Panton calls for regional commitment on resilience
(CNS): Premier Wayne Panton has said that the Caribbean remains vulnerable to many shared challenges and called for a local and regional commitment to building resilience against climate and natural disasters as well as economic threats. Panton, who is participating in the Forty-Second Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) via Zoom, said the pandemic has shown how important regional cooperation is for Cayman.
“The importance of regional cooperation was clearly demonstrated especially during the past 18 months as Cayman was able to support many of our neighbors, but also receive exceptional assistance from CARPHA, a key CARICOM body, with testing and monitoring the spread of COVID-19 during the early days of the pandemic,” he said.
The need for regional commitments goes well beyond the collective support in the region for COVID-19; the region must increase its resilience against other growing threats.
“The Caribbean has been identified as the region experiencing the greatest economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic given our dependence on tourism,” he stated in a short release about the meeting. “The CARICOM community remains vulnerable to a litany of challenges, including natural disasters, climate change and global economic shocks. This reinforces one of the key platforms of the PACT Government that we must commit now, both locally and regionally, to building resilient and more sustainable communities.”
The conference continues today, when the countries’ leaders will continue discussing issues including the impact of La Soufrière Volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, flooding in Guyana and Suriname, regional food and nutrition security, as well as COVID and the blacklisting of financial services.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Climate Change, Politics, Science & Nature
A regional commitment when cayman internal affairs getting from bad to worse? Collaboration with other Caribbean islands when the many nationalities here cannot collaborate? Try to fix things here first then look outward.
Umm anybody seen Julie, Jay, Andre or Bernie since Election Day ? I’m being serious, where are they ?
They are all missing in action. Trust me I am no PPM supporter but PACT is doing the same thing they accused PPM of. Keeping us in the dark while doing the disappearing act.
Could they be sightseeing in Europe? I know that a lot of our fearless leaders like to travel………. at our expense, of course. Lord, I hope they aren’t like the PPM bunch!
Blah blah blah but more of nothing.
Good to know he has time to worry about volcanoes and floods in other countries. Meanwhile back at home we are still waiting to hear his government’s plans.
NOT to be like the BVI. They let vaccinated tourists in without quarantine and have jumped to 480 cases in a week, with one dead, and the entire economy locked down for 2 weeks. I think our government is doing pretty well in the circumstances.
83% of the cases in the BVI are in unvaccinated individuals – and they only have 31.8% of their population vaccinated. We are way beyond that number. At least BVI is trying to balance managing covid and allowing businesses to make some money. Unlike our government that has ONE focus and that seems to be ZERO tolerance for covid in the community. The reality is a ZERO tollerance policy is unrealistic if coupled with any sort of reopening plan. Covid is not going away, and if we are to reopen we will have to learn to live with it. The best option for this is for as many people as possible to get vaccinated.
The bottom line is vaccines prevent severe illness and death, they are working against new variants and the more people vaccinated the more likely a country is to not have a huge outbreak of hospitlizations. We either learn to live with Covid or we stay closed until Covid is vanquished. And if we are to stay closed until this damn virus goes away then we will be closed for a very, very long time. Keeping this tiny place closed indefinately really is not an option!
Geez even Boris Johnson is finally realizing you can’t remain in lockdown forever!
From a statement made by Boris Johnson regarding relaxing restrictions in England “Johnson said Britain would have to “learn to live with this virus” – a major shift in tone from a leader who has previously painted COVID-19 as an enemy to be vanquished.
Actually 17% are fully vaccinated. 13% are partially vaccinated. Play with the numbers all you want but the fact remains, vaccinated persons are catching and spreading the virus in the BVI (as has also been shown in Israel). Vaccination is good, but quarantine is necessary to prevent Covid here.
The bubonic plague killed 75 to 200 million people from 1347 to 1351. Outbreaks of the plague recurred around the world until the early 19th century. I hope our COVID plague doesn’t last that long.
Notably, they are also utilizing the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has a lower effective rate than Pfizer.
You think the outbreak is down to vaccinated tourists rather than the nightly traffic by cigarette boat between there and St Thomas? Got a bridge to the Brac I think you may want to buy.
The “vaccinated “ tourist probably presented a fake certificate from one of over a thousand on line services in the US offering fake certificates.
5:51…..
Stop spreading rubbish!
Go on line and check it out for yourself.
Where?
@ %:32 pm Can can give us some figures?
I totally agree, he needs to zoom in on his PLAN.
Plan? You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.
C’mon Wayne, enough with the tree hugging popularity contest, charity begins at home , which is where your attention should be focused.
You know climate change is a real concern but so too is poverty, gang violence, robberies, unemployment (lack of training and preparation for Caymanians to enter the work force and sustain themselves), cost of living, domestic violence and the increasing rate of drug use among teens. I really hope that PACT is not only about climate change and gay rights. Those are but two pressing issues we need to deal with. Not saying they are any less important but I think you get my point. All I’m hearing about it climate change and “equality and diversity sensitivity”. Waiting patiently for the PACT plan!
Great focus Mr. Premier, regional issues and climate change! Important? Yes. But crucial to the Cayman Islands at this particular time? Perhaps no quite priority!
Hello….? Now can you please pay attention to your PACT Government’s plans for leading the Cayman Islands the next 4 years….and let the people know?
Covid, covid Covid covid…vaccines, vaccines, vaccines…stop the madness…start living!
Many who perished in Surfside building collapse came to the US to get vaccinated.
That’s not true at all.
Sorry, huh!?
The world has gone mad with Covid. 4M out of 7B has died allegedly from it. Do the math.
I think you should leave stats to those that understand them and arent tinfoil hat models.
talking about creating a talk-shop….
waffly wayne at it again.
did he take mangement-speak lessons from tara?
We need to lessen our dependency on tourism and think collectively as a country first.
Tourism is great for our economy. Your solution is to have less of it? You clearly are a smart person.
Tourism (catering to the masses) is awful for the economy. It pays below subsistence wages, overloads the infrastructure, reduces quality of life and requires the mass importation of poverty. Such real benefits as exist accrue to too few, on the backs of too many.
Cayman is MUCH better off if we limit it, and pivot upmarket. Charging more from fewer, and providing a better all around experience for visitor and resident alike.
That didn’t work well for Bermuda. When they got picky, their hotels started to close.
stop scaremongering, mass tourism is horrible for the long-term future of these islands. Stop being greedy!
Bermuda, an Island in the North Atlantic, cold and wet in winter and racist and dysfunctional all year. What could possibly go wrong?