Caribbean News

Lasco Financial Services Partners with FirstCare Medical Plan to Expand Access to Financial Products and Affordable Healthcare

Published

1 year ago

June 19, 2024

#Kingston, Jamaica – June 19, 2024 – Lasco Financial Services, a leading provider of financial products, including their LASCO GOLD Visa prepaid card, proudly announces its strategic partnership with FirstCare Medical Plan. This collaboration aims to expand access to financial services and affordable healthcare for individuals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Jamaica.

As part of this groundbreaking partnership, cash-based customers can now load their LASCO GOLD Visa card to pay for their FirstCare membership online, further broadening the healthcare plan’s accessibility. This partnership allows Lasco’s clients to use their cards to pay for their healthcare plan as well as provide another payment option for FirstCare members.

“We are excited about this partnership as it opens new avenues for financial inclusion and healthcare accessibility,” stated Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Lasco Financial Services Managing Director. “Our goal is to empower cash-based and underserved communities by providing them with the tools they need to lead healthier, more financially secure lives.”

Cash-based customers can use the Lasco prepaid card to pay for their FirstCare membership online, significantly broadening the accessibility of this essential healthcare plan. Additionally, LASCO Microfinance Ltd, with its nine branch locations island-wide, provides financing up to $2.5 million for personal loans and up to $10 million for business loans, supporting SMEs in their growth and development.

Addressing the partnership, Jheanell Thompson, FirstCare Country Manager, highlighted the company’s dedication to creating sustainable healthcare solutions.

“At FirstCare, we believe in the power of partnership to transform our community’s health. Our strategic alliance with Lasco is designed to expand affordable primary healthcare access to all. This initiative will empower individuals and small and medium-sized corporate groups to maintain their health without sacrificing their bottom line, reinforcing our commitment to helping build healthier, more productive individuals and teams.”

Meeting the Healthcare Needs of Jamaica

Today, many individuals and small business owners are struggling to afford comprehensive medical care. FirstCare addresses this gap by providing free doctor visits and significant discounts on specialist services, labs, imaging, optical, pharmacy, and dental services. The plan’s vast network includes more than 300 medical providers, with over 100 General Practitioners spanning ten parishes, ensuring quality healthcare is accessible to all Jamaicans.

“Recognizing the critical gaps in healthcare accessibility in Jamaica, together with Lasco Financial, we aim to bridge these gaps,” shared Thompson. “SMEs often struggle to provide comprehensive healthcare benefits to their employees due to the high cost of healthcare services. Our collaboration marks a significant step forward in ensuring that business owners and their employees can thrive professionally and enjoy healthier lives with access to essential medical services.”

Key Benefits of FirstCare:

No Cost Primary Care Visits: Free unlimited visits to more than 100 in-network general practitioners, plus discounted ambulance services and 24-hour urgent care.
Discounted Labs & Imaging: Up to 15% savings at in-network labs and imaging centers.
Specialist Doctors: Discounts at more than 100 in-network specialists across major cities.
Optical Benefits: Save up to 40% and enjoy a free eye exam at over 20 locations.
Pharmacy Savings: Instant savings of up to 15% at participating pharmacies.
Dental Services: Save up to 20% on dental services.
Lifestyle Rewards: Discounts at spas, restaurants, hotels, and more, which enhance overall well-being and lifestyle enjoyment.

Enhanced Financial Solutions for SMEs

Lasco Microfinance Ltd (LASMF), a subsidiary of Lasco Financial Services Ltd., will now offer FirstCare Medical Plan as an added benefit to their loan packages.

SMEs who secure loans from LASMF will also receive healthcare coverage through FirstCare Medical Plan, ensuring that essential healthcare services are more accessible. This initiative helps ensure that business owners and their employees can prioritize their health while focusing on growth and development.

FirstCare is at the forefront of digital innovation in healthcare, making it effortless for individuals to sign up and manage their health plans entirely online. Customers can easily enroll in the FirstCare plan from their smartphone or any device with internet access in under five minutes using their Lasco prepaid card and begin using their benefits immediately within the local network.

This streamlined, digital-first approach not only enhances accessibility but also empowers all Jamaicans to take proactive steps toward maintaining their health efficiently and affordably. Once enrolled, members can present their FirstCare membership card at any of the over 200 medical providers in the network to access their benefits.

For more information, visit FirstCare Jamaica and Lasco Microfinance.

Photo Caption:

Strategic Partnership Announced to Provide Enhanced Healthcare Benefits: Jheanell Thompson, FirstCare Country Manager (left), and Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Lasco Financial Services Managing Director (right), sign partnership agreement, marking a new era of healthcare accessibility and financial empowerment for individuals and SMEs across Jamaica.

Caribbean News

Guyanese Scholar and Olympian Arrested in Iowa ICE Crackdown

Published

1 week ago

September 27, 2025

Deandrea Hamilton

Deandrea Hamilton | Editor

September 27, 2025 – In a shocking breach of public trust and institutional oversight, Ian Andre Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, who is a citizen of Guyana, was arrested on September 26 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a string of serious offenses that raise troubling questions about hiring practices, accountability, and public safety.

Roberts, born in Georgetown, Guyana, is a former Olympian and accomplished scholar. According to online reports, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Coppin State University after transferring from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, where he played soccer. He holds two master’s degrees—from St. John’s University and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business—attended an Executive MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management and earned a doctorate in education with a focus on urban educational leadership from Trident University.

Despite these accomplishments, Roberts was living and working without legal authorization. ICE reported that he fled a traffic stop and abandoned his school-issued vehicle. At the time of his arrest, he was reportedly in possession of a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash. He also has a prior weapons-related charge.

ICE officials questioned how Roberts could hold such a prominent role while subject to a final deportation order issued in May 2024. The school district said they were unaware of his immigration status, noting that he had undergone background checks and completed an I-9 form confirming work authorization. Roberts was placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.

This case highlights vulnerabilities in systems meant to safeguard public institutions and underscores the challenges ICE faces in identifying individuals operating outside U.S. immigration laws while in positions of authority.

For many, Roberts has become a near-literal poster child for these enforcement gaps.

Caribbean News

Bermuda Shaken by Targeted Murder as Crime Returns After a Decade of Calm

Published

2 weeks ago

September 21, 2025

Deandrea Hamilton

Deandrea Hamilton | Editor

Bermuda is reeling after the brazen murder of 37-year-old Janae Minors, a mother of two, who was gunned down in her own beauty supply store on Court Street, Pembroke. The attack, which police describe as “targeted,” has rattled the island, not only for its brutality but for what it says about the state of law and order in a country that less than a decade ago was celebrating a dramatic fall in violent crime.

The Attack on Court Street

According to police, at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, a lone gunman pulled up on a stolen black motorcycle, walked into the Beauty Monster shop Minors owned, and shot her multiple times. Despite the rapid response of emergency services, she succumbed to her injuries shortly after being transported to hospital.

Detectives say the killer was thin, tall, dressed in dark clothing with a full-face helmet, and wearing bright gloves. CCTV shows him fleeing north on Court Street, down Tills Hill toward TCD, before turning onto Marsh Folly Road. Investigators are pursuing all leads, with a focus on recovering evidence from nearby cameras and eyewitness accounts.

Police Commissioner Darrin Simons confirmed the attack bore the hallmarks of gang-related violence, a chilling indicator that Bermuda’s gang rivalries — long simmering beneath the surface — may once again be spilling into broad daylight.

A Vibrant Life Cut Short

Minors, remembered as a hardworking entrepreneur with “a vibrant, beautiful personality,” leaves behind two children, ages 16 and 18. Her murder has ignited outrage across Bermuda, not just for its senselessness but for its timing: the island had once prided itself on virtually stamping out gun violence.

Then: Near-Zero Murders

Back in 2014, Bermuda made international headlines for reporting zero firearm murders — a remarkable achievement given the small island had endured a spate of gang-related shootings in the early 2010s. Police credited intelligence-led operations, tighter firearms interdictions, and aggressive prosecutions of gang leaders. Community programs and mentoring initiatives also played a role, giving at-risk youth alternatives to gang life.

By 2015 and 2016, gun crime was at historic lows. That period was hailed as proof Bermuda could beat back the tide of violence with coordinated policing, social investment, and political will.

Now: Alarming Resurgence

Fast forward nine years, and the picture looks starkly different. In 2024 and 2025, Bermuda has recorded a rise in gun-related deaths. Rival gangs such as Parkside and 42 have resurged, fueled by a new generation of recruits. Economic pressures, high youth unemployment, and the easy flow of smuggled firearms through maritime routes have undermined earlier gains.

Community trust in the police has also eroded, making investigations harder and retaliations more likely. Opposition MPs and neighborhood leaders warn that without sustained focus, Bermuda risks sliding back into the violent cycles of the early 2010s.

Public Alarm and Political Pressure

Premier David Burt condemned Minors’ killing as “an escalation of community violence that cannot be tolerated,” promising stronger enforcement and deeper engagement with residents. The Bermuda Police Service has appealed for CCTV, dashcam, and doorbell footage from the area, urging residents that even the smallest detail could break the case.

Yet among the public, frustration is growing. People remember the calm of 2014 — when zero murders were recorded — and cannot understand how the island has returned to headlines dominated by gun violence. The contrast is stark: from celebrating the elimination of gun murders to confronting the targeted execution of a businesswoman in broad daylight.

A Test for Bermuda’s Future

The murder of Janae Minors has become more than a single case; it is now a symbol of Bermuda’s struggle to hold on to the progress it once made. The question facing the island is whether the successes of a decade ago can be replicated and sustained in today’s harsher climate of economic pressure and gang rivalries.

For Minors’ family, nothing can erase the tragedy of losing a mother and daughter so violently. But for Bermuda at large, her death is a wake-up call — that the island cannot afford complacency when it comes to crime.

As one community leader put it: “Nine years ago, we had beaten this. Now, we’re back to fearing what happens when the sun goes down. That is not the Bermuda we want to live in.”

Caribbean News

CARICOM-Africa Summit Yields Draft Pact on Trade, Travel and Reparations

Published

2 weeks ago

September 19, 2025

Deandrea Hamilton

Imagine an Atlantic Bridge connecting the Caribbean Region to the African Continent

Deandrea Hamilton | Editor

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — When CARICOM leaders convened with African counterparts and Afreximbank officials in Ethiopia, the outcomes were savory and exactly what many Caribbean people want to see materialise as the islands become uniquely reconnected to the African continent.

At the Second CARICOM-Africa Summit, held at the African Union headquarters, leaders moved beyond symbolic language to agree on a draft communiqué that, if finalized, would anchor this partnership in practical action. While not yet officially published by the AU or CARICOM, the document points to an agenda that blends history with urgent twenty-first century priorities.

The draft outlines commitments to improve air and sea transport links, including the pursuit of a multilateral air services agreement to break down the barriers that still keep the Caribbean and Africa physically apart. It also calls for visa facilitation and simplified entry regimes, making it easier for citizens of both regions to travel, study, and work across the Atlantic.

Equally significant are pledges to advance double taxation treaties that could remove one of the most stubborn obstacles to investment. With Afreximbank’s Caribbean headquarters already established in Barbados and the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) gaining momentum, leaders now want to lock in the financial and legal frameworks that will drive new business.

Reparatory justice also featured prominently, with the draft communiqué sharpening a joint call for coordinated advocacy. CARICOM’s long-standing Reparations Commission is expected to work more closely with African institutions to demand global recognition and redress for the shared traumas of slavery and colonial exploitation.

CARICOM’s incoming chair, Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew of St. Kitts and Nevis, captured the spirit of the gathering when he urged that the Atlantic Slave Trade be reimagined as an “Atlantic Bridge — a bridge of hope, a bridge of advancement, a bridge that will ensure our people take their rightful place in this world.”

For Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett, the meeting was a “homecoming,” but also a reminder that concrete steps like the Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC) and improved transportation links are needed to transform rhetoric into results.

For citizens back home, wrestling with inflation and economic uncertainty, the Addis outcomes — transport, visas, investment, health, and reparations — are precisely the kinds of measures that can validate leaders’ journeys and rekindle faith in South-South cooperation. What was once only rhetoric now hints at the beams of an Atlantic Bridge, connecting the Caribbean and Africa in ways that could finally turn history’s tragedy into tomorrow’s advantage.