FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 | ISSUE 129 | WWW.POINTVILLE.AG WANTED Page 2 - Not a plane crash Delmar Johnson. See story on Page 3 FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 PAGE 2 Local News ABAA dispells plane crash rumors On Thursday, the country ever, that the supposed crash was alarmed by reports that was actually a simulation they may have been an air- exercise that had been car- plane crash at the V. C. Bird ried out by the Antigua and International Airport. Barbuda Airport Authority Social media was soon (ABAA). The ABBA car- abuzz with rumors of a crash ried out the exercise in order and photographs of a smoke to test the efficacy of the na- filled area near the airport tional response that would began to circulate online. be activated in the event of It was soon revealed, how- an aircraft emergency. According to the ABAA, opened some hours after for “The drill replicated an air- the resumption of regular craft accident of a 737 air- commercial operations.” craft caused by severe wind The ABAA explained that shear and a strong crosswind part of the drill utilized all as the plane approached the of Antigua and Barbuda’s V. C. Bird International emergency services, includ- for landing shortly before ing the EMS, Fire Services, mid-morning on Thursday. the Police, the Antigua and The airport was officially Barbuda Defence Force closed as a result and re- cont’d on pg 3 FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 Local News PAGE 3 Jamaican national wanted A Jamaican national is being pur- custody. Anyone with information of sued by immigration officials after the whereabouts of the wanted man is running afoul of the law. asked to contact the Immigration En- The Immigration Department has forcement Unit at 464-3245 or 464- issued a wanted poster identifying 3141 or contact the nearest Police Delmar Johnson, 34, who escaped Station,” the wanted poster stated. from the department’s detention cen- The department is also advising the tre prior to being deported. public against assisting or harbouring Johnson is described as being dark Johnson. in complexion, approximately 5 feet The Immigration Department is 7 inches in height, of slim build and also warning persons that they should weighing approximately 150 lbs. not approach the wanted man. “The assistance of the general pub- Johnson was released from Her lic is being sought in locating the sub- Majesty’s Prison after being ordered ject. to leave the state when he escaped “Johnson is wanted after escaping from immigration officials. cont’d from pg 2 and other relevant agencies that fall under the Nation- al Emergency Operations Centre. This call to action was signaled as an “activa- tion” protocol. The authority continued, “The Airport’s Emergency Centre was activated and provided overall manage- ment of the activity under the watchful eyes of the National Office of Disaster Services. Key agencies and years, and partial emergen- the critical departments of cy exercises in the interven- the entire airline community ing year, to ensure that any were engaged as a measure deficiencies found during of overall effectiveness in the full scale aerodrome dealing with an incident of emergency exercise have this magnitude.” been corrected.” The emergency drill was Director of Safety and Se- conducted as part of a re- curity Avery Henry said he quirement by the Interna- was satisfied with the out- tional Civil Aviation Orga- come of the drill. nization (ICAO). “I am very pleased we The requirement states were able to hold the exer- mediately to make improve- Services and its team led by that, “ Contracting States cise at this time since we ments in this critical area of Director Philmore Mullin must conduct a full scale are now able to assess our our emergency operations.” for the support and guidance emergency exercise at in- strengths and our weakness- Henry also thanked the they provided in the execu- tervals not exceeding two es so that we can move im- National Office of Disaster tion of the exercise. FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 PAGE 4 Local News St. Paul primary schools receive supplies Students of Cobbs Cross demic. Primary, Liberta Primary He said that as a national and Bethel Seventh Day and community leader he Adventists have become is compelled to go the extra the latest beneficiaries of mile in order to help those school supplies from Mem- in need. ber of Parliament for St. The gifts to the Liberta Paul, E.P Chet Greene. Primary School were made Books, geometry sets, possible through a donation pencils and school bags from the Falmouth Harbour were among the items do- Marina. General Manager, nated on Wednesday morn- Robert ‘Bobby’ Reis said ing by Minister Greene and that as a corporate citizen his team. the company feels a re- Greene, who made a pre- sponsibility to give back to sentation to schools in the the community. area last week, indicated During the ceremony, that there had been addi- face masks were presented tional requests for assis- to each school by a repre- tance as many parents have sentative of the community been negatively impacted mask making initiative or- by the coronavirus pan- ganized by Greene. FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 Local News PAGE 5 Barbuda’s secession request goes to Parliament A showdown is set to head of government as jus- shy away. national economic mix so take place when a resolu- tification for the Council’s “For Antigua and Barbu- that we can build infra- tion is introduced at the move. da to consider at this stage structure and provide ser- next sitting of Parliament Nedd said these and oth- the giveaway of one third vices throughout the coun- to address the Barbuda’s er incidents created a strain of its resources and to let try. The almost religious Council’s request to se- on the failing relationship it walk away is incompre- fervor by which Barbudans cede from Antigua. between Antigua and Bar- hensible, it’s unthinkable. associate with questions of The government is tak- buda. He further expressed So at this time the gov- the land is something that ing the unprecedented step the view that Barbuda was ernment’s position will be we note, but we are not go- of presenting the matter being used as a bread bas- well laid out in our pre- ing to be afraid of it. It is a to the Parliament after it ket for Antigua, which is sentations. The resolution matter of law that the lands received a letter from the evidenced by the use and would likely be a negative on Barbuda are vested in Barbuda Council request- abuse of the island’s re- resolution but nonethe- the crown; it’s incontest- ing that discussions com- sources without benefit to less everyone will have a able and we are going to mence on the separation of their people. chance to have their say,” go forward on that basis,” Antigua from Barbuda. The contentious issue he remarked. Nicholas declared. In the letter dated 31st will be introduced in the Nicholas told reporters The minister acknowl- August, 2020, Council Lower House, by way of a that Barbuda is important edged that the tone of the Secretary, Paul Nedd, in- resolution next Thursday. to the country as a whole discussions between the formed Cabinet Secretary, Information Minister, and there are no plans to islands could be improved Konata Lee, that the Coun- Melford Nicholas, said change that. and he expressed the hope cil wished to secede from the matter is not one from “The resources that are that this would be one of Antigua in order to deter- which the government will on Barbuda get into the the outcomes of the debate. mine a separate future for Barbuda and its people. The letter continued that this move had become nec- essary as a result of the Gaston Browne admin- istration’s neglect of the Barbudan people which only intensified after the passage of Hurricane Irma in 2017. Adding that the Coun- cil had no choice but to expose the mistreatment the Barbudan people have been subjected to, Nedd went on to cite the Barbu- da Land Act of 2007, the declaration by the prime minister that Barbudans are ‘squatters’ along with the ‘derogatory name call- ing’ of Barbudans by the FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 PAGE 6 Local News PM congratulates Goddard on expansion Prime Minister Gaston Browne has offered his gov- ernment’s congratulations to the Goddard Catering Group on the opening of its new multi-million dollar facility on the Sir George Walter Highway. In his remarks at the open- ing, Browne highlighted the company’s long histo- ry in Antigua and Barbuda having opened its doors in 1974. During this timeGoddard Catering has provided many opportunities for nationals. “Goddard Catering has of- fered training for our people Utilities Minister, Sir Robin Yearwood, Station Manager in catering and food prepa- GCG Antigua, Mario Colin- ration services. dres, PM Gaston Browne and “It is an international com- GCG Regional Manager, Pe- pany that is required to sat- dro Corbin isfy the required standards,” this was a hallmark of the Browne noted. company’s competence and The prime minister also competitiveness. congratulated the company Goddard Catering Group for diversifying its prod- opened its new state-of the- uct offerings adding that cont’d on pg 7 PM Browne and Mario Colindres formally cut the ribbon to the multi-million dollar facility FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2020 Local News PAGE 7 Home-porting under consideration At least one cruise com- posal as an economic op- fall ill with COVID-19, sengers to Antigua.