a means of supplementing their in-come.

It has often been said that agriculture is key tohelping to rebuild the economy and it appears that ithas proven its worth since the onset of the COVID-19pandemic. It is certainly hoped that more persons willbe attracted to agriculture in the coming months, andget into for the long haul, for sadly many of those pur-sue it, see it only as a stopgap until they can findsomething “better” to do, or see it just a hobby.

It is hoped that Government’s efforts over the lastfew years with its Farmers’ Empowerment andEnfranchisement Drive (FEED) Programme, whichhas trained several hundred new farmers;the decisionto increase the acreage under production; and the in-vestments being made in the sector generally, willhelp more persons to embrace the sector and see be-yond the fork and hoe mentality that has so oftenheld the sector’s potential back.

That idea that agriculture is too labour intensive, te-dious and low-paying needs to be abandoned. Yes foranything to be successful, you must be willing to putin the work, but there have been several advance-ments in agriculture, such that everyone does nothave to engage in back breaking work in fields.Certainly the Government has been promoting that,as it has been training persons in a variety of areassuch as apiculture,aquaculture and hydroponics.Theyhave been pushing the idea of greenhouses and evenfreight farms, where persons can use the technologythat is available to get into the business of growing foodon a smaller footprint, which given our limited landmass is a good idea.

Our ultimate goal should be to achieve food security,but to do that we must not only encourage more peo-ple to get on board,but efforts must be made to ensurethat the requisite environment that would allow themto be successful is put in place. It means that the finan-cial sector must see agriculture as a true part of theprivate sector and be willing to offer financing to ad-vance it, and there must also be strong legislation inplace to protect those investments against praedial lar-ceny, which remains a major concern.

Editorial

Focused on

agriculture

‘For the cause that lacks assistance, ’Gainst the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do’


Executive Editor: Allison Downes

General Manager: Sandra Clarke

Assistant Managing Director: Sean Eteen

Publisher: Sir Anthony Bryan

News Editor: Dorian Bryan

Business Editor: Jewel Brathwaite

Sports Editor: Corey Greaves

@barbadosadvocate@The Barbados Advocate

DUBAI – IranianPresident Hassan Rouhaniurged the incoming USadministration onWednesday to return to a2015 nuclear agreementand lift sanctions onTehran, while welcomingthe end of “tyrant”President Donald Trump’sera.

US President-elect JoeBiden, who takes office onWednesday, has said theUnited States will rejointhe pact, which includesrestrictions on Iran’snuclear work, if Tehranresumes strict compliance.

“The ball is in the UScourt now. If Washington

returns to Iran’s 2015nuclear deal, we will alsofully respect ourcommitments under thepact,” Rouhani said in atelevised cabinet meeting.

“Today, we expect theincoming USadministration to return tothe rule of law and committhemselves, and if theycan, in the next four years,to remove all the blackspots of the previous fouryears,” he said.

Tensions have grownbetween Tehran andWashington since 2018,when Trump quit the dealbetween Iran and six worldpowers that sought to limit

Tehran’s nuclearprogramme and to preventit developing atomicweapons. Washingtonreimposed sanctions thathave badly hit Iran’seconomy.

Iran, which denies everseeking nuclear arms,retaliated to Trump’s“maximum pressure”policy by graduallybreaching the accord.Tehran has repeatedly saidit can quickly reverse thoseviolations if US sanctionsare removed.

Antony Blinken,Biden’schoice for secretary ofstate, said on Tuesday theUnited States would not

take a quick decision onwhether to rejoin the pact.

“Tyrant Trump’spolitical career and hisominous reign are overtoday and his ‘maximumpressure’ policy on Iranhas completely failed,”Rouhani said. “Trump isdead but the nuclear dealis still alive.”

Biden appears to see areturn to the deal as aprelude to wider talks onIran’s nuclear work, itsballistic missiles andregional activities.However,Tehran has ruledout halting its missileprogramme or changing itsregional policy.

French students highlight

pandemic’s mental health toll

Iran’s Rouhani says ‘ball in US

court’ over nuclear dispute

www.barbadosadvocate.com

LUXURY fashion group Burberrysaw its sales dive almost 40 per centin Europe in the run-up toChristmas amid the pandemic.

However, it said advertisingpartnerships with the likes of footballerMarcus Rashford were helping attractnew customers to the brand.

In the 13 weeks to December 26, theBritish label said it was hit by shopclosures and a drop-off in tourism.

About 15 per cent of its stores world-wide are currently closed with a thirdfacing restrictions.

Boss Marco Gobbetti said the brandfaced an “uncertain trajectory” in 2021given the spread of new variants ofCovid-19.

However, the label said there had beenhigh points, including Burberry’s festivecampaign partnering with Rashford –who has taken a prominent role againstchild poverty during the pandemic.

It said the consumer response to thecampaign was “exceptional” on socialmedia, with imagery featuring Rashfordbecoming “our most liked Instagrampost of all time".

Burberry said it had helped attract a“new, younger clientele” to the brand,who splashed out on outerwear and

handbags designed by its creativedirector Riccardo Tisci.

Overall, like-for-like sales around theworld fell by a more modest nine percent in the period, with revenue

standing at £688m. That was in partdue to strong growth in mainland Chinaand Korea. Digital sales at the groupalso surged by 50 per cent, making upfor some of the sales lost at stores.

Gobbetti said: “Our localised plansand digital capabilities helped drivegrowth in rebounding markets and weimplemented our planned reduction inmarkdown.


WASHINGTON – Alphabet Inc’s Googlehas asked a US judge in Texas totransfer an antitrust lawsuit filed byten states in December to a court inCalifornia, a state that has morerelevant witnesses and documentsneeded by the company, it said.

In December, Texas and nine otherstates sued Google LLC in a US court inSherman, Texas, accusing the searchengine company of working withFacebook Inc in a way that violatedantitrust law to boost its already-dominant online advertising business.

Google said in a court filing that thefirst case alleging it monopolized onlinedisplay advertising was filed in

May by an advertiser, and that sincethen five other cases have been filed.

All were filed in the Northern Districtof California, “the venue where Googleis headquartered and where morerelevant witnesses and documents arelocated than in any other district in thecountry,” Google said in its request tomove the case, which was filed late onTuesday.

Google adds that the states’ lawsuit

“does not identify a single company orperson who might be a witness at trialand lives or works within 100 miles” ofthe Texas courthouse where the casewas filed.

The states asked that Google, whichcontrols a third of the global onlineadvertising industry, compensate themfor damages and sought “structuralrelief,” which is usually interpreted asforcing a company to divest some of itsassets.

“As internal Google documents reveal,Google sought to kill competition and

has done so through an array ofexclusionary tactics, including anunlawful agreement with Facebook, itslargest potential competitive threat,”the lawsuit said.

Google previously called the Texaslawsuit “meritless”.

In total, Google has been sued threetimes since October by US states andthe Justice Department, including theTexas lawsuit.

In December, a separate group of 38US states and territories filed their ownantitrust complaint Google.

Google asks US judge to move states’ antitrust lawsuit to California

A mural of Marcus Rashford promoting Burberry in the Northern Quarter, Manchester.

Burberrypins hopeson MarcusRashfordas sales fall

THE S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit all-time highs on Wednesday as Joe Bidenbecame the 46th US president,while solid results from Netflix sparkeda rally in shares of stay-at-homewinners.

Shares of the world’s largeststreaming service surged 14% to addmore than $30 billion to its marketcapitalisation after it said it would nolonger need to borrow billions of dollarsto finance its TV shows and movies.

The rest of the FAANG group, due to

report results in the coming weeks,jumped with Facebook Inc,Amazon.com Inc, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet Inc rising between 2%and 5%.

The NYSE FANG+TM index gained3.8%.

“People are back to looking attechnology as a part of the market thatcan do well whether COVID stays aproblem or is eventually pushed to theside,” said Rick Meckler, partner atCherry Lane Investments, a family

investment office in New Vernon, NewJersey.

Biden will waste little time turningthe page on the Trump era, aides said,signing a raft of 15 executive actions inthe afternoon on issues ranging fromthe COVID-19 pandemic to theeconomy to climate change.

The Dow has gained about 57% sinceDonald Trump assumed office on Jan.20, 2017, which compares with a 72%jump in the first term of the Obamaadministration.

Optimism about a COVID-19 vaccineas well as bets on a bigger pandemicrelief plan under a Democrat-controlledCongress have helped Wall Street’smain indexes scale record highs in thepast few months, with the blue-chipDow jumping about 17% since thepresidential elections in November.

Eight of the 11 S&P sectors advancedin afternoon trading, with technology,communication services and consumerdiscretionary among the biggestgainers.

S&P 500, Nasdaq scale record highs as Netflix soars; Biden takes office

www.amazon.com


HAMILTON, Bermuda– A total of 1,665Bermuda residentshave been vaccinatedagainst COVID-19 inthe week since the gov-ernment launched its programme onJanuary 11, health offi-cials have confirmed.

Health Minister KimWilson told Tuesdaynight’s media briefingthere had been one newpositive case among thelatest batch of 657 tests.

It was a resident who re-turned to the island on anAmerican Airlines flightfrom Miami on Sunday.

There are 67 activeCOVID-19 cases, with sixin hospital but none is incritical care.

Wilson said 7,729 resi-dents have registered sofar for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine againstthe coronavirus after theBritish government,which is sending suppliesto its overseas territories,donated 9,750 doses toBermuda.Two jabs are re-quired.

The Health Ministersaid of the vaccinationsgiven last week, 738 were performed by theBermuda Hospitals

Board. Forty went to theelderly and vulnerable atcare homes, and 887 wentto the elderly, healthcareworkers and essentialservice workers at the vac-cination centre at thePolice Recreation Club inProspect.

So far, 58 per cent ofthose vaccinated werewomen and 42 per centwere men.Of the total vac-cinations,32 per cent havegone to essential serviceworkers.

Bermuda has now had684 total cases of thevirus. Twelve people havedied.

Almost 1 700 Bermuda

residents get first

COVID-19 vaccine

A total of 1,665 Bermuda residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in

its programme on January 11.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua –Nicaragua’s congressgave final approvalMonday to change theconstitution to permit lifeimprisonment.

Congress is dominatedby President DanielOrtega’s Sandinistaparty, and opposition leg-islators voted against themeasure or abstained.

Opponents say life sen-tences could be usedagainst the political op-position, like other recentmeasures passed byOrtega’s party.

“When there isn’t an independent judicial sys-tem ... applying sentenceslike this could be inter-preted as a political moveto punish any Nicara-guan citizen,” said con-gressman Miguel Rosalesof the opposition LiberalConstitutionalist Party.

Ortega has claimed op-ponents are guilty of“hate crimes,” one of thecategories that could be punished by life inprison.

In recent months,Ortega’s party has passedlaws essentially banningopposition candidatesfrom running in the 2021presidential election.

Sandinista legislatorsdefended the life sentencemeasure as providingprotection against rapistsand killers. The govern-ment gathered 3 million

signatures supportingthe change.

Ortega initially ledNicaragua from 1979 to1990 following theSandinista revolutionthat ousted the Somozadictatorship. He returnedto the presidency in 2007after three failed electionattempts, and he won re-election in 2011. He thensidestepped term limitsto get himself reelected in2016, and packed courtsand government agencieswith allies. TheSandinista party controlsthe courts and the legisla-ture.

In October, congress ap-proved legislation man-dating prison sentencesfor those who use onlineplatforms to spread falseinformation or informa-tion that could raisealarm among people. Thebill raised alarm amongopposition and humanrights groups, who de-scribed it as a threat tofree speech.

The Special CyberCrimes Law establishesprison terms of two tofour years for “those whopromote or distributefalse or misleading infor-mation that causesalarm, terror, or uneasein the public.”

The law allows the gov-ernment to define whatinformation fits that de-scription.

Nicaragua congress

adopts life sentences;

opposition opposes

MANAUS, Brazil – A con-voy of five trucks carryingoxygen sent by VenezuelanPresident Nicolas Maduroarrived late on Tuesdaynight in the Brazilian cityof Manaus, where hospi-tals ran out of supplies in aresurgent coronavirus pan-demic.

The tractor trailer truckstook two days to cover the1,500 kilometres (900miles) between CiudadGuayana and Manaus,the capital of Brazil’sAmazonas state, whose

governor had appealed forhelp amid a surge of severecoronavirus infections anda crippling lack of oxygentanks.

Doctors in overwhelmedManaus hospitals said patients had to share cylin-ders and some had suffo-cated when the oxygen ranout. The Brazilian AirForce flew in emergencysupplies on Saturday to al-leviate the humanitariancrisis.

Brazil’s government saidnothing of the Venezuelan

shipment, which was al-lowed to cross into thecountry on Monday.

The gesture by leftistMaduro was a slap in theface for Brazil’s right-wing president, JairBolsonaro,a fierce critic of theVenezuelan leader, whomhe has called a “dictator”.

Bolsonaro is facing criti-cism for his handling of theoutbreak,which has killedmore than 210 000Brazilians – the worstdeath toll outside the

United States – even as thepresident continues to playdown the gravity of thevirus.

Dispatching what hesaid was 136 000 litres ofoxygen on Sunday,Maduroreferred to the crisis inManaus as “Bolsonaro’shealth disaster.”

Bolsonaro told support-ers on Monday that theVenezuelan oxygen waswelcome but attackedMaduro and suggestedthat he focus on helpingVenezuelans.

Oxygen from Venezuela arrives in

Amazon city for coronavirus patients

Oxygen trucks from Venezuela arrive to supply hospitals amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Manaus,

Amazonas state, Brazil on Tuesday.


SEE-SAWS AT

US-MEXICO WALL

WIN DESIGN AWARD:

While a wall is usually designed to

keep people apart, this see-saw

installation managed to bring people

on both sides of the Mexico-US border

together.

And now the Teeter Totter Wall has

won the 2020 Beazley Design of the

Year award, which is run by London’s

Design Museum.

The seesaws were placed through

sections of the wall and allowed

people in both countries to play

together.

They were installed by Ronald Rael

and Virginia San Fratello at the Anapra

zone in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. Even

though they were only in place for 20

minutes, video footage of people

using them went viral.

The creators spent 10 years on the

project and said they wanted to talk

about the border issue in ‘a very frank

way but using humour’.

OPPOSITION Leader Mark Goldinghas labelled Government’s plan toimmunise 16 per cent of the popula-tion this year as “unsatisfactory”,arguing that the country’s flaggingeconomic fortunes brought on bythe COVID-19 pandemic should pro-vide sufficient impetus for it tomake every effort to achieve herdimmunity this year.

Golding’s comments came followingthe tabling of a National COVID-19Vaccine Deployment and VaccinationInterim Plan by Health Minister DrChristopher Tufton at Gordon House indowntown Kingston, on Tuesday.

Dr Tufton, in unveiling the plan whichwas approved by Cabinet on Monday,said Jamaica is committed to vaccinating16 per cent of the population in phase 1of a four-phase distribution strategy, andwill receive 935,676 doses of the ap-proved COVID-19 vaccine through theCOVAX Facility come April. That, hesaid, will cost the country some $3 billion.

“At the end of phase one Jamaica willacquire additional doses of the vaccines,based on locally relevant risk factors,vulnerabilities and the COVID-19threat. The projection for the secondphase is a further 16 per cent of the pop-

ulation,” the health minister said.A list of priority groups, he said, will be

identified for the second phase. He saidit is projected that in the second phasethat vaccination will be offered to thegeneral population.

Dr Tufton said 50 per cent of doseswill be earmarked for priority groupsand the other 50 per cent for the generalpopulation. He told the House that theprocurement of the second phase of vaccines is expected to start in the lastquarter of 2021, with second-phase vac-cine distribution expected to begin in thesecond quarter of 2022.

The minister said at the end of the dis-tribution of phase two vaccines, 32 percent of the population will be vaccinated.

“Based on whether there is a contin-ued threat, demand, cost and availabil-ity of vaccine, Jamaica will endeavour toenter into a third phase of vaccine pro-curement. A further 16 to 32 per cent ofvaccines will be procured. Twenty-fiveper cent of this quantity will be reservedfor priority groups and special popula-tions that have not been previously vac-cinated. The balance will then be madeavailable to the general population,” hestated.

However, the Opposition leader wasunconvinced that sufficient efforts were

being made to cover Jamaicans.“I am very concerned about the vol-

umes spoken to in your statement; theeconomy is going through a significantcontraction, and the tourism industryand related industries are all strugglingto survive.

“Achieving herd immunity in the pop-ulation is critical to not only our publichealth but also to our economic recovery,and to hear that the Government’s am-bition is to achieve 16 per cent of thepopulation being immunised in a yearand then it’s not till the following yearthat we may have another 16 per cent,when to achieve herd immunity the gen-eral consensus is that it must be around

60 per cent of the population that mustbe immunised, I think that is unsatisfac-tory; we must aim significantly higherthan that,” Golding stated.

He added: “Jamaica in my opinionmust do its utmost to source sufficientdoses to immunise our population thisyear at a level that will achieve herd im-munity this year. We have a very capa-ble public health apparatus; once we areable to source the vaccines the distribu-tion of them is something we can copewith.”

He said while the vaccines could not beforced onto individuals it is expected thatwith full information individuals willmake rational decisions.

Jamaica gov’t sticksto 16 per centvaccination planOpposition calls for 60 per cent

Jamaica Opposition Leader Mark

Golding.

Health Minister Dr Christopher

Tufton.

A 34-YEAR-OLD woman who resides inLowlands, Tobago, was granted $25 000bail by a Justice of the Peace after beingcharged with three counts of cruelty tothree children.

She appeared before a ScarboroughMagistrate on Monday 18 January 2021,and the matter was postponed to Friday5th March 2021.

The accused was arrested and charged

by WPC Hamilton of the Tobago DivisionChild Protection Unit (CPU), followingan anonymous tip made to police onJanuary 14th that a mother was in thehabit of leaving her three children – a

two-month-old, two-year-old and 15-year-old – at home alone.

Investigations resulted in the motherbeing charged with three counts of cruelty to the children.

Tobago woman granted bail for cruelty to three children


New York: 03°C

Miami: 23°C

Toronto: -05°C

Montreal: -08°C

London: 10°C

High: 10:03 a.m.

and 11:00 p.m.

Low: 3:09 a.m.

and 4:56 p.m.

Yesterday: 7.9 mm

For the month: 124.1 mm

For the year: 124.1 mm

Mix of sunshine and clouds with a few brief

scattered light to moderate showers.

Max: 28.3°C

Min: 22.9°C

6:25 a.m. 5:54 p.m.

HAMILTON, Bermuda,– Former Premier ofBermuda Dr EwartBrown was yesterdaycharged with 13 countsof corruption in theMagistrates’ Court.

Director of theDepartment of PublicProsecutions CindyClarke said the chargesagainst the former leaderwho appeared before the court remotely viaZoom, include five related to agreements with the Lahey Clinic inMassachusetts, throughwhich he allegedly received US$4.01 mil-lion in monthly pay-ments between 2001 and2010.

The remaining eightcharges relate to allega-tions of corruptly obtain-ing $350 500 in donationsto benefit the ProgressiveLabour Party and theBermuda Health Foun-dation between 2004 and2010.

The offences allegedlytook place between 2001and 2010, with the earlieroffences taking placewhile Brown was theMinister of Tourism andTransport and the lattertaking place while he was

Premier.Brown, 75, was not re-

quired to enter a plea toany of the charges becausethey must be heard by theSupreme Court.

He remained silent during the proceedings,only speaking to confirm he could hear SeniorMagistrate Juan Wolffe.

Wolffe released Brown,who was Premier between2006 and 2010, on$250,000 bail with asurety of the sameamount.

The matter is expectedto be heard in theSupreme Court during theApril arraignments ses-sion.

Brown was named as a“non-party co-conspirator”in a 2017 lawsuit broughtby the former One Ber-muda Alliance govern-ment against the LaheyClinic.

The legal action inBoston against LaheyClinic alleged there was a conspiracy betweenthe health provider and Brown to conduct excessive medical scans.

Both Brown and theLahey Clinic denied theallegations.

The case was dismissed

by Judge Indira Talwaniof the US District Courtin March 2018.

But a police investiga-

tion at home into allega-tions of unnecessary med-ical scans in Bermuda continued.

MEXICO CITY – Theftsof oxygen mounted asMexico reported its high-est daily death toll sincethe coronavirus pandemicbegan, with 1,584 deathsconfirmed on Tuesday.There was also a near-record one-day rise in new virus cases of18,894.

The Mexican SocialSecurity Institute re-ported that an armedman burst into a govern-ment hospital in northernSonora state around noonTuesday and stole sevenoxygen tanks.

The institute said theman pointed a gun at ahospital employee, de-manded to know wherethe oxygen was kept, andtook four empty cannis-ters and three full ones.Authorities in the city ofNavajoa are looking forthe man and another suspect who drove off in acar carrying the tanks.

Also on Tuesday, policein the town of Tultepec,just north of Mexico City,chased down a smallfreight truck carrying 44oxygen tanks, after thetruck was reported stolen.Two suspects were de-tained at the scene.

The thefts came as authorities launched acampaign urging peopleto return rented oxygentanks they no longerneed, saying enormousdemand amid the pan-demic has created ashortage of the cylinders.

The consumer affairsagency launched an on-line campaign under theslogan “Return YourTank, For The Love ofLife.”

With hospitals inMexico City and otherstates overwhelmed by awave of COVID-19 cases,many families haveturned to treating theirrelatives at home withsupplementary oxygen,creating spot shortages oftanks and oxygen for re-

fills.But once patients re-

cover, the agency said,many people simply keepthe cannisters just in casesomeone else falls ill.

“By doing this they aredepriving other patientsof something they need ata given moment, and can-not get,” the agency said.

Even those who havetheir own tanks mustoften wait in long linesand wait hours to get oxy-gen tanks filled.

Mexico has seen almost1.67 million confirmedcoronavirus infectionsand almost 143,000 test-confirmed deaths relatedto COVID-19. With thecountry’s extremely lowtesting rate, official esti-mates suggest the realdeath toll is closer to195,000.

The country’s DefenseDepartment, meanwhile,said four doses of coron-avirus vaccine werestolen at a public hospitalin Cuernavaca, south ofMexico City, probably by ahospital employee or withthe aid of an employee.

“This theft was able tobe carried out throughthe dishonesty and greedof a member of the hospi-tal’s vaccination staff,”the department said in astatement.

The army has beengiven responsibility fortransporting and guard-ing vaccines in Mexico,but a private securityfirm was apparently incharge inside the hospi-tal.

Before Tuesday, Mexicohad received only about750,000 doses of thePfizer vaccine, and sev-eral people have beensanctioned for cuttinglines to get doses.Mexico’s total amount sofar is enough to vaccinateabout half of the country’s750,000 front-line med-ical personnel, all ofwhom will need twodoses.

Oxygen thefts mount as

Mexico reports record

COVID-19 deaths

Former premier of Bermuda

faces 13 counts of corruption

Former Premier Dr Ewart Brown.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua –Antigua and Barbuda’sPrime Minister GastonBrowne wrote to newUnited States PresidentJoseph Biden yesterday af-ternoon, immediately afterhis inauguration, welcom-ing his administration’s de-cision to commit to the2015 Paris Agreement onClimate Change.

Writing in his capacityas Chair of the Alliance ofSmall Island States(AOSIS) for the 2021-2022period, Browne thankedPresident Biden for his“foresight and concern”and said the 44-member

alliance looked forward tohis leadership.

He said that AOSIS,comprised of small islandand low-lying coastal de-veloping states that aremost gravely threatenedby climate change, was de-lighted at the Biden ad-ministration’s decision tointegrate climate changeinto the US foreign policyand national securitystrategies.

“It is vital that every na-tion acts to preserve theplanet for future genera-tions; to save the most vul-nerable countries from ex-tinction; and to protect the

global community from theconsequences of enlargednumbers of refugees, eco-nomic destruction, publichealth emergencies, foodinsecurity and conflict,”Browne wrote.

“I know you will agreethat reducing and elimi-nating the causes of cli-mate change must remaina priority of each nation’sefforts.We are already fail-ing to limit the global aver-age temperature to a 1.5degrees Celsius increaseabove pre-industrial levels.It is urgent that: (i) the ma-chinery for global financialflows, including through

International FinancialInstitutions,be adjusted toensure that every countryis served in accordancewith its needs; and (ii) re-sources be provided toallow the most vulnerablecountries to adapt to thepresent alarming condi-tions and to prepare for fu-ture negative conditions.”

Prime Minister Browneassured President Biden ofthe readiness and determi-nation of AOSIS to “holdhands with him to jointlyaddress this most danger-ous threat to our oneplanet and our one human-ity”.

Antigua PM writes Biden on climate change


THE HAGUE, Nether-lands – The Dutch govern-ment wants to impose acurfew as part of beefed-uprestrictions to rein in thespread of a new more contagious virus variantthat already accounts forat least one in ten Dutchinfections.

Prime Minister MarkRutte said yesterday thathis government also will ban flights from the UK, South Africa and South America beginningSaturday for a month.

With Rutte’s adminis-tration in caretaker modesince resigning last week,it will have to convincesceptical lawmakers toback the 8:30 pm-to-4:30am curfew before it can beenforced. A debate is expected today and Rutte appealed for support, say-ing “we are at a crucial moment for our security,for our national publichealth.”

Rutte’s four-party coali-tion resigned Friday over ascandal involving thou-sands of parents wronglybeing labelled fraudstersby the country’s tax office.It remains in office until a new coalition is formedfollowing a March 17 general election.

If parliament approvesthe curfew, theNetherlands would joinother European Unioncountries that have toldpeople to stay home afterdark, including Belgium,France, Italy, Greece andparts of Germany.

“It’s a tough measure,”Rutte said.“Nobody wantsa curfew; nobody is cheering this.”

The Netherlands has

been in a tough lockdownfor a month and will remain that way until atleast February 9, but thegovernment says a slowdecrease in the number ofinfections and the threatposed by new variantshave forced it to taketougher action.

Rutte said the numberof visitors people are al-lowed at home will now becut from two to one at atime, and the number ofpeople allowed to attendfunerals will be halvedfrom the current 100.

The Dutch public healthinstitute announcedTuesday that new infec-tions decreased 21.5% overthe past week to 38 776 asthe lockdown that beganin mid-December began tobear fruit. However at thesame time, it warned thatthe new, more transmissi-ble virus variant that led to a sharp spike in infections in the UK andIreland is expected tomake up at least half of allnew Dutch COVID-19cases by mid-February.

The Netherlands hascounted 13 264 deaths inthe pandemic,according toa tally by Johns HopkinsUniversity.

Health Minister Hugode Jonge said the govern-ment also is extending thespace between the twodoses of vaccines fromthree weeks to six weeksas a way of speeding upthe number of people getting their first shot.TheNetherlands was the lastEuropean Union countryto begin vaccinations andso far only 100 000 peoplehave received their firstshot.

LISBON, Portugal –Portugal’s new dailyCOVID-19 cases jumpedto more than 14 600 to seta new national record yesterday, as the countryweathers one of the worstpandemic surges in theworld.

Health authorities offi-cially reported 14 647 newinfections – about 3 600more than the previousdaily record set four daysago.

The surge shows no signof easing,with the govern-ment and health expertspredicting it will peak nextweek.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital andin intensive care also roseto new record highs,with 5493 and 681, respectively.

“The gravity of the situ-ation is clear for everyoneto see,” Health MinisterMarta Temido told re-porters.

The public and privatehealth sectors and the mil-itary are all collaboratingto meet needs, she said,but added that “resourcesare finite.”

The pandemic hasgained momentum inPortugal since Christmas,when restrictions on gath-erings and movement

were eased for four days.Portugal has the highest

seven-day average rate inthe world of new cases per100 000 population andthe second-highest rate ofnew deaths, according to data collated throughTuesday by JohnsHopkins University.

Overall, the country of10.3 million people has581 605 confirmed cases,and 9 465 confirmeddeaths.

In another worry forPortuguese authorities, astudy by the country’sleading disease controlagency said a new variantof the virus first identifiedin southeast Englandcould represent 60% ofnew COVID-19 cases in Portugal within twoweeks.

The study by the Dr.Ricardo Jorge NationalInstitute of Health, basedon data collected sinceDecember 1, was pub-lished Tuesday.

The surge is pushing thepublic health system, es-pecially hospitals, to thelimit of its capacity, andthe government is scram-bling to keep pace.

The assistant secretaryof state for health,AntónioLacerda Sales, said the

system is at full stretch.“We are doing every-

thing in our power to in-crease the system’s capac-ity,” he told reporters.

A field hospital with 58beds was due to open lateyesterday in the capital,onthe grounds of the LisbonUniversity campus.

To further relieve pressure on hospitals,authorities are openingmore temporary medicalinstallations at sites outside the health sector.

The government saidyesterday facilities in suchplaces as hotels,universityresidences and churchpremises will soon have 2300 beds where patientscan be kept under observa-

tion.Meanwhile, authorities

launched a programme ofrapid COVID-19 tests atschools in hardest-hitareas amid a severe surgein cases.

Portugal is in lockdown,but the government is re-luctant to close schools. Itsays that if schools closethere are children whowon’t get proper meals,who have no computer, noaccess to the Internet, andwho don’t have their ownroom at home and get nohelp with their studies.

Some teachers are un-happy about the policy,however, and are pressingfor a national school closure.

AT least three peoplehave died following a blast that caused abuilding to partiallycollapse in the Spanishcapital, Madrid.

An initial assessmentsuggested a gas leak hadcaused the explosion,Mayor José Luis MartínezAlmeida said.

He told reporters a firewas still raging inside thebuilding, which belongs tothe Catholic Church andis in the centre of the city.

At least eight peoplewere injured in the explosion.

An 85-year-old womanand a man were killed inthe blast, reports say. Oneof the injured is in a serious condition and hasbeen taken to hospital,according to officials.

Rescue workers evacu-ated more than 50 people

from a care home next-door to the building in thePuerta de Toledo area ofMadrid, but a nearbyschool was closed at the

time of the blast.Four floors of the

building were destroyed inthe explosion, which couldbe heard in many areas of

the capital. Images sharedon social media showedbillowing smoke and debris strewn along thestreet.

Dutch propose curfew

to rein in virus; will

ban more flights

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Deadly explosion rocks centre of

Madrid, leaves at least three dead

Portugal sets records

in one of world’s

worst virus surges

Portugal’s Health Minister Marta Temido.

The city’s mayor said a gas leak was suspected to have caused the blast.


NEW YORK – The push to inoculateAmericans against the coronavirus is hit-ting a roadblock: A number of states are reporting they are running out of vaccine, and tens of thousands of people who managed toget appointments for a first dose are see-ing them cancelled.

The full explanation for the apparentmismatch between supply and demandwas unclear,but last week the US Healthand Human Services Department suggested that states had unrealistic expectations for how much vaccine was on the way.

The shortages are coming as states dramatically ramp up their vaccinationdrives, at the direction of the federal gov-ernment, to reach people 65 and older,along with other groups deemed essentialor at high risk.More than 400 000 deathsin the US have been blamed on the virus.

About half of the 31 million doses distributed to the states by the federalgovernment have been administered sofar, though only about two million peoplehave received the two doses needed formaximum protection against COVID-19,according to the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention.

Countries across Europe are also having problems getting enough doses to

provide protection against a virus that isnow appearing in new, more contagiousvariants around the globe.

Pfizer said last week it would temporar-ily reduce deliveries of its vaccine toEurope and Canada while it upgrades capacity at its plant in Belgium, whichsupplies all shots delivered outside the United States. In the US, Pfizer has a plant in Michigan.

In the US, some states have suggestedthey may run out of vaccine by today andare unclear when new doses will arrive.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said yes-terday that the city had to cancel 23 000appointments for people awaiting theirfirst dose this week because of inadequatesupply. The mayor, who has been sounding the alarm about vaccine short-ages for days, said the situation was compounded by a delay in this week’sdelivery of Moderna vaccine to the city.

“So we already were feeling the stressof a shortage of the vaccine,” he said.“Now the situation has been made evenworse.We need to think differently in this moment.”

City Health Commissioner Dr. DaveChokshi said the 103 400 Moderna dosesthat were scheduled for delivery Tuesday– 54 200 first doses and 49 200 seconddoses – were expected yesterday and

today.Citing a statewide shortage of vaccine,

New York City’s police department suspended first-shot vaccinations for itsofficers.

In Florida, local media reported a similar problem in the Miami area, wherethe Baptist Health care system cancelledappointments that had been scheduled

for first doses.San Francisco’s health department said

it is likely to run out of vaccine today, inpart because the state pulled back on administering a batch of Moderna shotsafter several health workers sufferedwhat may have been a bad reaction. Thecounty health department received 12 000 doses last week but fewer than 2 000 this week.

West Virginia,which has run one of thespeediest vaccination drives in the country, in part by using small-town pharmacies, said it didn’t receive an expected increase in doses this week.With99.6% of first doses on hand already administered, officials are clamouring for the government to send more.

“Here we are with no vaccines,” saidRepublican Governor Jim Justice,fretting that other states have doses sitting unused. “We’ve got them all in people’s arms and we’ve done exactlywhat we should have done… I think performance ought to be rewarded.”

He said the state hasn’t received apromised 25 000 additional doses thisweek on top of its usual weekly allocationof about 23 000.

Hawaii leaders complained that thestate received 59 000 doses last week but expects only about 32 000 this week.

DONALD TRUMP has vowed he willbe “back in some form” after departing the White House for thefinal time as president.

He told supporters as he prepared to flyto Florida that it had been “a great honour to be your president”.

He is the first president to snub hissuccessor’s inauguration since 1869 butdid say, “I wish the new administrationgreat luck and great success.”

Trump delivered his final speech aspresident at Joint Base Andrews inMaryland, after flying there from theWhite House with First Lady MelaniaTrump.

In a typically unscripted speech, hehighlighted his “amazing”achievements,citing job creation, the establishment of a“Space Force”, policies for veterans and on taxation, as well as the speedy development of Covid vaccines.

He urged people to be “very, very care-ful” about the “horrible” pandemic andpaid respects to those who had suffered.

He added,“It’s been a great honour andprivilege to be your president... I will always fight for you. I will be watching.I will be listening.

“I wish the new administration greatluck and great success. I think they willhave great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”

However, as with his farewell video address on Tuesday, he did not mentionBiden by name.

Trump added, “Goodbye. We love you.We will be back in some form. Have agood life. We will see you soon.”

He also paid tribute to his Vice-President Mike Pence, who was not atAndrews, having chosen instead to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Trump will be the first president not to

attend his successor’s inauguration sinceAndrew Johnson snubbed Ulysses SGrant in 1869.

He flew off to begin post-presidentiallife at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach.

In his last hours, Trump grantedclemency to more than 140 people,including his former adviser SteveBannon, who was facing fraud charges.

In a farewell video message on Tuesday,Trump called on Americans to pray forthe incoming administration. He said hewas proud of what he had achieved overthe past four years.

Trump has been relatively quiet sincehis supporters attacked Congress on January 6, and his Twitter accountwas suspended.

He has never congratulated Joe Bidenon victory and had always disputed theresult of the presidential election, citingunsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

However White House spokesmanJudd Deere told AFP that Trump had lefta traditional letter for Biden.

Trump leaves White House

vowing ‘we will be back’

White House spokesman Judd Deere.

Several American states report vaccine shortages, cancel appointments

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

OFFICIAL from Back Page

A US senator from California the pastfour years, Harris has shattered many aglass ceiling.The daughter of immigrants,with her mother coming to the UnitedStates from India and her father fromJamaica, she served as San Francisco’sfirst female district attorney and wasCalifornia’s first woman of color to beelected attorney general.

Both Biden and Harris were sworn induring an inauguration ceremony withfew parallels.Tens of thousands of troopswere on the streets to provide securityprecisely two weeks after a violent mob ofTrump supporters, incited by theRepublican president, stormed theCapitol in an attempt to prevent the cer-tification of Biden’s victory.

Biden was sworn in by Chief JusticeJohn Roberts; Harris by Justice SoniaSotomayor, the first Latina member ofthe Supreme Court.Vice President MikePence, standing in for Trump, sat nearby

as Lady Gaga, holding a golden micro-phone, sang the National Anthem accom-panied by the US Marine Corps band.

In the evening, in lieu of the traditionalglitzy balls that welcome a new presidentto Washington,Biden was set to take partin a televised concert that also marks thereturn of A-list celebrities to the WhiteHouse orbit after they largely eschewedTrump.Among those in the lineup:BruceSpringsteen,Justin Timberlake and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This was not an inauguration for thecrowds.But Americans in the capital citynonetheless brought their hopes to themoment.

“I feel so hopeful, so thankful,” saidKaren Jennings Crooms, a D.C. residentwho hoped to catch a glimpse of the pres-idential motorcade on PennsylvaniaAvenue with her husband. “It makes ussad that this is where we are but hopefulthat democracy will win out in the end.That’s what I’m focusing on.”

Biden is new US president

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief

Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible.

THULASENDRAPURAM, India –Residents of a tiny Indian villagesurrounded by rice paddies flockedto a Hindu temple, setting off firecrackers and praying and asthey watched Kamala Harris, whohas strong roots to the village, takeher oath of office and become the US vice president yesterday.

Groups of women in bright saris andmen wearing white dhoti pants watchedthe inauguration live as reporters broadcast the villager’s celebrations tomillions of Indians.The villagers chanted“Long live Kamala Harris”while holdingportraits of her and blasted off fireworks the moment she took the oath.

Earlier, the villages adorned their temple with flowers, offering specialprayers for Harris’ success.Her maternalgrandfather was born in the village of Thulasendrapuram, about 350 kilome-tres (215 miles) from the southern coastalcity of Chennai

“We are feeling very proud that anIndian is being elected as the vice president of America,” said teacherAnukampa Madhavasimhan.

At the prayer ceremony inThulasendrapuram, the idol of Hindudeity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva, waswashed with milk and decked with flowers by a priest. Then the village reverberated with the sound firecrackersas people held up posters of Harris andclapped their hands.

Harris made history yesterday as thefirst Black, South Asian and female USvice president and what made her specialfor the village is her Indian heritage.

Harris’ grandfather was born morethan 100 years ago. Many decades later,he moved to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state. Harris’ late motherwas also born in India, before moving tothe US to study at the University ofCalifornia.She married a Jamaican man,and they named their daughter Kamala,a Sanskrit word for “lotus flower.”

In several speeches, Harris has oftenspoken about her roots and how she wasguided by the values of her Indian-borngrandfather and mother.

So when Joe Biden and Harris triumphed in the US election lastNovember, Thulasendrapuram becamethe centre of attention in entire India.Local politicians flocked to the villageand young children carrying placardswith photos of Harris ran along the dustyroads.

Then and now, villagers set off firecrackers and distributed sweets andflowers as a religious offering.

Posters and banners of Harris fromNovember still adorn walls in the villageand many hope she ascends to the presidency in 2024. Biden has skirtedquestions about whether he will seek reelection or retire.

“For the next four years, if she supports India, she will be the president,”said G Manikandan, who has followed

Harris politically and whose shopproudly displays a wall calendar withpictures of Biden and Harris.

On Tuesday, an organisation that promotes vegetarianism sent food packets for the village children as gifts to celebrate Harris’ success.

In the capital New Delhi, there hasbeen both excitement – and some concern– over Harris’ ascent to the vice

presidency.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had

invested in President Donald Trump,who visited India in February last year.Modi’s many Hindu nationalist supporters also were upset with Harriswhen she expressed concern aboutKashmir, the disputed Muslim-majorityregion whose statehood India’sgovernment revoked last year.

Indian village cheers for Harris during swearing-

in as US vice president


ZIMBABWE’S Foreign Minister SibusisoMoyo has died after succumbing to Covid-19, the government says.

Born in 1960, the former army generalgained international prominence in 2017,when he announced the military takeoverthat ousted long-serving President RobertMugabe from power.

Zimbabwe has recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases since the festiveseason.

There have been 28 675 cases and 825deaths since the virus was detected in the country last March.

More than half of the cases have beensince New Year’s Day, Reuters newsagency reports.

The rise in infections has been blamedon people travelling from South Africaduring the festive season.

South Africa has seen a spike in casesafter a new fast-spreading variant of thevirus was detected in the country in November.

South Africa has recorded the highestnumber of cases in Africa – more than 1.3million – and the most deaths – morethan 38 000.

Moyo is the second senior governmentfigure to die from Covid-19 in Zimbabwe.Retired general and Agriculture MinisterPerrance Shiri succumbed to the illnesslast July.

In neighbouring Malawi, PresidentLazarus Chakwera has taken personalblame for the recent rise in Covid-19 casesin the country.

There had been a “collective sense of relaxation in adherence to Covid prevention measures among manyMalawians including myself”, he said last week.

Malawi’s Local Government MinisterLingson Belekenyama and TransportMinister Muhammad Sidik Mia diedfrom the illness last week.

Moyo died in a local hospital onWednesday, President EmersonMnangagwa’s spokesman GeorgeCharamba said in a statement.

Mnangagwa described him as a friendand a “true hero”.

“He fought his entire life so thatZimbabwe could be free,” the presidentsaid.

PROTESTERS who broke a coronaviruscurfew to continue riots for a fifth nighthave been warned by Tunisia’s primeminister to stop their violence.

More than 600 people, mainly betweenthe ages of 14 and 15, have already beenarrested after police clashes.

Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi acknowledged their anger about a rangeof economic and social hardships.

“The crisis is real... but we reject chaosand will confront that with the power of the law.”

In a televised speech, Mechichi

appealed to the protesters to stop the looting and the vandalism, “Your voicesare heard, your anger is legitimate, andmy role and the government’s role is towork on realising your demands.”

Tunisia faces severe economic problemsand a third of its young people are unemployed.

The economic crisis has worsenedunder the pandemic – and a night-timecurfew has been in place since October.

The unrest came amid a four-day na-tional lockdown to stem the spread ofCovid-19, which also coincided with the

10th anniversary of the revolution thatousted long-time leader Zine al-AbedineBen Ali, ushered in democracy and triggered the Arab Spring revolts acrossthe region.

The riots have taken place mainly indensely populated and underprivilegedareas, where the relationship betweenyoung people and the police is historically tense, the BBC’s Rana Jawad reported from the capital, Tunis.

Amnesty International has criticisedthe police’s excessive use of force in dealing with the protests.

Tunisia youths warned over riots amid Covid curfew

Zimbabwe FM dies from Covid-19

Sibusiso Moyo became foreign minister after ex-President Robert Mugabe was

removed from office.

Residents of a tiny Indian village flocked to a Hindu temple, setting offfirecrackers and praying and as they watched Kamala Harris, who hasstrong roots to the village, take her oath of office and become the US vicepresident yesterday.


Bridge

LIL WAYNE andKodak Black havebeen pardoned by for-mer President DonaldTrump. The rapperswere included in thefinal wave of pardonsand commutationsTrump granted onTuesday, his last fullday in office, accord-ing to a statement re-

leased by the WhiteHouse.

Wayne pleaded guiltylast month to illegallycarrying a loaded hand-gun while travelling toFlorida on a privateplane in December 2019,according to CBS News.

He was set to face upto ten years in prison ata hearing in Miami on

January 28.Lil Wayne appeared to

support Trump duringhis 2020 presidentialcampaign, as he tweeteda photo of himself withthe president. He said hebacked his criminal jus-tice reform program andeconomic plan for AfricanAmericans.

Black, meanwhile, was

sentenced in November2019 to nearly four yearsin prison on federalweapons charges, CBSNews reported.

He pleaded guilty inAugust 2019 to twocounts of knowinglymaking a false and ficti-tious written statementin order to “unlawfullyacquire firearms.”

Trump grants clemency toLil Wayne, Kodak Black

Lil Wayne (l) and Kodak Black (r) have been pardoned by President Donald Trump.

www.sudoku.com


SPORTSSPORTS

Dhaka: Shakib AlHasan on yesterdaymade a stunning returnto international cricketas Bangladesh defeatedWest Indies by six wick-ets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at theShere Bangla NationalStadium.

The hosts made a lightwork of the 123-run chaseand the side wrapped up avictory by six wickets andwith 97 balls to spare.Earlier,while bowling first,Shakib went on to recordfigures of 4-8 as the hostsbundled out Windies for122 inside 33 overs. Withthis bowling performance,Shakib also recorded thebest ODI bowling figuresby a Bangladesh bowleragainst West Indies.

In 2019, Shakib washanded a 12-match ban forbreaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code.The international body hadcharged Shakib for failingto report two approaches to engage incorrupt conduct during thetri-series and in an IPLmatch.

Chasing 123, TamimIqbal and Liton Das pro-vided a solid start to thehosts as the duo put on 39runs inside the first tenovers. West Indies finallygot the breakthrough in

the 14th over as AkealHosein dismissed Das (14).

Soon after, Bangladeshfound themselves in a spotof bother as the visitorsmanaged to dismissNajmul Hossain Shanto (1)and Tamim Iqbal (44), re-ducing the hosts to 83/3 inthe 23rd over. Shakib also

went on to play a knock of19 runs, but with just 18runs away from the target,Shakib ended up losing hiswicket.

In the end, MushfiqurRahim (19*) and Mahmu-dullah (9*) guided thehosts to a victory by sixwickets.

Earlier,asked to bat first,Windies just managed topost 122 on the board asShakib and HasanMahmud scalped sevenwickets among themselves.West Indies decided to givesix players their debut inthe first ODI and the lackof experience was clearly

visible in their ranks.No Windies batter was

able to stay at the creasefor a long time, and onlyKyle Mayers (40) andRovman Powell (28) wereable to record respectableindividual scores.

Both the sides will nowlock horns in the second

ODI tomorrow.

BBrriieeff SSccoorreess::

West Indies 122 (Kyle

Mayers 40, Rovman Powell

28; Shakib Al Hasan 4-8);

Bangladesh 125/4 (Tamim

Iqbal 44, Shakib Al Hasan 19;

Akeal Hosein 3-26).

MOUNT GAY, the world’soldest running rum distill-ery, and World Sailing will today launch theeSailing World Champion-ships and the 2021eSailing season online ateSailing-wc.com.

The launch,which startsthe season off with the firstMount Gay Challenge, aweek-long event with threedays of training, a three-day qualifier and a final,will also coincide with thestart of Barbados SailingWeek and the RoundIsland Race Day.

Unlike previous years,Barbados Sailing Weekwill be celebrated entirelyonline, giving playersaround the world the op-portunity to virtually playfrom the comfort of theirown home, alongside theirfavourite Mount Gay cock-tail. Thirteen nations have launched eSailing

National Championshipsin 2020 and with MountGay’s support, Barbadoshas become the 14th withfurther nations to belaunched.

Last September, MountGay joined forces withWorld Sailing to become itsofficial eSailing partner, acelebration of the Distil-leries’ venerable heritagein sailing around the worldand support of the growthof the sailing communitybeyond traditional regat-tas.

Barbados Sailing Weekis a part of the partnershipforged in an effort to raisethe profile and awarenessof eSailing globally. As thecontinuation of honouring300 years of heritage insailing and 50 years ofsponsoring regattas, thisnew digital version ofMount Gay’s traditionmarks an important step

after the first BarbadosRound Island Race in1936.

Managing Director ofMount Gay, RaphaëlGrisoni commented, “Weare thrilled to be a part of the eSailing WorldChampionship and seeBarbados Sailing Weekcontinue its legacy, albeitonline.This year will allowsailors, and non-sailorsalike, to unite and join together for some friendlycompetition.

“eSailing brings a newdimension to how we canactively give back to thesailors who have alwaysshown love to Mount Gayand will let us try new andexciting things, likelaunching the digital RedCap, introducing uniquechallenges and more!”

Since the inception of theeSailing World Cham-pionship, participation in

eSailing has grown expo-nentially with more thantwo million global playersparticipating in Inshoreand Offshore games,whichhas continued to grow atpace in 2020 and 2021. Aspart of the sponsorship,Mount Gay will also be-come a supporting partnerof eSailing Nations Cupwith six weeks of chal-lenges incorporated intothe gameplay,among otherraces.

As Sailors, classes andevents have turned toeSailing to keep engagedin 2020 and now 2021,World Sailing and MountGay continue to useeSailing to bring globalsailing communities to-gether virtually, raise theprofile of eSailing and support nations to developtheir competition struc-tures and eSailingNational Championships.

Mount Gay, World Sailing launch

eSailing World Championships

Managing Director of Mount Gay, Raphaël Grisoni.

West Indies beaten by Bangladesh in first ODI

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan celebrates with teammates after dismissing West Indies’ Nkrumah Bonner (not pictured) during the first

ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on January 20, 2021.

www.esailing-wc.com


NOVAK Djokovic has said hisletter calling for better condi-tions for players self-isolating inMelbourne was written with“good intentions” and has been“misconstrued as being selfish,difficult and ungrateful”.

Djokovic was criticised afterhe asked Australian Open tour-nament director Craig Tiley torelax quarantine rules.

Seventy-two players are un-able to leave their hotel roomsfor 14 days.

The Serb said he acted be-cause he “genuinely cares”aboutfellow players.

Djokovic reportedly asked forreduced isolation periods andhaving players in quarantinemoved to private houses withtennis courts.

In a lengthy social media post,the world number one said hewanted to use his profile to im-prove conditions for the players,who were forced into quaran-tine after positive coronavirus

test results on flights bound forthe event in Australia.

Some players have expressedfrustration at being confined tohotel rooms, though Djokovic de-nied they had questioned the 14-day rule.

“I understand very well howthe world is run and who getsbigger and better and why. I’veearned my privileges the hardway, and for that reason, it isvery difficult for me to be a mereonlooker,” said Djokovic, who iscurrently in Adelaide for an ex-hibition match.

“Things in the media esca-lated and there was a genuineimpression that the players, in-cluding myself, are ungrateful,weak and selfish because oftheir unpleasant feelings inquarantine.

“I am very sorry that it hascome to that because I do knowhow grateful many are.

“We all came to Australia tocompete. Not being able to train

and prepare before the tourna-ment starts is really not easy.None of us ever questioned 14 days of quarantine despitewhat is being said by media outlets.”

Djokovic added that he usedan email exchange with Tiley to“brainstorm” and there was “noharm intended” in suggesting“potential improvements” forplayers in quarantine.

Djokovic says Australian

Open letter written

with ‘good intentions’

JUSTIN Thomas has said hewill undertake a training pro-gramme to improve as a per-son and understands whyRalph Lauren discontinuedtheir sponsorship of him afterhe used a homophobic slur dur-ing the Sentry Tournament ofChampions.

Ralph Lauren dropped the13-time PGA Tour winner andworld number three after hewas caught by a television microphone uttering the slur after missing a five-footputt on the fourth hole in the third round of the tournament in Hawaii this month.

Thomas apologised after theincident, saying he made a “ter-rible judgment call” but RalphLauren said in a statement atthe time that they were dis-heartened by his language,which was inconsistent withtheir values.

Golfer to

undergo ‘training

programme’

after making

homophobic slur

Novak Djokovic was criticised after he asked Australian Open

tournament director Craig Tiley to relax quarantine rules.

AKEAL Hosein and KyleMayers made an impressivestart to their internationalcareer with a tight and pen-etrative bowling perform-ance and a solid knock withthe bat in the opening en-counter of the three-matchODI series.

The left-arm spinner tookthree wickets for just 26 runsoff his 10 overs in a crucial spellof control and discipline as WestIndies went down by six wickets.The match was dominated bythe spinners on a turning pitch— with 12 of the 14 wicketsfalling to the slow bowlers. Itwas the first encounter for bothteams in the InternationalCricket Council’s ODI SuperLeague. The home side secured10 points for their victory.

Hosein, the 27-year-old fromTrinidad, was one of six debu-tants for West Indies in thematch. He ended the spell witha superb strike to get the impor-tant wicket of Shakib ul-Hasan.The delivery pitched outside offstump and turned a long way.The left-handed batsman triedto cut but was cramped for roomand dragged the ball back intothe stumps.

Mayers topscored with 44 andadded a crucial stand of 59 forthe sixth wicket with RovmanPowell,who made 28.They cametogether with the West Indies indeep trouble at 56-5 in the 19thover and played well.

Mayers, the strongly-built left-hander, looked solid on debut as

he hit four fours and a six, whilePowell struck two fours and twosixes. Bangladesh bowled welland the best was left-arm spin-ner Shakib, who had remark-able figures of 4-8 off 7.2 oversand was named Man-of-the-Match.

Both Mayers and Hosein weredisappointed they could not helpthe team to a victory but hopethey can bounce back and comeback strong the next time andget a win.

“We definitely need to put ona bigger score but I think webowled well and if we give the

bowlers something to workwith.” Said Hosein,

Mayers thought that “thebatsmen need to buckle down abit longer and read the situa-tion a bit longer and hopefullyput a better score on the boardso the bowlers can fight.”

Mayers wanted to take theteam deeper into the 50 overs asthe team was struggling andthought he got a decent start.

Apart from Hosein’s threestrikes, the other wicket wentto skipper Jason Mohammed,his first in ODI cricket. The off-spinner deceived Tamim Iqbal

in flight and the batsman over-balanced for wicket-keeperJoshua Da Silva to complete asharp stumping - his first dis-missal on debut. Tamim top-scored with 44 off 69 balls withseven boundaries.

Captain Mohammed said that“Whatever score we put up, ourwork is to go there and work

hard. Akeal on debut was verygood, picking up three wicketsand being very economical. Thewicket wasn’t the easiest one forus, but we didn’t have enoughpartnerships. Even the onesthat got starts, didn’t convertthat for us. It was a great part-nership between Powell andMayers.”

Mayers, Hosein make great start to ODI careers

Akeal Hosein

Kyle Mayers


REAL ESTATE

TEL 572-1452Cel: 253-6319

828-4800Email:

[email protected]

PROPERTIES

Kirtons, St Philip3 bedroom plus 2 bedroom aptLand 4,790 sq ft $685,000

Amity Lodge, Ch Ch3 bedroom plus 1 bedroom aptLand 6,646 sq ft$650,000

Gibbons, Ch Ch3 bedroom plus 2 bedroom aptLand 9,835 sq ft $765,000

Breezy Hill, St Philip 3 bedroom, 2 bath reduced to $298,000

Black Rock, St Michael3 bedroom, 1 bath Land 6732 sq ft $360,000

Enterprise, Christ Church 3 bedroom, 2 bath Land 5062 sq ft $390,000 (reduced)

Golf Club Road, Christ Church3 bedroom, 1 bath fixer upper Land 4,000 plus UNDER OFFER

The Belle, St George Plantation style House Standing on 4 acres UNDER OFFER

Frere Pilgrim, Christ Church3 bedroom, 2 baths with two bedroom apartment. Land 4,387 sq ft. $850,000

Hanson Heights, St George 3 bedroom, 2 baths Land 8321 sq ft $595,000

Ealing Grove, Christ Church 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths Land 9320 sq ft $565,000

LOTS FOR SALE

Cave Hill Drive, St. LucyLand 14,876 sq ft. $110,000

Bushy Park, St. PhilipLand 17,000 sq ft$10 sq ft

Inchcape, St. Philip Land 4355 sq ft$ 96,000

Belle, St. GeorgeLand 4 acres $400,000

Haggatt Hall, St. MichaelLand 6336 sq ft$126,000

Cane Garden, St. ThomasLand 7,000 sf to 18,000 sq ft Private entrance. From $187,681

REAL ESTATE

The Mount, St. GeorgeLand 6544 sq ft$110,000

Shop Hill, St Thomas Land 11,735 sq ft$258,000

Ragged Point, St. PhilipLand 8,267 sq ft $166,000

Rolling Hills, St. George Land 12,000 sq ft $315,000 (negotiable)

Ocean City, St. Philip Land 6150 sq ft $123,000

Fortesque, St PhilipAgricultural Land 494,500 sq ft $1,100,000

Silver Sands, Christ Church Land 7,129 sq ft $160,000

Bushy Park, St. Philip Land 24,000 sq ft $200,000

Apes Hill, St. James Land 31,000 sq ft upward Large lots at $15 per sq ft

Mount Wilton, St. ThomasLand 15,500 sq ft and 22,066 sq ft $300,000 and $220,000

Union, St. Philip Land 7560 sq ft $150,000

Cottage, St GeorgeLand 5000 sq ft $110,000

Morningside, St Philip Land 4567 sq ft $133,000

Jupiter Gardens, St PhilipLand 7312 sq ft $133,000

Bagatelle, St. Thomas Land 62000 sq ft into 2 lots $520,000 each

Marley Vale, St Philip Land 21,780 sq ft $275,000

Sandford, St PhilipLand 16,356 sq ft $305,000

COMMERCIAL

Mount Standfast, St James Two properties on 22,714 sq ft Land. Asking $1,200,000

Black Rock, St. MichaelWarehouse/Factory 4000 sf space Land 23,861 sq ft $900,000 (reduced)

Foul Bay, St. PhilipApproved for condos,Land 39,242 sq ft$1,600,000.

Dover, Christ Church Hotel 18 rooms fully operational $2,950,000 neg

Dalkeith, Christ ChurchLand 17,371 sq ft approved for shops and offices $495,000

Roebuck Street, Bridgetown Shopping Mall/Office space $8,100,000 negotiable

REAL ESTATE

Batts Rock, St Michael Guest House, Land 12,078 sq ft $2,850,000 negotiable

Cane Garden, St Thomas 3.6 acres approved Roadfront land $1,650,000 negotiable

Fitts Village, St JamesGuest House, 4 Suites Land 6,135 sq ft $850,000 negotiable

Mason Hill Street The City26,500 sq ft with buildings$4,500,000 negotiable

NOTICES

NOTICES

REAL ESTATE

All enquiries to (246) 253 6319/ 828-4800

(246) 572 1452 or

(246) 247 4469

AN Egyptian conglom-erate worth billions ofdollars has invested$120 million to takecontrol of the Right To Dream academy,which was founded in Ghana in 1999 by a former ManchesterUnited scout.

Right To Dream startedout with a handful ofyoungsters being trainedby Tom Vernon, onceManchester United’s headscout in Africa, on basicdust-filled pitches inAccra.

Focusing on both educa-tion and football, Right To Dream has grown to such extent that it bought Danish top-flight side FC Nordsjaellandin 2015.

The academy has pro-duced 20 Ghana interna-tionals since it wasfounded,with Strasbourg’sAbdul Majeed Waris and Ajax Amsterdam’sMohammed Kudus amongthem.

The Mansour Group,which reported revenuesin excess of $7.5 billion in2018, deals in a variety ofinterests,with automotive,energy, finance and foodamong them.

The group has createdan entity called Man-Sports to oversee its firstforay into the world ofsports.

“ManSports… will nowfocus on establishing aRight To Dream academyin Egypt, and furtheringthe activities of the Right To Dream academy in Ghana, the FCNordsjaelland club andacademy in Denmark,”a statement said.

ManSports is also keento explore “UK opportuni-ties at club and academylevel”.

Right To Dream willnow build an academy inEgypt, for boys and girls,with construction on thesite in West Cairo set tobegin this year ahead of an intended intake of students next year.

The launch of a new professional women’s foot-ball team in Egypt is expected to follow soonafter.

Mansour Group chair-

man Mohamed Mansouris the seventh-richest manin Africa, and 590th in theworld,according to Forbesmagazine.

His son Loutfy – basedin the English capitalLondon – will head upManSports.

While the Egyptianbusiness giants have as-sumed majority control,with Mohamed Mansourbecoming chairman,Vernon himself will remain as the ‘other significant shareholder’ in the company and operate as CEO.

“Our partnership withRight To Dream is takinga strong African-bornorganisation, with valuesthat align to our own, andsharing more of it with theworld to change more people’s lives,” saidMohamed Mansour.

“Growing the next generation of Egyptianfootball talent with aspiring boys and girls,and supporting the growthof our women’s team, is themost meaningful way forus to start investing in football.”

“Our expansion intoEgypt and Europe is further evidence thatGhana can export its foot-ball values and culture,not just its players,”addedVernon, who originallystarted teaching pupilsaround his kitchen table.

Vernon has previouslytold the BBC that around25 000 players arescanned every year beforebeing admitted to theGhanaian academy, fromwhere many have gone onto gain scholarships board, especially in theUnited States.

“I think the Africanyouth are really lacking ina lot of high-quality rolemodels,” he said.

“Hopefully our system-atic approach can say thatthere is a conveyor belt ofkids who are ready to leadand inspire. That is ourdefinition of success – nothow many players we canproduce.”

Around 70% of Ghana’sRight To Dream studentscome from families whichearn less than two dollarsa day.

Egyptianbusiness giantsinvest $120m in Right ToDream academy

www.gmail.com


BARBADOS STBARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGEOCK EXCHANGE

LAST TRADE VOLUME HIGH LOW LAST CURRENT PRICE BID ASK BID ASK

DATE CLOSE CLOSE CHANGE PRICE PRICE SIZE SIZE

ABV Investments Incorporated 15-Oct-20 - - - $0.05 $0.05 - $0.02 $0.30 8,080 10,498

BICO Limited 21-Sep-20 - - - $3.10 $3.10 - $3.10 - 70 -

Banks Holdings Limited -+ 09-Dec-19 - - - $4.85 $4.85 - - - - -

Barbados Dairy Industries Limited -+ 04-Oct-19 - - - $3.00 $3.00 - - - - -

Barbados Farms Limited 20-Jan-21 6,099 $0.40 $0.40 $0.40 $0.40 $0.00 $0.35 $0.40 1,000 6,771

Cave Shepherd and Company Limited 20-Jan-21 597 $4.10 $4.10 $4.10 $4.10 $0.00 - $4.10 - 665

FirstCaribbean International Bank 20-Jan-21 1,223 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $0.00 $1.80 $2.00 739 777

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund SCC 31-Dec-20 - - - $0.17 $0.17 - $0.15 $0.17 465 56,834

- Dev Fund

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund SCC 18-Dec-20 - - - $0.57 $0.57 - $0.55 $0.57 1,600 2,427

-Value Fund

Goddard Enterprises Limited 20-Jan-21 1,112 $2.20 $2.20 $2.20 $2.20 $0.00 $2.16 $2.20 4,150 5,526

Insurance Corporation of B’dos Limited 04-Dec-20 - - - $1.78 $1.78 - $2.00 $2.50 200 34,950

One Caribbean Media Limited 18-Dec-20 - - - $1.80 $1.80 - $1.80 $2.50 800 800

Sagicor Financial Corporation Pref 6.5% 23-Jun-16 - - - $2.26 $2.26 - - - - -

Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited -+ 29-Nov-19 - - - $2.80 $2.80 - - - - -

West India Biscuit Company Limited 18-Jan-21 - - - $31.50 $31.50 - $31.00 - 400 -

Emera Deposit Receipt 14-Aug-20 - - - $20.75 $20.54 -$0.21 $30.00 - 50 -

TOTAL SHARES BOUGHT & SOLD 9,031

* = Security is Trading X-Div

*+* = Security is Suspended

** = Rights Issued

Last Trade Last Current Bid Ask Bid Ask

Date Close Close Price Price Size Size

GOB Series B 07-Jan-21 $60.00 $60.00 $55.00 $60.00 50,000 402,374

GOB Series D 12-Nov-19 $50.00 $50.00 - - - -

GOB Series F 03-Nov-20 $89.00 $89.00 - - - -

GOB Series I 24-Mar-20 $65.00 $65.00 - - - -

MUTUAL FUNDJanuary 20, 2021

ENDED NAME OF FUND NAV OFFER BID NAV

CHANGE

15-Jan-21 REPUBLIC CAPITAL GROWTH FUND w 1.1929 -0.0035

15-Jan-21 REPUBLIC INCOME FUND w 1.2675 0.0011

15-Jan-21 REPUBLIC PROPERTY FUND w 0.6740 -0.0003

15-Jan-21 FORTRESS CARIBBEAN GROWTH FUND w 6.5542 6.5542 6.5542 0.0707

15-Jan-21 FORTRESS HIGH INTEREST FUND - ACC. w 2.1022 -0.0003

15-Jan-21 FORTRESS HIGH INTEREST FUND - DIST. w 1.0233 -0.0002

31-Dec-20 ROYAL FIDELITY SELECT BALANCED FUND m 5.5718 5.5718 5.4665 0.1391

31-Dec-20 ROYAL FIDELITY STRATEGIC GROWTH FUNDm 1.0241 1.0241 1.0036 0.0415

31-Dec-20 ROYAL FIDELITY PREMIUM INCOME FUND m 1.6435 1.6435 1.6106 0.0168

15-Jan-21 SAGICOR GLOBAL BALANCED FUND w 2.76 0.02

15-Jan-21 SAGICOR SELECT GROWTH FUND w 1.68 0.01

15-Jan-21 SAGICOR PREFERRED INCOME FUND w 0.99 0.00

* Indicates the Fund is currently ex-div

NOTES: QUOTATIONS AND NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE ARE SUPPLIED BY THEFUND MANAGEMENT. THE OFFERING PRICE INCLUDES NET ASSET VALUE PLUSENTRY COSTS.

m = monthly valuation, q = quarterly valuation, w = weekly

Regular Market

Security Volume High Low Market Advance/Price Decline

BARBADOS FARMS LIMITED 6,099 $0.40 $0.40 $0.40 $0.00

FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK 1,223 $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 $0.00

GODDARD ENTERPRISES LIMITED 1,112 $2.20 $2.20 $2.20 $0.00

CAVE SHEPHERD AND COMPANY LIMITED 597 $4.10 $4.10 $4.10 $0.00

Deposit Security Previous Current Advance/Close Close Decline

EMERA DEPOSIT RECEIPT $20.75 $20.54 -$0.21

BARBADOS STOCK REPORT

January 20, 2021

Four securities traded firm as 9,031 shares traded on the Regular Market, with a total value of $9,779.70. Barbados Farms Limited wasthe volume leader trading 6,099 shares at $0.40. They were followed by FirstCaribbean International Bank and Goddard EnterprisesLimited which traded 1,223 and 1,112 shares, respectively.

Fixed Income

NEWS

SHARE SUMMARY INFORMATIONWednesday January 20, 2021

INDICES

TODAY'S TRADING LAST TRADING CHANGES

January 20, 2021 January 19, 2021

Local 2,603.64 2,603.87 (0.23)

Cross-list 933.43 933.43 -

Composite 633.51 633.56 (0.05)

MARKET CAPITALISATION (in millions)

TODAY'S TRADING LAST TRADING CHANGES

January 20, 2021 January 19, 2021

Local 5,233.42 5,233.88 (0.46)

Cross-list 119.19 119.19 -

Composite 5,352.61 5,353.07 (0.46)

NOTICESANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

West India Biscuit Company Limited - Directors have fixed January 7th, 2021 as the record date for the determination ofshareholders entitled to receive notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Company which will be held on February 12th, 2021.

DIVIDEND DECLARATIONS

Cave Shepherd and Company Limited – Directors have declared a final dividend of five ($0.05) cents per share to be paid onFebruary 19th, 2021 to Shareholders on record at close of business on February 5th, 2021.

Emera Deposit Receipt - Directors have declared a cash dividend of sixty-three point seven five (CDN $0.6375) cents per commonshare to be paid on February 16th, 2021 to Shareholders on record at close of business on February 2nd, 2021. Registered holders ofdepositary receipts ("Depositary Receipts") issued pursuant to Section 4.1 of the Amended and Restated Deposit Agreement datedFebruary 2nd, 2016 among Emera, the Barbados Central Securities Depository Inc. and registered and beneficial holders of depositaryreceipts from time to time, are entitled to receive, in proportion to the number of Depositary Receipts held by them, respectively, adistribution in the amount of any cash received by the Barbados Central Securities Depository Inc. (net of any applicable withholdingtaxes) in connection with the Dividend (the "Distribution").

BSE NOTICESCOVID-19 PROCEDURAL UPDATEKindly note that effective January 18th, 2021 the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) and the Barbados Central SecuritiesDepository Inc. (BCSDI) have recommenced operations at our physical offices. Office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to4:00 p.m.

All persons entering our building must wear a mask and will be subject to a digital temperature check on entry to our offices. While weacknowledge that every person with fever may not be COVID-19 positive and that some individuals may present without symptoms,please note that any person with a temperature reading of 100˚ F (37.8˚ C) or over, as well as those not wearing masks, will be denied entry to conduct business within our offices.

We wish to thank you in advance for your understanding, however, we must emphasize that this is a necessary step for the protectionof staff and clients alike.

TRADING SUSPENSIONThe Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that due to non-compliance with Section 4.01.3 and subject to Section3.01.5.(1)(b) of the Rules of the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. trading in the Common Shares of Banks Holdings Limited weresuspended effective December 10th, 2019.

The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that due to non-compliance with Section 4.01.3 and subject to Section3.01.5.(1)(b) of the Rules of the Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. trading in the Common Shares of Barbados Dairy Industries Limited were suspended effective December 10th, 2019.

The Barbados Stock Exchange Inc. (BSE) wishes to advise that to facilitate the closing of the Scheme of Arrangement effected by wayof Section 99 of the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda involving the transfer of all the issued and outstanding shares in SagicorFinancial Corporation Limited to Alignvest Acquisition II, it has suspended trading in the security Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited.

MORGAN STANLEYboosted both its shortand long-term operatingtargets yesterday aftercoronavirus-inducedvolatility in financialmarkets helped the WallStreet bank post aquarterly profit thatsailed past estimates.

The company alsoconfirmed plans to buy back$10 billion of shares thisyear, more than three timesthe figures announced by itsretail banking peers, as itwrapped up results for USlenders, which pointed to amodest rebound in theeconomy.

“We are in the growthphase of this company forthe next decade,” MorganStanley Chief ExecutiveOfficer James Gorman toldanalysts on a conferencecall.

Morgan Stanleyincreased its two-yeartarget for return on tangibleequity to 14%-16%, from anearlier forecast of 13%-15%.The metric measures howwell a bank is using itscapital to produce profit.

The company also raisedits longer term target for thesame metric to more than17%, from its previousoutlook of 15%-17%.

Morgan Stanley

boosts targets

after blowout

trading quarter


www.u.drive

www.tmrsales.com

www.starproductscoltd.com


SERGIO PEREZ says his move to RedBull is a chance to prove he cancompete at the highest level inFormula 1.

The Mexican, who took his maiden winat the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, hasspent his decade in the sport in teamsusually competing in the midfield.

The 30-year-old said: “I waited all mycareer for an opportunity with a top teamand I am so much looking forward tomaking it work.

“It’s a moment for me to prove it tomyself that I can take the next step.”

He added: “These opportunities onlycome once in your life.”

Perez moves to Red Bull after sevenyears at the team last known as RacingPoint and before that Force India.

Previously he spent a year at McLarenwhen they began their competitive declinein 2013 and was at Sauber in 2011-12.

Speaking in an interview with Red Bullon a visit to the team’s factory in MiltonKeynes, he said he considered drivingalongside team-mate Max Verstappen “abig challenge".

“We all know how talented Max is, howmuch he has grown and how complete heis,” Perez said.“He his one of the fastest, ifnot the fastest, on the current grid.”

And he said the opportunity to workwith Red Bull’s legendary design chiefAdrian Newey was “a dream come true".

He said the level of engineeringcapability in the team was “veryimpressive” but emphasised that it will

take him time to find his feet.“It’s like a dog finding a new family,”

Perez said. “You’ve been a family for somany years and you are used to seeingthem and then all of a sudden you arechanging.

“But I have to say, I am starting to feelvery comfortable here.It’s a fantastic team,very united, and I can see that there is a

lot of fun ahead of us.”Perez has driven the Red Bull car in the

simulator and said he was “getting there".“I have a good idea of what the Red Bull

car is like,” he said. “It’s already in theback of my head,the car,but we are in thattime where nothing comes easy.

“I have been in the sport in differentteams, in different eras and I think I know

what I need from myself,but I also feel thatI can push the team forwards in certainareas just by talking to the team.

“And I think we know the direction.Obviously, I have to wait and drive the carbut there are already some good ideas thatwe have been sharing with the team thathopefully can bring some performance ontrack."

Red Bull driver ready to prove he can ‘take next step’

Sergio Perez visits the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes for the first time.

www.child.got

Thursday January 21, 2021 •23The Barbados Advocate

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HOROSCOPESARIES: Dwelling on the past is a waste of time. Command the power of

the present moment. Treat mistakes as valuable lessons. Now you know

what not to do, it will be easier to attain victory. Give yourself a reward

for every fresh attempt. Someone from a different culture can teach you a

new way of dealing with stress. Although their methods may seem silly and

simplistic at first, they are quite effective. Put your scepticism aside and

follow their lead. You won’t be disappointed.

TAURUS: Do you need help with an important task? Avoid asking a

reliable friend to assist you. Although your loved one has good intentions,

they are simply incapable of showing up on time and ready to work. It’s

much better to hire a professional. The object of your affection isn’t

interested in a physical relationship. Respect their boundaries and look

elsewhere for affection. You’re a deeply sensual person who needs a

partner who can satisfy your desires. Be patient and the right candidate will

enter your life.

GEMINI: It’s important to be ethical in all your professional activities.

Bending the rules to accommodate a special client will be serious cause for

regret. Be firm when turning down this customer’s request for free products

or discounted services. Your reputation is on the line. Has your personal

life become lacklustre? It’s because you are pouring too much energy into

work. Change your priorities. Make more time for social pursuits. You can’t

meet anyone special if you spend all your nights alone.

CANCER: Be practical about your education. If you don’t have much

training, it will be difficult to get the lucrative job you desire. Even if you

don’t need a degree for your work, it’s important to get the necessary

experience. Become an intern or apprentice. Learning from an expert will

increase your confidence. You’ll make great impressions on job interviews,

answering questions from a place of certainty. Best of all, you’ll get

glowing recommendations from the people who trained you.

LEO: Are you getting mixed signals from a romantic partner? Stop

subjecting yourself to torture. Turn your attention to artistic pursuits that

bring you joy. Once your amour realises they are losing their power over

you, they’ll change their tune. Your happiness doesn’t depend on them.

Throwing a temper tantrum will reflect badly on you. When you’re

dissatisfied with a relationship or situation, it’s important to communicate

your needs in a clear, effective way. People will respect you a lot more when

you behave in mature fashion.

VIRGO: Someone will take advantage of your good nature. Don’t beat

yourself up for trusting a manipulative person. You’ve learned a valuable

lesson from this situation. When it comes to money, you must protect your

interests at all costs. Never feel compelled to share your wealth. It’s

possible a relative is taking more than their fair share of a group fund. Hire

a legal professional to get the funds you deserve. Gather all the necessary

paperwork to make your case; the facts are in your favour.

LIBRA: Being unreliable at work will result in dismissal. Your employer

is counting on you to perform critical tasks. Neglecting your responsibilities

will reflect badly on them. It will also inconvenience your colleagues. Think

about how your behaviour affects the entire group. You’ll get some upsetting

news about an academic matter. It’s possible you will fail a test or have your

application to a university refused. Try not to beat yourself up for this

setback. Simply learn from your mistakes and make a better attempt.

SCORPIO: Is a creative block driving you to distraction? Stop trying to

find a solution to this dilemma. Turn your attention to a routine task

instead. The inspiration you crave will arrive while you’re sweeping the

floor, sorting the laundry or chopping some vegetables. A pay raise or

promoted position that you were hoping for will not arrive. Dwelling on

your current financial situation will not cause them to improve. The best

way to cultivate prosperity is to adopt an appreciative attitude about

everything you own.

SAGITTARIUS: Resist the temptation to withdraw from public life.

Spending all your time at home will make you feel isolated and alienated.

If you want more friends, join a club, gym or political organisation. You’ll

meet several light-hearted people who enjoy your sense of humour. At times

like these, it’s important to be diplomatic. You’re famous for being truthful

and even harsh in social settings. Wait until you’ve developed close

relationships before giving unvarnished opinions. Beware of jumping the

gun and speaking your mind before you’re asked.

CAPRICORN: Don’t panic if someone close has a few ‘issues’. Once the

source of the problem has been identified, it will be possible to deal with

this situation swiftly.Aspecial tutor or mentoring group could help someone

who has been struggling to thrive. Be patient. Some relatives will behave

as if this news is scandalous. Ignore their smug remarks. Nobody is perfect.

It’s much healthier to acknowledge difficulties than pretend like they don’t

exist. Be truthful and offer plenty of moral support to the person who is

trying to improve.

AQUARIUS: Be practical about your financial needs. If your current job

doesn’t pay enough to cover your bills, make some changes. Scale back

your expenses, find a more lucrative source of employment or both.

Marketing a brilliant idea for a product or service can cultivate great

wealth. If you’ve been loaning money to a friend, it’s time to stop the

practice. You must stop undermining your own financial security for their

benefit. You’re under no obligation to help an able-bodied adult who can

support themselves.

PISCES: You soak up the environment like a sponge. That’s why it’s so

important to surround yourself with positive people. It also helps to listen

to upbeat music and watch inspiring movies. Once your mood lifts, you’ll

attract all the love, luck and opportunity you desire. It will take longer than

expected to get your dream job. Be realistic about your background. If you

lack the necessary experience to get a promoted position, take an entry level

position in your desired industry.

www.giimny.com

www.zitscomics.com

Printed and published by Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc. Fontabelle, St. Michael. Telephone 467-2000, Fax 434-2020/434-1000

Thursday January 21, 2021

Page 17

Bangladesh beat WI

in first ODI

BARBADOS will beamong over 190 countriesslated to receive COVID-19 vaccines from theCOVAX Facility this year.

This was stated by DrYitades Gebre, PanAmerican HealthOrganisation (PAHO) andWorld HealthOrganisation (WHO)

Representative forBarbados, the EasternCaribbean and OverseasFrench Departments, dur-ing a recent PAHO pres-entation of medical equip-ment to Barbados at theirheadquarters.

Dr. Gebre stated thatthere had been a meetingwith the Covax Facility

earlier that morning, inthe presence of thePermanent Secretary ofthe Ministry of Health andWellness, Janet Phillips.The COVAX Facility is aglobal initiative thatbrings together govern-ments and manufacturersto ensure COVID-19 vac-cines reach the most vul-

nerable.“At this point, the Covax

Facility has signed anagreement for at least sixdifferent types of vaccinesfrom five providers andthe total doses would beabout two billion, that isassured doses.”

The PAHO/WHO repexplained that this stock

would supply the over 190countries which are already participating inthis facility, and providefor at least 20% of eachpopulation by December2021. It has been recommended by theWHO that it is best forcountries to have at least70% of the population vac-

cinated to have HerdImmunity in order tobreak the COVID-19chain of transmission. Henoted that Barbados wasone of the countries in-volved and would mostlikely receive the vaccinesin either late February orearly March 2020.

VACCINES on Page 3

WASHINGTON – JoeBiden was sworn in asthe 46th president ofthe United States yes-terday, summoningAmerican resilience toconfront a historic con-fluence of crises andurging people to cometogether to end an “un-civil war” in a nationdeeply divided afterfour tumultuous years.

Declaring that “democ-racy has prevailed,” Bidentook the oath at a USCapitol that had been bat-tered by an insurrectionistsiege just two weeks ear-lier.

By his side was KamalaHarris, who made historywhen she was sworn in asBiden’s vice president, be-coming the first woman,the first Black Americanand the first AsianAmerican to hold the sec-ond highest US office.

On a chill Washingtonmorning, the quadrennialceremony unfolded withina circle of security forcesevocative of a war zoneand devoid of crowds be-cause of the coronaviruspandemic. Instead, Bidengazed out over 200 000American flags planted onthe National Mall to sym-bolize those who could notattend in person.

“The will of the people

has been heard, and thewill of the people has beenheeded. We’ve learnedagain that democracy isprecious and democracy isfragile. At this hour, myfriends, democracy has

prevailed,” Biden said.“This is America’s day.This is democracy’s day. Aday in history and hope,of renewal and resolve.”

“We have much to do inthis winter of peril, and

significant possibilities.Much to repair, much torestore, much to heal,much to build and much togain,” Biden said. “Fewpeople in our nation’s his-tory have been more chal-

lenged, or found a timemore challenging or diffi-cult than the time we’re innow.”

Biden is eager to go bigearly, with an ambitiousfirst 100 days that in-

cludes a push to speed upthe distribution ofCOVID-19 vaccinations toanxious Americans andpass a $1.9 trillion virusrelief package. On DayOne,he planned a series ofexecutive actions to rollback former PresidentTrump’s administrationinitiatives and alsoplanned to send an immi-gration proposal to CapitolHill that would create aneight-year path to citizen-ship for immigrants livingin the country illegally.

“This is our historic mo-ment of crisis and chal-lenge, and unity is thepath forward and we mustmeet this moment as theUnited States of America,”the President said.

Biden comes to officewith a well of empathyand resolve born by per-sonal tragedy as well as adepth of experience forgedfrom more than fourdecades in Washington.Atage 78, he is the oldestpresident inaugurated.

Looking ahead, Harris,56, is seen as an obviouscontender for theDemocratic Party’s 2024presidential nominationshould Biden decide not toseek a second term.Harrishas yet to weigh in pub-licly on such speculation.

OFFICIAL on Page 14

Barbados to receive vaccines from COVAX Facility

NEW U.S. PRESIDENT,V.P. SWORN IN

Vice President Kamala Harris bumps fists with President-elect Joe Biden after she was sworn in during

the inauguration yesterday, at the US Capitol in Washington.

Gov't willing to discuss hazard pay with unions

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