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St Vincent puts Barbados on COVID ‘high risk’ travel list

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Effective Monday, January 4, 2021, travellers from Barbados will be categorised as arriving from a high risk country, and must quarantine in an approved hotel for 10 days.

This change in the protocol for entry of travellers to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) was announced by the National Emergency Mangement Organsation (NEMO) Saturday night.

A change has also been made to the protocol for entry of travellers to SVG from medium risk countries, who will now have to spend five days in an approved hotel.

The change in categorization of Barbados from medium risk to high risk came just hours after the Barbados government announced that over the past two days, almost 200 people tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and that public health officials are investigating at least three clusters, one of which is a super spreader event accounting for the majority of new cases.

Head of the Barbados Cabinet COVID-19 sub-committee, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, said 161 people at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds, comprising inmates, wardens and civilian staff returned positive tests. And on Friday and Saturday, 33 cases outside of the prison – via contact tracing and visitors at the Grantley Adams International Airport – were also recorded.

Of that 161, there are 113 inmates and 48 staff who tested positive.

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The main super spreader event is a Boxing Day bus crawl that made several stops at West Coast bars, some of which are now closed. Officials are also looking at two smaller clusters comprising seven and four cases, respectively, centering around a visitor and a hotel worker. There is a possibility of two more clusters, but these have not returned any positive cases at this time.

Walcott said more than 1 000 samples were taken and the contact tracing has been fairly successful.

Minister of Health and Wellness Jeffrey Bostic said “we are on top of this situation as far as the prison is concerned”.

High risk countries are: United States of America, including the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), China, United Kingdom, Germany, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Guyana, Suriname, Belize, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Brazil, India, Panama, Argentina, Peru, Haiti, Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Indonesia, Philippines, Italy, Bahamas, Canada, Turks and Caicos Islands, France (including overseas regions), Spain and Russia.

The protocol lists medium risk countries as Taiwan, Cuba and Antigua & Barbuda.

Low risk countries are Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis. Travellers from these countries must arrive with a negative result of a COVID-19 (RT-PCR) test done no more than 72 hours before arrival; may be tested on arrival in SVG at the discretion of the Port Health Officer.

The country of residence is defined as the last country that the traveller was present in for at least 21 days.

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]