NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 13, 2021) — The construction of a multi-million-dollar, state of-the-art multi-purpose technical wing at the Gingerland Secondary School is nearing completion.
Hon. Troy Liburd, Junior Minister of Education, made the disclosure during a tour of the site on August 12, 2021, with his Cabinet colleagues led by Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis.
“Very happy this morning to welcome the Cabinet, the Premier and other Cabinet colleagues to a visit here at the Gingerland Secondary School at the [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] TVET wing which is just about 90 percent completed. This project would have started sometime last year. I believe about 13 months ago and we are now nearing completion…
“It is part of the wider TVET project that has been happening here on Nevis for some time… Our contractors on this project were Lefco [Equipment Rentals & Construction Co. Ltd.], and the consultants on the project were FDL Consult Inc. out of St. Lucia. So, the project is set to be completed at the end of this month and then we would have some remedial work and to move in all of the equipment and so on and then the Gingerland Secondary School would have access to the building shortly.
Mr. Liburd expressed hope that the project would be of benefit to the island’s youth as the NIA strives to bring technical and vocational subjects to them.
The Junior Education Minister also spoke of the type of classrooms which will be housed in the 4,800 sq. ft. two-storey building.
“The classrooms to be housed in the building when it’s complete would be a woodwork shop, technical drawing classrooms, electricity, cosmetology and there would be some general classrooms,” he said.
On completion of the $4million project, a similar but larger building will be constructed at the Charlestown Secondary School (CSS) to house the TVET programme there. Construction is expected to commence by 2022.
Both projects on Nevis form part of the wider $8million St. Kitts and Nevis TVET Enhancement Project which is funded by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Also present on the tour were Hon. Alexis Jeffers, Deputy Premier of Nevis; Hon. Eric Evelyn, Hon. Spencer Brand; Mr. Stedmond Tross, Cabinet Secretary; Mrs. Hélène Anne Lewis
Legal Advisor to the NIA; Mr. Darius Cumberbatch, Engineer for FDL Consult Inc.; Mr. Lester Blackett, Project Manager; and Mr. Dorson Ottley, TVET Officer at the Department of Education.
NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 13, 2021) — The Department of Social Services’ Yes To Success (YTS) Youth Skills Training and Diversion programme, which will enter its 7th Cycle, from Monday August 16, 2021, continues to grow.
Speaking on the success of the programme so far, Mrs. Sandra Maynard Morton, Director of Social Services said on August 11, 2021, that it continues help participants to succeed in the wider community.
“The programme is still growing. We are trying to stay focused on who it is meant to serve with the knowledge that young people who are more academically inclined may find it easier to compete in the world of work and life in general, so those that we target, we work hard with them to give them an edge.
“It is always good to see them succeed, complete the programme, get long-term work even go on to other technical programmes, as this raises their confidence and sets them on a good path in life. Some can be challenging to work with. We anticipate drop outs every year but overall we are pleased with the outcomes of YTS thus far,” she said.
The programme, which targets school leavers and older youth up to the age of 25 years, is a three-month skills training programme.
“The programme is strictly targeted to those who are not heavily academically inclined but have the potential to succeed in skilled work. It combines skills training, job preparation and other life skills sessions with a work internship to give the young persons a holistic experience. Its programming is also aimed at providing meaningful engagement to young persons to encourage them to steer clear of crime and violence.
“With good participation, the participants are paid a work stipend. Since 2015 the department has trained between 18 and 25 young persons annually, with an approximate 60 percent success rate of placing them in long-term employment up to 2018,” Ms. Maynard explained.
This year’s training sessions were tailored in anticipation of the reopening of hotels and restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and hopefully a surge in the construction industry, the director stated.
“The planning team at Social Services is offering Hospitality Preparedness Training, and Basic Plumbing, Electrical classes over the next three months to help boost the young person’s confidence in job search at hotels and in the construction industry.
“This year’s training will also incorporate several recreational videography training sessions to help keep the young persons interested,” she said.
The YTS programme is funded through the NIA’s recurring youth development funding and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Juvenile Justice Reform Project.
The training sessions are held at the YTS site at Pinney’s Estate which was officially opened on October 19, 2020. During the opening ceremony Hon. Eric Evelyn, Minister of Social Development on Nevis, gave the programme his blessings.
An Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court August 16, 2019 filing by Blue Lagoon Management Ltd., a Belize company, claiming $150,000 worth in shares in the new ownership in the Bank Of Nevis International Ltd. (BONI), came some four and a half months before the new ownership of the international bank became effective.
The Observer attempted to contact BONI’s Managing Director Michael J Prest several times this week, but he didn’t return our calls or respond to our messages.
To get an idea of what to expect in any challenge to Mr. Prest, the Observer made contact with a past colleague and sometimes adversary of his.
“He is the most calculated businessman that I have ever known”, the source told the Observer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You can tell that his brain is always working. Every action and everything that he says; every move is well thought out and well calibrated. He does more observing and listening than speaking. The toughest negotiator the industry produced. You go up against him, and when you think that he has backed off, is when he comes on like a tonne of brick. He grinds his opponents into submission. He goes quiet on you, behaving as though he has a hundred years to spare, then out of the blue he attacks,” our source said.
Prest became Managing Director of The Bank of Nevis International Ltd. on January 3 ,2020, following a December 29th 2019 announcement by
The Bank of Nevis Limited that read that the bank had entered into an agreement with Petrodel Investment Advisers (Nevis) Limited (PIAN), a Nevis-registered company, for the purchase of the banking operations of Bank of Nevis International Limited. “PIAN will own one hundred percent (100%) shares of Bank Of Nevis International Limited and will continue to operate the Bank under its existing name”.
The sale was executed on 31st December 2019.
March 5th this year, the Bank of Nevis International, otherwise referred to as BONI, acquired over 1.9 million ordinary shares, representing 24.08 per cent stake in Investrust of the African country, Zambia.
Prest in a speech at an event in April hosted by Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia, said that BONI’s involvement in Investrust would allow investments in natural resources in that country to be scaled up twentyfold.
Last month, the bank’s sister company, Bank Of Nevis International Trust Services (BONITS) announced that it has been approved to promote the island of St. Lucia’s Citizen By Investment Programme.
The launch of Citizenship Investment Programme (CIP) products to St. Lucia by BONITS, followed the announced launch of the entity’s first overseas office in Dubai in April 2021, as the organisation continues to grow its geographic footprint and focus on providing global clients with Migration Investment solutions that meet their changing demands.
The Bank of Nevis International Limited was incorporated under the Nevis Companies Ordinance, Cap 7.06 of the laws of St. Christopher and Nevis, on April 29th, 1998 and commenced operations on July 1st, 1998.
According to a 2010 post by Muhtar Bakare in “Oil and Gas Tanzania”, Michael Prest was “the chief executive officer of Petrodel Resources Limited but was not well-known outside business circles, but he is well-regarded in the exclusive and close-knit world of international independent oil trading”.
Prest is Nigerian, but “not the typical successful Nigerian businessman. He avoids flamboyance and prefers to keep a low profile”, according to the Bakare article.
He is currently 57, and has completed a lot in this life.
Bakare describes Prest as having completed four international marathons, and being “lean, wiry, possessed of a body toned by self-discipline and an aura of incredible calm and self-control”.
“Mr. Prest is from a prominent Warri family. His grandfather was a judge and minister for communication in the first republic, his father was a lawyer, chief of staff and special adviser to President Shehu Shagari. He speaks of his family in reverential tones,” according to Bakare, who interviewed him.
“I wouldn’t be here today without the sacrifices my parents made for me.”
Mr. Prest went to public school in England, considered becoming a priest and gave up a place at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London to read law at the then University of Ife.
“That was the first time in my life where I really was put in an arena where people wanted to succeed. I had experienced adversity but I’d never had it right in my face, and I think it was the first time in my life where I got a chance to understand who I was in the context of my own history,” Prest told Bakare.
He sees himself as an introvert, and Bakare said that Mr. Prest admits to a restless spirit. He was called to the bar as a lawyer in 1984 and went into legal practice, but acted on the urge to do something bigger.
“I was impatient because at that time a lot of my friends were getting involved in the global markets. Although, I didn’t understand what it was at the time, I knew there was some momentum building, and that young people were making some fairly big decisions. So, I left Nigeria in 1986, not knowing what I was going to do, but I had this energy,” Prest told Bakare.
“You have to be phlegmatic about failure. When you were young and you had those discos and the boys would stand on this end of the room and the girls would stand over there, I was always that child, as ugly and as short as I am, who would walk across and ask the most beautiful girl in the room to dance,” Bakare quoted him.
His sister Helen Prest, who was at the time Miss Nigeria, was also at the same university at the time as Prest, showed him off as her well-spoken, confident always, well-dressed younger brother. That increased his popularity.
“My brother has always been very determined and focused,” said Helen Prest-Ajayi in an interview with Bakare. “He is very much the same now as he was then. He always knew what he wanted to do and where he was going.”
An old school friend’s reference resulted in Prest being interviewed and hired by the Phillip Brothers (Salomon Brothers) and he was hired as a soft commodities trader covering Africa, Eastern Europe and China.
After four years of successful trading, he moved to the oil section as an apprentice to John Brunner, one of the most influential physical oil traders of his time, who took Mr. Prest under his wing.
Prest opened up to Bakare about his apprentice days.
“I was boy-boy to John Brunner. He asked me to make the tea, I’d make the tea. I met the top echelon of NNPC through him. NNPC was going to buy a refinery; he made me an integral part of the discovery and negotiation process. So I got the best education, from the best, at the time, on how to operate in the oil business.”
Prest made a name for himself in the world of high-rolling oil trading as a calm and shrewd negotiator.
He took his father’s death in 1993 hard, and took over the role as the leader of the family and ensured that his two younger brothers finished university. His father was only 56 when he died.
Prest said in his interview with Bakare, “My father taught me: Never die until they kill you. Always work hard. Look after your siblings because it’s your people, who when you have a problem will save you. And most importantly, he taught me from a very young age; know who you really are; not that image you project to people.”
Prest cemented himself as a star at John Brunner’s. The 1990s were fierce years in the oil trading business and traders knew each other, and the Rich brothers topped that business.
Prest soon came to the attention of oil trading legend Marc Rich, who reached out to him in 1996, according to Bakare’s blog.
“If you were in oil trading, there were two companies or two individuals you always wanted to have worked for because you hoped some of the aura would rub off on you. One was Phillip Brothers, and the other one was Mr. Marc Rich. Despite all the stories you hear about him, if you’re in oil trading, you don’t get any bigger personality than Marc. So, when he was thinking of creating a new business, for him to have me in mind…It was simply a call I had to take…but it was a double-edged sword, because…I know what the world says about him.”
“The only thing I will say is; there’s a human side to this man…a lot of people feel like they haven’t been given an opportunity for whatever reason…and to find an iconic figure, who didn’t care that I was from Nigeria. He didn’t care that you were black, white, Indian or Muslim. He just wanted to know, can you stay the course and can you cut the deal? Can you look him in the eye? Yes or No?” Prest told Bakare.
Bakare quoted the following sources in the comments below;
“The art of the Rich deal according to a 2005 Businessweek article is: Do whatever it takes. The magazine went on: “Rich is notorious for trading with Iran during the hostage crisis, South Africa during apartheid, and Cuba and Libya during U.S. trade embargoes.”
“The Rich Boys, as his protégés have been called by Businessweek, form the most “powerful informal network of independent commodities traders on earth… .” Companies associated with Marc Rich and his protégés include, Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol, which do very brisk business in Nigeria.”
He worked for Marc Rich between 1996 and 2001; at one point running a global business with 400 employees and an annual turnover of $14 billion.
“Mr. Prest’s tenure at Marc Rich heralded the introduction of many young Nigerians and Africans into the company and as counterparties to the company. Many of them are still active today in the oil industry across the continent,” Bakare wrote.
Prest told Bakare, “Marc took a great interest in me and spent hours upon hours in his office in Zug literally teaching me and keeping me on my toes… he then allowed me to run his company trading crude oil and all the derivative products. He respected hard work and most of all valued loyalty”.
Rich ran enterprises that brokered oil, gold, sugar, grain, aluminum and nickel. He even sold copper to the U.S. mint until lawmakers found out about it, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Marc Rich died in June 2013.
Early in 2002, Michael Prest felt that he had learned all he possibly could from Marc Rich, so he lounged out on his own and started Petrodel.
“Don’t forget I’d been an employee since 1986. It’s the experience which I think, money can’t buy. I really do understand the oil business. Wake me up at any time of the day. In this sector, when I talk; I know what I’m talking about. I don’t want to seem arrogant when I say this but, if you had to pick 5-10 personalities in the oil trading business, my name would be there,” Prest told Bakare.
“My father made a point of telling everybody he knew in government; this is my son. Everywhere I went, they would give me an audience. So when I came home, my foot was already in the door. Not just because of me, but people knew my dad and they knew my grandfather, they knew my mother and they knew my sister…Without their sacrifices I would not be where I am today…truth be told, I had to do very little,” Prest related to Bakare.
By 2010, Petrodel had diversified interests in real estate, leisure and hospitality.
Prest opined then that Petrodel would thrive, so long as it continued to add value to its host communities and invest in people:
“We haven’t got to that point yet and we will only get to that point when the wheels of industry are driven by the resolute and the bold, who have now said to themselves, that theirs is a sacrifice where the benefit is a legacy they leave behind for our children.”
Is Bank Of Nevis Int. Chief Prest hard-pressed?
An Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court August 16, 2019 filing by Blue Lagoon Management Ltd., a Belize company, claiming $150,000 worth in shares in the new ownership in the Bank Of Nevis International Ltd. (BONI), came some four and a half months before the new ownership of the international bank became effective.
The Observer attempted to contact BONI’s Managing Director Michael J Prest several times this week, but he didn’t return our calls or respond to our messages.
To get an idea of what to expect in any challenge to Mr. Prest, the Observer made contact with a past colleague and sometimes adversary of his.
“He is the most calculated businessman that I have ever known”, the source told the Observer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You can tell that his brain is always working. Every action and everything that he says; every move is well thought out and well calibrated. He does more observing and listening than speaking. The toughest negotiator the industry produced. You go up against him, and when you think that he has backed off, is when he comes on like a tonne of brick. He grinds his opponents into submission. He goes quiet on you, behaving as though he has a hundred years to spare, then out of the blue he attacks,” our source said.
Prest became Managing Director of The Bank of Nevis International Ltd. on January 3 ,2020, following a December 29th 2019 announcement by
The Bank of Nevis Limited that read that the bank had entered into an agreement with Petrodel Investment Advisers (Nevis) Limited (PIAN), a Nevis-registered company, for the purchase of the banking operations of Bank of Nevis International Limited. “PIAN will own one hundred percent (100%) shares of Bank Of Nevis International Limited and will continue to operate the Bank under its existing name”.
The sale was executed on 31st December 2019.
March 5th this year, the Bank of Nevis International, otherwise referred to as BONI, acquired over 1.9 million ordinary shares, representing 24.08 per cent stake in Investrust of the African country, Zambia.
Prest in a speech at an event in April hosted by Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia, said that BONI’s involvement in Investrust would allow investments in natural resources in that country to be scaled up twentyfold.
Last month, the bank’s sister company, Bank Of Nevis International Trust Services (BONITS) announced that it has been approved to promote the island of St. Lucia’s Citizen By Investment Programme.
The launch of Citizenship Investment Programme (CIP) products to St. Lucia by BONITS, followed the announced launch of the entity’s first overseas office in Dubai in April 2021, as the organisation continues to grow its geographic footprint and focus on providing global clients with Migration Investment solutions that meet their changing demands.
The Bank of Nevis International Limited was incorporated under the Nevis Companies Ordinance, Cap 7.06 of the laws of St. Christopher and Nevis, on April 29th, 1998 and commenced operations on July 1st, 1998.
According to a 2010 post by Muhtar Bakare in “Oil and Gas Tanzania”, Michael Prest was “the chief executive officer of Petrodel Resources Limited but was not well-known outside business circles, but he is well-regarded in the exclusive and close-knit world of international independent oil trading”.
Prest is Nigerian, but “not the typical successful Nigerian businessman. He avoids flamboyance and prefers to keep a low profile”, according to the Bakare article.
He is currently 57, and has completed a lot in this life.
Bakare describes Prest as having completed four international marathons, and being “lean, wiry, possessed of a body toned by self-discipline and an aura of incredible calm and self-control”.
“Mr. Prest is from a prominent Warri family. His grandfather was a judge and minister for communication in the first republic, his father was a lawyer, chief of staff and special adviser to President Shehu Shagari. He speaks of his family in reverential tones,” according to Bakare, who interviewed him.
“I wouldn’t be here today without the sacrifices my parents made for me.”
Mr. Prest went to public school in England, considered becoming a priest and gave up a place at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London to read law at the then University of Ife.
“That was the first time in my life where I really was put in an arena where people wanted to succeed. I had experienced adversity but I’d never had it right in my face, and I think it was the first time in my life where I got a chance to understand who I was in the context of my own history,” Prest told Bakare.
He sees himself as an introvert, and Bakare said that Mr. Prest admits to a restless spirit. He was called to the bar as a lawyer in 1984 and went into legal practice, but acted on the urge to do something bigger.
“I was impatient because at that time a lot of my friends were getting involved in the global markets. Although, I didn’t understand what it was at the time, I knew there was some momentum building, and that young people were making some fairly big decisions. So, I left Nigeria in 1986, not knowing what I was going to do, but I had this energy,” Prest told Bakare.
“You have to be phlegmatic about failure. When you were young and you had those discos and the boys would stand on this end of the room and the girls would stand over there, I was always that child, as ugly and as short as I am, who would walk across and ask the most beautiful girl in the room to dance,” Bakare quoted him.
His sister Helen Prest, who was at the time Miss Nigeria, was also at the same university at the time as Prest, showed him off as her well-spoken, confident always, well-dressed younger brother. That increased his popularity.
“My brother has always been very determined and focused,” said Helen Prest-Ajayi in an interview with Bakare. “He is very much the same now as he was then. He always knew what he wanted to do and where he was going.”
An old school friend’s reference resulted in Prest being interviewed and hired by the Phillip Brothers (Salomon Brothers) and he was hired as a soft commodities trader covering Africa, Eastern Europe and China.
After four years of successful trading, he moved to the oil section as an apprentice to John Brunner, one of the most influential physical oil traders of his time, who took Mr. Prest under his wing.
Prest opened up to Bakare about his apprentice days.
“I was boy-boy to John Brunner. He asked me to make the tea, I’d make the tea. I met the top echelon of NNPC through him. NNPC was going to buy a refinery; he made me an integral part of the discovery and negotiation process. So I got the best education, from the best, at the time, on how to operate in the oil business.”
Prest made a name for himself in the world of high-rolling oil trading as a calm and shrewd negotiator.
He took his father’s death in 1993 hard, and took over the role as the leader of the family and ensured that his two younger brothers finished university. His father was only 56 when he died.
Prest said in his interview with Bakare, “My father taught me: Never die until they kill you. Always work hard. Look after your siblings because it’s your people, who when you have a problem will save you. And most importantly, he taught me from a very young age; know who you really are; not that image you project to people.”
Prest cemented himself as a star at John Brunner’s. The 1990s were fierce years in the oil trading business and traders knew each other, and the Rich brothers topped that business.
Prest soon came to the attention of oil trading legend Marc Rich, who reached out to him in 1996, according to Bakare’s blog.
“If you were in oil trading, there were two companies or two individuals you always wanted to have worked for because you hoped some of the aura would rub off on you. One was Phillip Brothers, and the other one was Mr. Marc Rich. Despite all the stories you hear about him, if you’re in oil trading, you don’t get any bigger personality than Marc. So, when he was thinking of creating a new business, for him to have me in mind…It was simply a call I had to take…but it was a double-edged sword, because…I know what the world says about him.”
“The only thing I will say is; there’s a human side to this man…a lot of people feel like they haven’t been given an opportunity for whatever reason…and to find an iconic figure, who didn’t care that I was from Nigeria. He didn’t care that you were black, white, Indian or Muslim. He just wanted to know, can you stay the course and can you cut the deal? Can you look him in the eye? Yes or No?” Prest told Bakare.
Bakare quoted the following sources in the comments below;
“The art of the Rich deal according to a 2005 Businessweek article is: Do whatever it takes. The magazine went on: “Rich is notorious for trading with Iran during the hostage crisis, South Africa during apartheid, and Cuba and Libya during U.S. trade embargoes.”
“The Rich Boys, as his protégés have been called by Businessweek, form the most “powerful informal network of independent commodities traders on earth… .” Companies associated with Marc Rich and his protégés include, Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol, which do very brisk business in Nigeria.”
He worked for Marc Rich between 1996 and 2001; at one point running a global business with 400 employees and an annual turnover of $14 billion.
“Mr. Prest’s tenure at Marc Rich heralded the introduction of many young Nigerians and Africans into the company and as counterparties to the company. Many of them are still active today in the oil industry across the continent,” Bakare wrote.
Prest told Bakare, “Marc took a great interest in me and spent hours upon hours in his office in Zug literally teaching me and keeping me on my toes… he then allowed me to run his company trading crude oil and all the derivative products. He respected hard work and most of all valued loyalty”.
Rich ran enterprises that brokered oil, gold, sugar, grain, aluminum and nickel. He even sold copper to the U.S. mint until lawmakers found out about it, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Marc Rich died in June 2013.
Early in 2002, Michael Prest felt that he had learned all he possibly could from Marc Rich, so he lounged out on his own and started Petrodel.
“Don’t forget I’d been an employee since 1986. It’s the experience which I think, money can’t buy. I really do understand the oil business. Wake me up at any time of the day. In this sector, when I talk; I know what I’m talking about. I don’t want to seem arrogant when I say this but, if you had to pick 5-10 personalities in the oil trading business, my name would be there,” Prest told Bakare.
“My father made a point of telling everybody he knew in government; this is my son. Everywhere I went, they would give me an audience. So when I came home, my foot was already in the door. Not just because of me, but people knew my dad and they knew my grandfather, they knew my mother and they knew my sister…Without their sacrifices I would not be where I am today…truth be told, I had to do very little,” Prest related to Bakare.
By 2010, Petrodel had diversified interests in real estate, leisure and hospitality.
Prest opined then that Petrodel would thrive, so long as it continued to add value to its host communities and invest in people:
“We haven’t got to that point yet and we will only get to that point when the wheels of industry are driven by the resolute and the bold, who have now said to themselves, that theirs is a sacrifice where the benefit is a legacy they leave behind for our children.”
The Bank of Nevis International announces the departure of Board member Dr Janice Hodge. Since her appointment to the Board of Bank of Nevis International Limited in April 2020 Dr Janice Hodge has provided counsel and strategic advice to the Board. However since her election as leader of The Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) in September 2020 Dr Hodge has had to re-assess her position as a director of the bank and determine whether she can meet her duties as a director. Dr Hodges departure from the Board is with immediate effect. We wish Dr Hodge all the best for the future.” A statement issued to The Observer by the bank.
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 13, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — With the arrival of the first tranche of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines, on Thursday August 12, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris has said that this gives the country more choices as adolescents could get their own protection by getting vaccinated.
“I am happy that we have received the Pfizer vaccines, and our health professionals here could perhaps say more about what is special and unique with regard to the Pfizer vaccines,” said Dr Harris at the ceremony held at the Welcome Centre of the RLB International Airport after 11,700 Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses were received from the United States of America.
Prime Minister addresses the media after the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines were transported to the JNF General Hospital. Others are PS in the Ministry of Health Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris (right) and Minister the Hon Byron-Nisbett.
“What I do know is that it brings more choices to our people – something we had hoped for, longed for, and worked hard for, and we are now seeing the fruits of our labour,” the Honourable Prime Minister noted. “And we are receiving this additional option in the face of limitations and the availability and accessibility of Covid-19 vaccines around the world, with the developing world being put at a disadvantage.”
Dr Harris, who also has lead responsibility for Human Resource Development, Health and HIV/AIDS issues in the CARICOM’s quasi-cabinet and who had written to US President Joe Biden as part of CARICOM’s high level diplomacy when requesting for the vaccines, said it was significant since the Pfizer vaccine had also been used to vaccinate people above age 12.
“At present in our country only persons 18 and over were able to access the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he reminded. “The continuity of the trials and the science have now revealed that it is safe for the Pfizer vaccine to be used to vaccinate adolescents. This then is a tremendous benefit since our children can now have their own protection rather than relying on vaccinated adults for their protection.”
Presently in the country there are 13,021 persons under 18 according Dr Harris, while 4,810 persons which is 10.2 per cent of the country’s population are between the ages of 12-17. He therefore pointed out that the country now has a new pool of 4,800 persons who can be vaccinated and add to the general protection, health and safety of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Prime Minister Harris, with from left, PS in the Ministry of Health Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris, CMO Dr Hazel Laws, and Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett watch as the Pfizer vaccines are offloaded from a FedEx plane.
Prime Minister addresses the media after the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines were transported to the JNF General Hospital. Others are PS in the Ministry of Health Dr Delores Stapleton-Harris (right) and Minister the Hon Byron-Nisbett.
“This then of course will make a significant difference,” he said. “It means that our secondary schools in St. Kitts and Nevis can be put in a safer position when schools reopen in September this year. The disruption earlier this year of all our schools, including our secondary schools because of Covid-19 is now less likely to reoccur and our children can enjoy in classroom learning. Their tomorrow will be much brighter than their yesterday and their today because we now have the Pfizer vaccine.”
There are people elsewhere who have advocated that if the in classroom setting is no longer available, then people must go to the technology, which represents an imperfect alternative for the in classroom setting and learning.
It was pointed out that the online or virtual experience creates greater inequality in participation in learning, as those who are from richer families can access the technology, while those who are from poorer families would have difficulties and that has played itself out in America and in the United Kingdom.
He told the gathering which included the Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, the Attorney General the Hon Vincent Byron Jr. and Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws among others, that with the Pfizer vaccine, which will be available to students in the country’s secondary schools students will now be able to continue with the in classroom experience, adding, “We want our children to be safe, we want them to be protected, and we want them to be properly educated.”
The Honourable Prime Minister reaffirmed: “My administration is committed to delivering a stronger safer future, and to do so we must protect all our people, and in our part of development, and in the organisation of our country, we have always paid special attention to young people, to the elderly, to the vulnerable. We can do this now much more effectively with the Pfizer vaccine.”
(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)
The question has to be asked. Are some people in Caribbean countries becoming the architects of their own and the region’s destruction?
There is clearly an organised anti-vaccination campaign throughout the region. Who is behind the campaign is unclear, but what is evident is that opposition political parties and criminal elements in Caribbean societies are taking advantage of the anti-COVID-19 vaccination sentiment for their own narrow purposes.
So, while great strides had been made in countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Guyana to suppress the coronavirus and curb its spread through a vigorous inoculation programme against the pandemic, that march is now being halted.
The process, that was taking many Caribbean countries to ‘herd’ or ‘community’ immunity, is now being derailed. This means that the countries, particularly tourism dependent ones, that were heading toward opening their borders and recovering their economies with the obvious attendant benefits for their populations, will now be setback, if not gravely reversed.
The people of Caribbean countries where this situation takes hold will have no one to blame but themselves. Vaccines now exist, and are available, for most countries to inoculate 70 per cent of their adult population. The provision by the government of the United States of Pfizer vaccines, suitable for children, to six CARICOM countries has enhanced their capacity to immunize their people against the lethal coronavirus. The six countries that are recipients of Pfizer doses so far are: Antigua and Barbuda (17,500); Bahamas (397,000); Barbados (70,200); St Kitts-Nevis (11,700); St Vincent and the Grenadines (35,100) and Trinidad and Tobago (305,370). Other Caribbean countries will also be beneficiaries as soon as they settle requirements for storing and distributing the vaccines safely.
The US donation fortifies supplies of vaccines that have been delivered through the COVAX facility, administered by the World Health and Pan American Health Organisations, as well as gifts from India, Russia and China to several countries.
Caribbean countries, principally Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados, enjoyed great success in the early stage of the inoculation programme. But this initial enthusiasm by people who recognised the value of being immunised from a deadly disease, concealed the anti-vaccination movement that had already taken hold.
Oddly, the success of many Caribbean governments and health authorities in suppressing the coronavirus and curbing its spread, also contributed to the propaganda that the virus would not kill, and that greater risk exists from inoculation. The anti-vaxxers seized upon the containment of the disease as some sort of warped evidence that it was better to contract it than to prevent it.
Consequently, there has been a recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections throughout the Caribbean. It is so bad in Martinique, a French island neighbouring St Lucia and Dominica, that the authorities have locked down the country again and asked all tourists to leave. While Martinique can afford this drastic step because it is politically and administratively a part of France which gives it budgetary support, should CARICOM countries take similar action, they would immediately suffer even further economic decline. This time, economic recovery, and a return to any semblance of normal life, would be extremely prolonged with long-term unemployment and severely reduced social welfare programmes. Many economies would simply collapse.
Additionally, the strain on health systems, that are only now being eased from COVID-19 cases, would intensify beyond their capacity to cope. Further, other non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure and cancer, would take many lives as resources are diverted again to persons infected by the coronavirus.
Anyone who doubts these real possibilities should check the situation in parts of the US where medical resources are much greater than any CARICOM country. For example, data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control shows that hospital occupancy in Horry County is at 93.3%. The report reveals that 94 out of 98 beds in intensive care units are occupied, and 44 of them are COVID-19 patients. There are also 34 patients that are currently on ventilators, and 21 of them are COVID-19 sufferers.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 cases are rising in nearly 90 percent of jurisdictions in the US, with outbreaks in areas with low vaccination rates.
Politics played a huge part in the anti-vaccination campaign in the US, started by former President Donald Trump. It was adopted by right-wing religious and political groups who have exposed their own congregations and supporters to illness and death by encouraging gatherings of unmasked persons at which they rail against vaccinations.
Political parties in some CARICOM countries have taken a page from the Trump playbook. They have jumped on the anti-vaccine sentiment in the expectation that protests and marches against inoculation would galvanize a mass movement to topple governments. They have gone as far as to encourage violations of the law and confrontations with Police. In St Vincent, this emboldening of lawlessness resulted in a supporter of an opposition political party, hurling a stone at the head of 75-year-old Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves that wounded him but could have killed him.
Political parties, that irresponsibly align themselves with the anti-vaccination campaign, particularly to violate the law and confront Police carrying out their role to protect the wider citizenry, are playing with fire. Not only are they exposing people to disease and death, they are also risking killing economies which, even if their political actions help to topple governments, will leave them with countries so ruined that the majority of their populations will never forgive them.
COVID-19 remains a threat to human life as great as atrocities resulting from terrorism or war. The fact, that unlike leprosy, the disease is not obvious until it has ravaged its victims, only hides its lethal effects.
All leaders of Caribbean societies, including politicians who want power, should put the well being of their peoples and their countries first.
Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is concerned about how the blow to his head inflicted upon him during a protest in Kingstown, will affect him in the future.
But he also made it clear such actions and people will not hinder him from doing his job. “I will never allow the crazies or their fellow-travelers” to hinder or impede access to Parliament.
he will never allow the crazies or their fellow travellers to hinder or impede his access to Parliament.
The prime minister’s latest statement on the matter comes as he explained a Parliamentarian’s right to unhindered access to the House of Assembly.
Gonsalves, 75, sat down for a Candid Conversation with VC3 television last night. The prime minister who wore a hat on set joked it was to protect his vanity as some of his hair had to be cut to attend to his ‘buss head.’
Gonsalves says he has not returned to work since the assault and battery upon him ‘the bussing of my head’ six days ago.
When you are my age and you get a concussion, a blow in your head it has the potential to cause serious challenges for you.
He says it is not just the injury itself, sometimes one can get headaches and as his doctor has informed him—post-concussion syndrome.
The prime minister though is concerned about moving forward and what the possible long-term consequences of the blow to his head could mean for his quality of life as he gets down in age.
Gonsalves also expressed concern about how some quarters have reacted to his injury, with some blaming him for walking to the House of Assembly. The prime minister notes that as a Parliamentarian he has the right to walk to the House of Assembly unhindered.
He also had some choice words for the Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Dr Godwin Lorraine Friday, the island’s Opposition leader, stating he holds him personally responsible for his injury, but not criminally liable, as he did not throw the object.
The prime minister also expressed his disappointment with the Opposition leader’s response to his injury stating he failed three tests – to stop the protest after he was injured, to immediately condemn what occurred and not wait five hours after the incident and to contact his wife, Eloise to express his sentiments on the matter.
Gonsalves noted that certain statements made during an opposition conference with respect to recent police raids are now in the hands of his lawyers.
He also made it clear that he still has confidence in his personal security stating that were it not for them, the situation could have been worse for him.
LA PAZ, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Fires have laid waste to around 150,000 hectares (579 square miles)of forests and grasslands so far this year in the Bolivian lowlands, the country’s authorities have said, with firefighters battling scattered blazes since last week in eastern Santa Cruz.
The fires spread through communities in the Amazon and Chaco regions of Bolivia, which are part of Latin America’s two largest transnational woodland areas where the destruction is frequently caused by clearing land for grazing, planting and human settlements.
Juan Carlos Calvimontes, the vice-minister of civil defense, said the fires were almost all started by humans and that those found responsible would be forced to pay for the cost of extinguishing them.
“The origin of the fires, almost 90 percent, are being set, they are not starting by themselves,” he told local television.
Crews of soldiers, firefighters and volunteers have brought fires that started last week and were exacerbated by high winds and sweltering temperatures largely under control with the support of aircraft dropping water.
A report by the Civil Defense ministry said hot spots that identify active fires have fallen from 800 to 170 over the last week. No damage to property or harm to humans has been reported, it added.
Bolivia recorded the worst forest fires in its history in 2019, when flames destroyed more than 6.4 million hectares of rural land, according to data from the Bolivia Documentation and Information Center.
This year, the fires – which predominate in the southern hemisphere winter of May to early August – have been fewer, with 156,799 hectares recorded burned, compared with 404,527 hectares in the same period in 2020.
At present, the hot and semi-arid forested area of Chiquitania, between the Amazon and the Chaco, is the most affected zone. The area is home to indigenous communities as well as rich biodiversity and wildlife, including jaguars, caimans and snakes.
“The sad thing is that every time some arsonist sets a fire, it is destroying nature, a habitat where thousands of species feed and live,” said Jerjes Suárez, a veterinarian from Roboré, one of the affected towns, as he held up a Chaco Tortoise that had narrowly escaped the flames.
Reporting by Danny Ramos and Monica Machicao; writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Dan Grebler
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Fear, conspiracy theories, and religious beliefs are major factors contributing to the level of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy across the Caribbean.
This is according to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to T&T Dr Erica Wheeler and Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) officials.
Speaking at the weekly Tobago Health Update media briefing yesterday, the TRHA’s general manager for Primary Care Services Dr Roxanne Mitchell, explained.
“I could understand fear. I could understand persons not understanding the mechanisms by which the vaccines were manufactured.”
“We do have some conspiracy theories…There are people who think there are microchips and nano bugs present within the vaccine…that the vaccines have locators.”
Wheeler spoke about a survey conducted among healthcare workers in the Caribbean on vaccine hesitancy.
“Some of the things that are a little different…circulating in the community is around the lines of persons in religious communities not wanting to take the vaccine because they feel that this…is the mark of the beast,” Wheeler said.
The PAHO official said people have a right to their beliefs. She said: “There is no proof that the way the vaccines are produced, there isn’t anything harmful in them.”
She encouraged people to read more about the vaccines from PAHO, WHO, and Government websites and discuss their findings.
She said people have been taking the small pox vaccine and, “It was around before it was ever approved.”
Speaking as a Christian, she said God created excellent doctors and nurses.
She said another common vaccine hesitancy view is that natural immunity can be achieved from exposure to the virus and using natural herbs.
“Our body is a virgin to this virus, so we can’t rely on these things to protect us,” she said.
Health secretary Tracy Davidson- Celestine, who also spoke at the briefing, said Tobago would get the vaccines it needs for its population.
She urged residents to get the vaccines. She said from today to Sunday, residents in Tobago East can get their vaccines at the Roxborough Administrative Complex’s car park from 9 am to 3 pm.
TRHA officials said vaccinations continue at the Canaan, Roxborough, and Scarborough Health Centres and Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort from Monday to Friday.
At the Mason Hall Community Centre from 8 am to 4 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And Les Coteaux Health Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 4 pm.
The authority said appointments are necessary for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, administered at the Roxborough and Scarborough Health Centres from 8 am to 4 pm.
The TRHA said as of August 11, there are 553 active COVID cases in Tobago, 52 of which were recorded in the previous 24 hours.
In terms of vaccinations, 15,510 people received their first dose, 10,681 received two doses, the TRHA said.
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