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Jamaica warns, Child Month will look different this year

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#KINGSTON, April 17 (JIS):  The annual Child Month celebration in May will look a little different this year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.       With Jamaicans instructed to avoid mass gatherings as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus, activities have been scaled back with some events, including the national church service, to be held virtually.

            Chair of the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), Dr. Pauline Mullings, said that although the activities have been significantly modified there will still be opportunities for parents, caregivers and the general public to celebrate the nation’s children.                     

File Photo

            She noted that the theme for the month, ‘Unplug Negativity, Connect Positivity… Think!’ encourages persons to “use this period to really get to know and be more of a positive influence on their children”.

            Dr. Mullings, who was speaking at  the virtual launch of Child Month 2020 on Wednesday (April 15),  said that the theme was selected to reflect “what is happening withour children, who are spending most of their time at home because of the closure of schools” and are spending more time online.        

            “We want to encourage persons to find more productive ways to utilise the technology which we possess, without being automatons and losing the human touch, and to use the technology to build bridges, not drive wedges,” she noted.    

            “In this ‘infodemic’ atmosphere, let us unplug falsehood, panic, fear, discrimination and other negatives, and connect to truth, accuracy, helpful and reassuring information; connect to each other and, most importantly, connect to God,” she added.  Child Month activities will begin on Sunday, May 3, with a national virtual church service at the Port Antonio Baptist Church in Portland starting at 10:00 a.m., which will be streamed live.                         

            Churches across the island are also being encouraged to make their services child-centred throughout the month of May.                             

JIS File Photo

           National Children’s Day will be observed on Friday, May 15 and Jamaicans are being encouraged to wear sunshine yellow on the day, whether they are staying at home, or going out as an essential service worker.                                                                                

            Leading up to Children’s Day, young people, aged six to 17, will have an opportunity to share videos or photographs, showcasing their talent in song, poetry, or visual art under the Child Month theme. The creative pieces should be submitted via email to ncmcja@gmail.com by Friday, May 8.

            On National Children’s Day, the videos and photographs will be featured on the NCMC Face Book page (@ncmcja), where members of the public will be invited to vote for their favourite up to May 22 at 6:00 p.m.

            The entry with the most likes will be declared winner of the popular vote. 

            The month of activities will culminate with a National Day of Prayer on Wednesday, May 27 at the Mandeville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Manchester.     Church administrators islandwide are being asked to invite their members to offer special prayers for the nation’s children on the day.                                

            Lead sponsors for Child Month 2020 are GraceKennedy Limited and the National Baking Company Limited.

JIS NEWS BY JUDITH A. HUNTER

Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.

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CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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