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Sugar Boyz Kick Off impressive Start to World Cup Qualifiers

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Sugar Boyz Kick Off impressive Start to World Cup Qualifiers

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Thursday 25th March 2021): The Sugar Boyz are off to an impressive start in their first game against Puerto Rico at the Panamerican Stadium in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday 24th March 2021.

Our local boys played to a successful finish, beating the Puerto Ricans 1 goal to nil at the end of play.

St. Kitts-Nevis took to the field with goalkeeper Julani Archibald (#18), Gerard Williams (#3), Lois Maynard (#6), Andre Burley (#5), Ordell Flemming (#2), Yohannes Mitchum (#8), Captain Raheem Somersall (#14), Vinceroy Nelson (#7), Kimaree Rogers (#11), Omari Sterling-James (#10), and Rowan Liburd (#21) as openers. Substitutions made in the 60th and 65th minutes saw Theo Wharton (#4), Tishan Hanley (#17), and Keithroy Freeman (#16) bolster the Sugar Boyz attack.

Vinceroy Nelson’s lone goal towards the end of the first half proved to be enough to secure a win in San Cristobal.

The Sugar Boyz now have four wins in 11 World Cup qualifying matches.

Wednesday’s encounter was St. Kitts and Nevis’ fourth win against Puerto Rico in their last five matches in all forms of the game.

Other games played in the CONCACAF grouping see Guatemala defeat Cuba 1- nil; the Dominican Republic also defeat Dominica 1- nil; Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat draw with two goals each; and Suriname dominate the Cayman Islands with a final score of 3 – nil.

The Sugar Boyz will face the Bahamas in their next qualifier game which is scheduled for March 27 (Sat).

New York Lawmakers Reach Deal to Legalize Marijuana

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New York Lawmakers Reach Deal to Legalize Marijuana

Wall Street Journal March 24, 2021

ALBANY, N.Y.—After years of false starts, New York state lawmakers said Wednesday that they had reached an agreement to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational use by adults starting next year.


State Sen. Liz Krueger said lawmakers were finalizing a bill that would create a new state regulator for cannabis products and decriminalize the possession of up to three ounces of marijuana. New Yorkers will be allowed to cultivate marijuana for personal use and the state will study a new system for determining whether drivers are inebriated because of marijuana use, she said.


The bill is set to be taken up next week by the state Assembly and Senate, lawmakers said. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has proposed legalizing marijuana in the state budget that is due by next week. He put marijuana legalization into his budget proposals in 2019 and 2020, but it was taken out after disagreements with Democrats who dominate the state Assembly and Senate.


During an unrelated briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Cuomo said, “We’re close, but we’ve been close three times before.” Spokesmen for the governor didn’t immediately respond to specific questions about the bill.
Ms. Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan who sponsors the measure, said the final legislation has evolved after input from industry stakeholders around the country.
“I think that will give us a head start on a good program, because we were able to watch what other states went through and hopefully come up with something that addresses the problems,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.

Fourteen states and three territories have legalized recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New York would join its neighbors in an expansion of legal marijuana sales.
Massachusetts began permitting the sale of recreational marijuana in 2018, and Vermont enacted a marijuana law in 2020. In February, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill legalizing and regulating cannabis use and possession, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has proposed legalizing marijuana to fund municipal aid and other measures.


New York’s bill still has opponents. Law-enforcement organizations and the New York State PTA issued a statement earlier this month saying that recreational marijuana was a “public and child health threat and sends a mixed message to young people that using recreational marijuana is acceptable.”


Many Republicans have said they would vote against the recreational use of marijuana, but they are relegated to the minority of the Senate and Assembly. Both Ms. Krueger and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat who sponsors the legislation, said they had the votes to secure passage of the bill in their respective legislative chambers.


According to legislators and other people familiar with the agreement, a new state Office of Cannabis Management will issue licenses for growing marijuana as well as its sale for recreational use by retail stores or delivery services. Localities in the state will be able to permit businesses that sell marijuana for on-premises consumption, subject to some restrictions.


Mr. Cuomo had proposed that the new Office of Cannabis Management be under his control. According to Ms. Krueger and other people familiar with the subject, under the legislation, the office would report to a five-member board on which the governor has three appointees and the Senate and Assembly may each nominate a person.


Another sticking point dealt with the distribution of revenue, which the state estimates could be around $300 million a year when the program matures. Under the legislation, the state would levy a 9% tax on retail sales and localities would levy an additional 4%. Towns, villages and cities may opt out of retail and delivery marijuana sales, according to the proposal.


After funding the operations of the Office of Cannabis Management and law-enforcement officers who are trained to detect impaired driving, 20% of remaining revenue will be dedicated to treatment and public education, 40% will be dedicated to school aid and 40% will be dedicated to a fund that will make grants for social equity.


Ms. Peoples-Stokes said this funding was crucial for rebuilding inner city neighborhoods that were impacted when residents were convicted of past marijuana sales.


“It’s important to use resources to go back and do a deep dive to look at who these people are, what’s the status of their life now and see what they need,” she said.


Both Ms. Krueger and Ms. Peoples-Stokes said the bill was structured so that people who sell or have sold marijuana illegally will have a chance to gain licenses in the regulated market.

But the bill simultaneously allows the state’s existing medical marijuana companies—whose operations must be vertically integrated, by law—to begin selling whole flower marijuana instead of only extracts. They would also be able to enter the recreational market but must maintain their medical offerings.

G. A. Dwyer Astaphan, Commentary 24 March, 2021

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G. A. Dwyer Astaphan, Commentary 24 March, 2021

Greetings.

In my last commentary, I tried to make the point that in order to achieve its true potential, a country needs to be guided by a common vision.

Different people and different organizations may have different opinions with regard to priorities as to how the country should be governed, as to who should or shouldn’t govern, as to how we should live, etc..But with all of that, there really has to be one common, overarching mission, A VISION.

And in order to fulfil and achieve that VISION, we have to prevent ourselves from being paralysed by DIVISION. The bigger picture must always prevail over the smaller picture. The common good must always trump personal or partisan interests, and if we cannot break out of the chains of selfishness and or political partisanship, then we can, and will, never find and work towards our common good and national vision.

We, the people, cannot allow one EGO  to determine where we Go.

Sometimes you can get a glimpse of a country’s vision by looking at its motto.

Antigua & Barbuda’s motto is ‘Each Endeavouring, All Achieving’.

The Bahamas’ motto is ‘ Forward, Upward, Onward Together’.

Barbados’ motto is ‘Pride and Industry’.

Cuba’s motto is ‘Fatherland or Death’.

Dominica’s motto is ‘After God, the Earth’. This motto represents perhaps the fundamental philosophy of Dominica’s original inhabitants whose culture is built around respect and love for Superior Spiritual Power and for Mother Earth. I really love it.

Grenada’s motto is ‘Ever Conscious of God, We Aspire and Advance as One People’.

Guyana’s motto is ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’.

Haiti’s motto is ‘ Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’.

Jamaica’s motto is ‘Out of Many, One People’.

St.Lucia’s motto is ‘The Land, The People, The Light’.

SVG’s motto is ‘Peace & Justice’

Trinidad and Tobago’s motto is ‘Together We Aspire, Together We Achieve’, and

SKN’s motto is ‘Country Above Self’

All of these mottos represent the Vision for the conduct of the affairs of each of our countries and prescribe for us the mentality which we must adopt in order to achieve that Vision.

Ask yourselves for a moment which of our countries in the region is living up to its motto.

Are we in SKN living according to the clarion call to put Country Above Self? Is Guyana really behaving like it’s one nation, one people? Are Trinidadians & Tobagonians aspiring and achieving TOGETHER? SVG says Peace and Justice…. really?

I would love it if we in SKN put Country Above Self, and if Dominicans  put God first, then the Earth, and if Barbadians  live Pride and Industry, if Haitians embrace Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and if Bahamians live Forward, Onward, Upward TOGETHER.

I would love it if the people of each country were to live not only to our own national motto, but, better still, for us to also live to the mottos of all of the other countries in the region.

If we encourage, teach and guide our people to this mentality, from a tender age to adulthood and through life, we will be better persons, better citizens, and we will have better countries, more efficient, transparent and professional governance, more proactive citizenship involvement in the affairs of the country, and a better, more developed, more effective,  and more sustainably prosperous region which will command greater respect and enjoy better leverage in determining its own destiny  on the global stage.

And it is in the spirit of all of the national mottos of the region that I now share with you some of my Vision for SKN, and, indeed, for the region.

For me, the most important matters in no specific order of priority, are:

  • protecting and stabilizing our environment, especially in these perilous times of climate change; let us work tirelessly to eradicate the toxins from our land, air and sea;
  • establishing a sustainable organic food production and processing plan that would ensure healthier diets among or people while improving the professionalism and increasing the prosperity of our farming sector, and, in the process, significantly reducing the hundreds of millions of dollars that leak out of our economy annually on imported food, plus saving local consumers millions upon millions of dollars on duty annually;
  • providing an efficient, modern health system with universal health insurance, and with the government owning and operating at its hospitals critical equipment for testing patients and for carrying out medical protocols;
  • establishing an education system that focuses on the rounded academic, technical, psychological and social development of the child as a Caribbean person and at the same time a citizen of the world; it includes  the development of his or her hard and soft skills, and, in essence, a system which builds balanced, well rounded, conscious, conscionable, and responsible  citizens and institutions; the education system has to excite our children about their history, about the sciences,  technology, entrepreneurship, languages, the arts ( music, poetry, prose, dance, acting, painting, sculpture, etc; we have to produce thinkers, not regurgitators; we must be taught to be responsible, and to be independent-minded but to be team players, to be tolerant and respectful of differences on opinion, we must be taught how to value life, time and humanity and Mother Nature, and we must be taught to act and treat each other with dignity, to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and our education must come, not only from the schools, but from the homes, the social organizations, the workplace, etc.;
  • creating and sustaining a professionalized, depoliticized, properly remunerated and rewarded, independent  public service;
  • introducing a system in which all workers, in both the public and private sectors, are  part of a contributory pension plan separate and apart from Social Security, so if you’re working for Company X in Basseterre from the age of, say, 25 until 45-50, you can retire, and get a pension, move on to another job or open a business, or just cool out, and when you reach SSB retirement age, you are getting two pensions; while you’re working at that first job, you can borrow money from your pension plan to add a wing to your house, to send off a child to study, etc., etc. So between your first retirement and your second, you have something to live for, rather than waste away your time feeling down on yourself between the ages of 45 and 65, when you have a lot to offer to society;
  • ending this culture of entitlement and dependency that was nurtured among our people after independence, a time when our leaders should have been imbuing the people with the spirit of a strong work ethic, a spirit of independence, and a spirit of self esteem;
  • protecting workers, small businesses, and consumers and ensuring that they have a fair shake in the workplace and in the market;
  • ending corruption in both the public and private sectors, and collusion between politicians and big business, and between politicians and their cronies ( square pegs cannot fit in round holes in terms of ability, training, skills and attitude, and government cannot be used as a job dumping ground for political supporters who cannot survive unless they are holding on to their representatives’ coat tails- the solution to this is to educate and train them and help them to think and act for themselves, sever the coat-tail connection, and we’re good to go), all of that stuff has to be stamped out. Transparency and accountability have to be the order of the day, and the people, through appropriately structured and implemented legislation, regulations and practices, must have easy access to government information; it has been estimated that corruption in these islands accounts for about 30% of the cost of running the Government. So if it costs $900 million a year to run your country with corruption going on and you can cut out that corruption, it will now cost $630 million to run the country. That represents a savings of $270 million for taxpayers; it will also position the government to reduce and remove taxes, because it costs so much less now that the corruption is gone; this means that the people will now have  more spending power, which translates into greater economic activity and increased government revenues; and in such circumstances, with the corruption gone, the government will be run more efficiently, and that is better for the country; with regard to corruption, it needs to be understood that conflict of interest, unjust enrichment and other forms of corruption also exist among public servants who are not politicians; it’s not just politicians;
  • establishing a smart 50-year, maybe a 100-year air, land and sea use management and overall national development plan needs to be introduced and implemented, to address the issues of housing and town planning, commercial space, public spaces, transportation, manufacturing and processing, safety of food, water and renewable, fossil-free energy, technology, research and development; all utilities must be majority owned by the public sector with 49% of the shares in the utility companies to be offered to the people of the country; and the national economy needs to be diversified  (there are interesting opportunities in research and development medicinal plants, the entertainment industry, etc., etc.);
  • my Vision calls for an end to the Queen of England being our Head of State;
  • effecting constitutional, electoral reform and parliamentary reform where we have prime ministerial elections, and legislative elections separately, like the USA. Whoever is elected prime minister can appoint his or her Cabinet, after successful screening by an independent body; and we would have an independent Electoral Apparatus, and fixed date elections, etc., and the Prime Minister will have less powers than he has right now; voters will have the right of recall of representatives whom are under performing; and the government owned media would be fairly open to all voices and views;
  • implementing social security reform, which would be essentially to follow the recommendations that have been coming forward from actuarial reports over the years: cut administrative costs, change the law to broaden the scope of SSB’s ability to invest, reduce the land assets in its portfolio, increase the retirement age, increase the deductions, etc.;
  • putting a regulatory framework to oversee the operations and activities of our Development Bank which, like its counterparts in the sub-region, does not fall under the oversight of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank;
  • keeping our islands tidy, and clean, for our people to stop littering and vandalizing, to walk in the Square or any other public space on the walkways provided rather than trampling on the grass. You wouldn’t do it in England or America, but you want to do it in what Marcus Garvey described to your grandparents here in SKB in 1937 as your own “Garden of Eden”;
  • encouraging our young men to stop wearing their pants down below their bums, exposing their underwear; we want their brains and goodness to be exposed, not their backsides;
  • ending the nuisance of blasting sound systems in vehicles, shops and other purveyors of services and goods around Basseterre and elsewhere;
  • introducing a more humane penal system.

While I can go on and on, I will end by saying, first, that my Vision calls for us to be a happy, efficient,  tolerant, dignified, cultured, orderly and truly democratic societies whose affairs are driven by a Vision for the common good, no longer allowing ourselves to be divided, manipulated and ruled by self serving politicians and other leaders, and, second, by referring to two quotes from Mr. Marcus Mosiah Garvey :(i) “Intelligence rules the world, ignorance carries the burden”; and (ii) “The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who develops and uses his mind”;

WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR YOUR COUNTRY? WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN AND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME? WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR OUR CARIBBEAN?

THEN, MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT’S OUR VISION FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND WHAT’S OUR VISION FOR OUR CARIBBEAN?

President Biden Announces Nomination of USVI Native Adrianne Todman as Deputy Secretary for HUD

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President Biden Announces Nomination of USVI Native Adrianne Todman as Deputy Secretary for HUD

Published On March 24, 2021

President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his intent to nominate Adrianne Todman as deputy secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Ms. Todman was born and raised in St. Thomas where she attended Sts. Peter and Paul School from K-12.  Ms. Todman later worked for Ron de Lugo as his legislative director and she is a lifetime member of the Washington, DC-based, V.I. Association. A proud parent, Ms. Todman’s daughter represented U.S.V.I during the 2016 Cherry Blossom Festival in DC.

According to the White House, Ms. Todman is currently the CEO of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). Before joining NAHRO in 2017, Todman served as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) and served in several career positions at HUD: first, as a manager of HUD’s $500 million grant competition that focused on the redevelopment of distressed public housing sites, then as a policy aide in both the Office of Public and Indian Housing, and the Office of the Secretary where she worked with staff across HUD’s programs on policy solutions and streamlining implementation.

Governor Albert Bryan lauded the nomination. “I want to congratulate Adrianne Todman on the announcement of her nomination and also thank her for being yet another example – for the nation and the world – of the quality of leadership that comes out of the U.S. Virgin Islands,” he said. “Ms. Todman is an established expert in the affordable housing sector, who has decades of experience working in various roles at HUD, and she is the current CEO of the National Association of Housing Redevelopment Officials. Her nomination only adds to the bright promise being shown by the Biden Administration.”

The governor added, “The Bryan-Roach Administration looks forward to working with her and her staff, particularly on the housing issues facing the Territory, which are the same issues that have been the mainstay of her long and successful career.”

Ms. Todman is widely recognized for her accomplishments in the affordable housing industry.  She also served as a legislative director in then-Congressman Ron de Lugo’s office, a long-serving delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands where Todman was born and raised.  She is a graduate of Smith College and serves as a Trustee.  She lives in Washington, D.C.

Medical Chief of Staff Responds To JNF Healthcare Concerns

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Medical Chief of Staff Responds To JNF Healthcare Concerns

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Tuesday 24th March 2021)-Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Cameron Wilkinson has responded to concerns and criticism in relation to healthcare at the Joseph N. France General Hospital including x-ray services, radiology and prescription medicine supply.
 
The Labour Spokesman reached out to the chief medical administrator at the government- run facility in an effort to get a response to questions being raised publicly concerning the availability of quality medical care. 
 
Yesterday (March 23rd), this media house published an article outlining the absence of x-ray and ultrasound testing capabilities at the hospital along with a shortage of prescribed drugs at the hospital dispensary and the departure of the resident nephrologist.
 
Dr. Wilkinson expressed delight to discuss the latest developments in each matter and set the record straight in some instances. 
 
He informed that it is true that the x-ray machines at the hospital have been down because of the malfunction of two parts. He went on to say that the parts for the machines have been ordered adding that one part is already in the federation is to be installed while the second part is expected to arrive in the federation in less than a week. 
 
As gathered from Dr. Wilkinson, the hospital had previously invested in a number of portable x-ray machines, three digital and one non- digital. Those machines are on island and will serve as backup in addition to the performance of x-rays on patients who cannot be moved.
 
He said the hospital is finalising training for staff in the use of the portable machines. They should be put into use as early as Thursday this week on completion of the necessary training on the new machines. 
 
Dr. Wilkinson offered clarification that there has been no issue with ultrasound at the hospital.
 
“We currently have three functioning portable and one stationary ultrasound machines,” he said. 
 
The Medical Chief of Staff also disclosed that to ensure that there was no gap in patient care, the hospital sought the services of two radiologists who work at the institution, one in a private capacity and the other public/private.
 
He said patients at the hospital who need x-rays have been transported to these doctors’ offices to have the x-rays performed. Additionally, non-urgent cases requiring x-rays are given appointments at the private radiologists’ offices.
 
This, he said, allowed for continuance of care. 
 
Dr.Wilkinson went on to say that he is unaware of any shortages of medications in the hospital dispensary.
 
He stated that the hospital is stocked with required pharmaceuticals but went on to state that there is a wide array of drugs that are used to treat the same ailments and the choice of drug prescribed is often left up to physician preference and also depend on the sensitivity of various germs to the drugs. According to him, one germ might be sensitive to four drugs but a specialist might prefer to use one that is not on the hospital formulary. They will therefore purchase the drug from a private pharmacy. 
 
He said that it is not new that all of the possible drug choices are not on the hospital’s formulary and that is one of the primary reasons patients would need to fill their prescriptions at the commercial pharmacies. He gave the assurance that the hospital dispensary is adequately stocked. 
 
When asked about the absence of the resident nephrologist, Dr. Salazar, from the federation and the hospital since November 2020, Wilkinson stated that the sentiments expressed were not completely accurate. He said that Dr. Salazar had not left the service, but rather he is on vacation. 
 
The Medical Chief of Staff went on to say that Dr. Salazar left the federation on January 9, 2021, and not in November 2020, for approximately one month’s vacation. The doctor was expected to return on February 16. 
 
As informed, there should have been a stand-in nephrologist flown in however, as a result of COVID-19 related challenges, flights out of Cuba were not available. Therefore, another nephrologist could not have come to replace Dr. Salazar in the interim. To overcome this challenge, the hospital has facilitated regular consultative virtual sessions between Dr. Salazar and the in-house doctors who work with the specialist.
 
Dr. Wilkinson said that all this was done to ensure that there is no gap in patient treatment. 
 
Although the challenges with commercial flights out of Cuba continue to persist, Dr. Wilkinson expects Dr. Salazar to be back at the hospital within the next 30 days. 
 
The Medical Chief of Staff in his interview with this media house has given the assurance that while there are challenges in the medical system, quality of care is being maintained.

Dead Body of 40-Year-Old Man Identified As Police Investigation Continues

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Dead Body of 40-Year-Old Man Identified As Police Investigation Continues

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 24, 2021-Police say an autopsy will be performed to determine what caused the death of a man whose body was recently discovered at Bath Village in Nevis.
 
Sometime after 4 p.m. on Tuesday 23rd March 2021, police responded to a report which led them to discover the motionless body of a man along a bay.
 
The deceased has been identified as 40-year-old Veon Sutton of Stoney Hill. 
 
The District Medical Officer visited the scene and pronounced him dead.
 
Personnel from the Forensic Services Unit visited and processed the scene. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
 
The Police are making an appeal to anyone who might have any information in relation to this incident to call the Violent Crimes Unit (Nevis) at 469-5269 or 663-5414, the Charlestown Police Station at 469-5391 or their nearest Police Station.

BREAKING NEWS: Body Found

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BREAKING NEWS: Body Found

BASSETERRE,  St.Kitts ( Tuesday 23rd March 2021)- Police have informed that the body of a male was found today (Tuesday 23rd March 2021) at Bath Village in Nevis.

Investigations are ongoing.

More details to be provided in a follow-up report.

Faulty Hospital Equipment Stirs Public Debate On Healthcare Services

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Faulty Hospital Equipment Stirs Public Debate On Healthcare Services

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Tuesday 23rd March 2021) – Credible information reaching this media house indicates that onlookers have been witnessing the ambulance transporting patients from the Joseph N. France General Hospital to use services at a private medical office located in the East Basseterre community.
 

An ambulance seen parked in the area

Reliable sources say that due to challenges with faulty equipment at the government run facility such hospitalized patients have been unable to have x-ray, ultrasound and other imaging tests done where they have been warded.
 
“This situation has become an inconvenience for patients who are seriously ill and should only be moved very short distances,” one individual has said. 
 
Related to the topic of hospital equipment not working, former radio personality Toni Frederick-Armstrong, in a social media post on Tuesday 23rd March 2021 said she has had the need for an x-ray after having recently been in a vehicular accident.
 
She stated that the X-ray machine at the hospital has not been functioning and has not functioned for some time. Frederick-Armstrong’s post went on to say that a “private radiologists’ practices are doing all the x-rays.” 
 
Management of the general hospital has also been on the receiving end of public criticism whereby patients and others have been claiming that they have been told to get their prescribed medication from private pharmacies in Basseterre as a result of medicine shortages.
 
One patient, speaking under the condition of anonymity told the Labour Spokesman that, in the last three weeks “I was sent to a pharmacy to buy all my medication when I was warded at the JNF General Hospital.” 
 
More information received points out that since Cuban- trained nephrologist (kidney doctor) Dr. Salazar left the federation in November 2020, there has been no replacement which is “cause for additional concern” according to a credible source.
 
This media house reached out to the JNF General Hospital with questions on these issues. While the Medical Chief of Staff, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson was reached, he was unavailable for questions at the time of publication.

COVID-19: Vaccines could be made mandatory for care workers, says Matt Hancock

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COVID-19: Vaccines could be made mandatory for care workers, says Matt Hancock

Getting a COVID vaccine could be made mandatory for care workers who look after the most elderly, the health secretary has told Sky News.

Matt Hancock said that, while vaccines would not be made mandatory for the general public, they could be required for those whose profession sees them work with the most vulnerable.

He admitted that while more than 90% of elderly care home residents had now received COVID jabs, the take-up of vaccines among staff was lower – although more than 75% had now had a jab.

According to the UK Daily Telegraph, a draft government document includes details of plans to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among care workers.

Asked about those reports, Mr Hancock stressed “no decisions have been taken”.

But he acknowledged the issue was being looked into by a government taskforce, which is considering questions around COVID certification to either prove someone has had a vaccine or has tested negative.

Mr Hancock said the taskforce, led by Michael Gove, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was looking “both at these questions around international travel, but is also looking at the question of whether – in order to be able to care for people professionally – then you ought to have protected yourself so you can’t infect others”.

He added there were “important moral questions” around the issue, but highlighted a “clear precedent for this proposition” was the existing requirement for NHS doctors to have a Hepatitis B vaccine.

“At the moment what we’re looking at is for those who work in elderly care homes, on the grounds that they are the most vulnerable to this disease,” the health secretary said.

“That’s why they were in the very first cohort of the groups to be vaccinated.

“It’s something some care homes have actually called for, because it would require a change in the law through secondary legislation.

“And, therefore, I entirely understand why some care homes wanting to take that duty of care over those who are in that home – for the residents – are keen for us to be able to take this step so that they can require people who otherwise pass on the virus to take the vaccine.”

However, Frances O’Grady – the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress – warned against the move. “As well as damaging trust and employee relations, this may be discriminatory,” she posted on Twitter. “Employers should encourage their workers to get vaccinated and make it as easy as possible – e.g., by giving paid time off for appointments.”

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Everyone wants the pandemic over and vaccinations are the route to normality.

“But turning the clock back to Victorian times by forcing care workers to be jabbed isn’t the way.

“All those who can have the vaccine should. That’s clear. But the key to getting the numbers up is for employers, unions and the government to work together.

“Instead of leaping to the law, ministers could start by putting the funds behind a targeted advertising campaign aimed at care staff.”

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents private care providers, said: “It is for individual care providers to make the decision about whether vaccines should be mandatory or not.

“But the role of Government must be to make it as easy as possible for everybody in the care sector to have access to a vaccine”.

Returning National Complains About Police Handling Of Alleged Public Threat Incident

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Returning National Complains About Police Handling Of Alleged Public Threat Incident

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (Tuesday 23rd March 2021)-Vivian Lewis-Browne has expressed concern about the nature of police professionalism after she was allegedly threatened by a knife-holding neighbour in her home community of Molineux on Saturday 13th  March 2021.
 
Lewis-Browne, who resides abroad, says she recently returned to the island to settle the estate of her father, John Lewis, who died in March 2020. 
 
She informed this media house that while at her father’s property, she along with others discovered that debris was being thrown in the yard.  Furthermore, as told by her, a neighbor- who was named during the interview-had been seen tossing refuse in the yard.
 
According to Lewis-Browne, when she and her brother sought to speak with the neighbour, he reportedly wielded a machete. 
 
She went on to indicate that the incident continued to the point where the neighbour came to the dividing fence with a silver knife allegedly shouting at her in making a death threat.
 
Details gathered are that the police were called and two officers; one of whom was a recruit were dispatched from the Tabernacle Police Station.
 
It is alleged that while the police were on the scene, the neighbour, still holding the knife, insisted that he was right when he openly threatened the woman.
 
Lewis-Browne disclosed that she was asked by the responding officers to make a report at the district police station and told that the matter would be investigated.
 
She reported that she immediately followed the officers’ request and went to the Tabernacle Police Station where she made a formal report. She pointed out that ten days later, the neighbour has not been cautioned or charged with regard to the complaint and no response has been given to her by the police. 
 
To this end, she is questioning the professionality of the police and says she is concerned about returning to her father’s property and for her safety. She is also claiming that the police are allowing this matter to go on without resolution as she is due to return abroad where she works and lives. 
 
The Labour Spokesman reached out to Sergeant Simeon Liburd of the Tabernacle Police Station who informed that the matter is being investigated while directing that the force’s Public Relations Officer be contacted.
 
The PRO was unavailable for further comment by publication time along with phoned Police High Command personnel.

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