San
Pedro Daily  |
Saturday, July 25,
2009 Belize's Only Daily |
 |
 |
 |
ISLAND
SUPERMARKET "Best Prices - Best Quality - Best Service" Phone: 501-226-2972 or 501-226-2973 FREE DELIVERY IN TOWN |
 |
| |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Dengue outbreak
serious!
Homero Ayuso
A dengue outbreak (break-bone fever)
in Santa Elena, Cayo District has health authorities worried because of
the speed with which the disease has spread.
As of July 14th, the Ministry of Health has documented 184 cases, of which 114 are from the Cayo district. Sixty one cases are from the Belize District, and nine are from the Corozal District. Dengue is a seasonal disease, with outbreaks occurring every year usually after the beginning of the rainy season. But 184 cases, occurring during May, June and July exceeds the expected number for this time of the year. Health authorities are also concerned at the high percentage of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, which is the more dangerous variety. This causes bleeding from the gums. The Cayo District has also had the most of these cases. Dr. Jose Marenco, Environmental Health Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Health, has confirmed that the upward trend began on May 4th. He explained that the clustering of the cases in three specific locations suggests that a vector mosquito was spreading the disease. The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which breed in fresh water stored in natural or artificial containers in and around dwellings, are responsible for spreading the disease.These mosquitoes feed during the day, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. Dr. Marenco stressed the need for the public to become active in getting rid of old tyres, buckets, drums and anything else that can collect and store water in yards, since these make ideal breeding sites for the mosquito that transmits Dengue. In addition, people should wash water storage containers, and change the water in flower pots, regularly. Dr. Marenco explains that the disease presents itself with a sudden onset of high fever, headache, body ache and pain targeting the joints, muscles and the eyes. Nausea, vomiting, rash, and general weakness also accompany the rush of fever. Cases of hemorrhagic dengue can lead to “dengue shock-syndrome” which requires hospitalization in an Intensive Care Unit, because it kills one in every five victims. Dr. Marenco said that the Ministry of Health is addressing the situation with a multi-disciplinary approach, including further training of health practitioners to deal with the disease, case-by-case management, the strengthening of Central Medical Laboratory capacity, environmental activities and educational campaigns involving communities, municipalities and volunteer organizations.Reporter Reporter
Editorial
Harry Lawrence Belize
intends to become the third Caribbean State, after Guyana and Barbados
to join the Caribbean Court of Justice-- the court of final
jurisdiction to replace the Privy Council.
There is a demonstrable popularity for the move, largely because Caribbean people, including Belizeans, feel that a Caribbean Highest Court would be more in tune with Caribbean culture and sentiments and that Judges in the Caribbean have reached a level of maturity where they can be trusted to render truly wise decisions on the law. Prime Minister Dean Barrow earlier this year pledged that Belize would take the plunge and urged other slow-moving states like Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica to do the same. Attorney General Sedi Elrington is in charge of the task force assembled to take the matter to the people in wide consultation. The team includes Education Minister Patrick Faber, Public Service Minister John Saldivar, Junior Minister Nemencio Acosta, Opposition Leader Johnny Briceño and Opposition Area Rep. Francis Fonseca. Three lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office, Elisa Montalvo, Philip Palacio and Rondine Twist will also be joining the official presenters when they meet the public. The consultations for Belize City have already been held with good results, and dates for consultations in Dangriga, San Ignacio, Punta Gorda, and San Pedro, Ambergris Caye have been announced. The popular opinion that the Caribbean Court of Justice will restore generalized capital punishment is not necessarily true. In the Caribbean Judges agree that execution must not automatically follow every conviction for murder, as Belizean law now asserts. But senior judges will be sensitized to the fact that the Caribbean sub-region has become a violent place, and that for some vicious murders, execution is a measured response.Reporter OAS HOLDS TWO DAY WORKSHOP ON
MULTILATERAL EVALUATION
MECHANISMS
A
two day workshop in preparation for the fifth round of the Multilateral
Evaluation Mechanisms dealing with all aspects of the drug problem
ended yesterday in Belize City.All
aspects of
the drug problem were looked at including successes and failures of
national drug control policies. OAS Representative in Belize Kim
Osborne tells us more.
Kim Orborne: OAS Representative in Belize “The workshop we have just concluded was to bring all the national coordinating agencies from the various English speaking countries together to prepare for the fifth round Multilateral Evaluation Mechanisms. This is a product of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission where countries evaluate each other on the progress they would have made with regards to drug abuse control, drug trafficking, money laundering and others. This is so that people would understand the process so that they could go back to their countries and effect the evaluation process which is scheduled to end in December 2010.” The event involved the participation of the Ministry of Health’s National Drug Abuse Control Council of Belize along with National Coordinating Agencies from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. Kim Orborne: OAS Representative in Belize “Each National Coordinating Entity will go back and begin the evaluation process. They have about fifty indicators to which they will require responses. The process involves a number of institutions; governmental and non-governmental organizations within each country. Each will have to answer a set of questions coordinated by NDACC on the ground. Once that happens it will go up to a group of experts, the group of experts will review, come back to the countries with their responses, their questions, whatever deficiencies would exist and then the commission would look at it and say whether the evaluation was accurate or not. They will also say whether there are missing components. A final review will take place and then the report on each country will be issued.” Data will be evaluated with a focus of institutional strengthening, demand and supply reduction and control measures. Kim Orborne: OAS Representative in Belize “What we usually do is sent the result to the country. The results are also available online at ccad.oas.org and the public can go ahead and see what the results of the evaluation would be and they would also see what the recommendations are for Belize or for any country. There are specific recommendations that will come out of the evaluation are the things that need to be improved on, legislations or policies that need to be enacted and so forth and then Belize has an opportunity to respond within the three years of the MEM round.” Osborne says that their hope is that the recommendations will be implemented by 2012. The workshop for National Coordinating Entities from the Caribbean was hosted by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission and Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the Organization of American States.LoveFM More News from the
House
And while the powerhouse personalities
dominated the day at
the House, there was significant news coming out of the sitting. First,
Government introduced a settlement of disputes Essential Services
Amendment Bill. It comes as a direct consequence of the go slow and
sick outs recently staged at the KHMH by doctors who are listed as an
essential service.
The Essential Service Law prohibits them from striking but not from engaging in sick-outs or go-slows. Government saw that as an oversight and the amendment seeks to plug that loophole. It will make it so that sick-outs and go-slow by any essential service would be illegal. Predictably, it’s drawn the ire of the trade union movement and President of the National trade Union Congress Dylan Reneau is quoted in today’s Amandala as saying that, quote, “it is an attack on the trade union movement....and unless we react with like force, we better roll over and play dead.” Reneau ended his quote to the Amandala with chilling finality, “does Barrow want his own version of 2005?”,br> The Prime Minister today told us that he feels that the tightening up of the legislation is not a provocation to the unions because it simply reinforces the original intent of the law, which is that essential services are not to be disrupted in any way. He says those types of industrial action were only excluded because when the law was first developed, sick-outs and go-slows were not being employed by unionists. And in one more bit of House news, the Customs and Excise Duties Amendment Bill was passed in the House today. This implements the CARICOM external tariff and will lower the tax on beer imported from the Caribbean make it so that Heineken brewed in St. Lucia and Belikin brewed in Belize should sell for about the same price. Red Stripe and Carib which come from more developed CARCIOM countries will be considerably cheaper, but slightly more expensive than Belikin. The law goes into effect on August first.CH7 Prime Minister signs additional
financial agreement with the European Union
A
Signing Ceremony was done this morning at the Cabinet Room of the Prime
Minister’s Office in Belmopan between the Prime Minister of Belize,
Hon. Dean Barrow and the Ambassador of the Head of the European Union
Commission in Jamaica, H.E. Marco Mazzocchi-Alemmani for the allocation
of a financial grant for the Accompanying Measures for Sugar and the
Special Framework of Assistance for the Banana Support Programme.
The Accompanying Measures for Sugar Agreement provides for the total contribution of BZ$25.2 Million. It makes provisions for road design, construction and supervision, for a cane replanting programme and the institutional support of extension services. The overall objective is to reduce poverty and improve the standards of living of the rural population in Northern Belize. The Special Framework of Assistance provides for a total of BZ$8,565,200 Million to assist Banana producers in the provision of additional economic infrastructure and in the improvement of the quality of education and skills development. The main objectives include the Education and Training of teachers at Georgetown High School and strengthening of the Project Implementation Unit Agency. The Ambassador commented that he was please with the work that has been done through the grants contributions to Belize over the past years and he does not see any objectives in maintaining the good relationship in the future. In return, the Prime Minister expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ambassador on behalf of the people of Belize for their continued support. An announcement was also made at this morning’s signing of the decision in principle for the reopening of the European Union Commission office in Belize.GOB LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Planned Power
Outage-
Saturday
6AM- 12 Noon- Feeder : 4 Zone : 1 Affected Areas : Angel Coral Street, Coconut Drive, Sea Grape Drive, Holiday Land, Mosquito Coast and Boca Ciega. Sunday, July 26, 2009, all of Barrier Reef Drive from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Vehicular traffic will be restricted on all of Barrier Reef Drive while the Company conducts works to upgrade the distribution system in the area. BEL recommends that pedestrians avoid the area during this time. Pedestrians who may need to traffic the area are asked to exercise extreme caution. Entire island- 7:00 to 7:15 AM Entire island- 2:45 to 3:00 PM
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't
change it, change your attitude
Maya Angelou
|
|
      
  www.grandcaribe.com debbiewade@gmail.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
© SAN PEDRO DAILY, PO Box 45, San Pedro Town, Belize. Inquiries to editor@sanpedrodaily.com |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
