STEWART PRAISES FRONT LINE WORKERS FOR COVID SAFETY EFFORTS
The battle is on, pastor of church where woman was murdered tells worshippers
JAMAICA’S response to the novel coronavirus pandemic has won praise from Appliance Traders Group Executive Chairman Adam Stewart whose suite of companies includes Sandals and Beaches resorts that have been hard hit by the global decrease in tourism.
Stewart, who late last month was elevated to the position after the death of his father, tourism mogul and Sandals founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart, on January 4 this year, commended the manner in which the public and private sectors have been collaborating on managing COVID-19.
“I think Jamaica has managed it better than most. The collaboration between public and private sector, I think we could learn a lot from that collaboration on other critical matters in the country,” Stewart told veteran Jamaican journalist Cliff Hughes on his mid-morning talk show Cliff Hughes Online broadcast on Hughes’s Nationwide Radio last Thursday.
“We’ve taken COVID very seriously; we’ve kept our eye on the ball economically. I have operations in 10 Caribbean countries and I think Jamaica really has done a fine job of that kind of collaboration,” added Stewart.
“I want to thank the medical fraternity for the advice, for the concerns, for the hours, particularly the Ministry of Health; they have done an unbelievable job working night and day,” he said.
He also thanked the Jamaica Defence Force and Jamaica Constabulary Force for supporting the health authorities.
“A lot of people have put in a lot of work over the last 11 months and we must never forget to be appreciative of those people who kept us safe,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, as well as Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett deserve commendation for “striking the balance necessary to keep everyone safe, but keep as many people employed as possible”.
After Jamaica recorded its first case of COVID-19 on March 10, 2020, the island closed its borders to incoming passengers on March 25. That resulted in the closure of tourism establishments which eventually saw the sector losing $108 billion last year.
In May, Sandals announced that it had introduced a comprehensive programme designed to guarantee cleanliness standards and heightened health and safety measures that address changing consumer expectations in the wake of the impact COVID-19 has had on the travel industry.
The resort chain said the measures, dubbed ‘Sandals Platinum Protocols of Cleanliness’ “will guarantee guests can enjoy their vacation worry-free with utmost confidence, from arrival to departure at all Sandals and Beaches Resorts”.
The programme was established in collaboration with local and international health agencies, including the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Pan American Health Organization.
In August, Sandals said that its properties in Antigua, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and St Lucia had reported zero cases of coronavirus incidents for both guests and team members since the June 4 reopening of Sandals Grande Antigua, the first of chain’s resorts to resume operations.
Following on that, Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism created what it termed the Tourism Resilient Corridors, encompassing much of the northern coast, southern coast, and New Kingston.
In these corridors, tourism businesses must be certified by the Tourism Product Development Company for having implemented, to the letter, all the COVID-19 prevention protocols with internal systems enhanced, with governmental surveillance and enforcement to ensure compliance.
Earlier this month, local hoteliers declared the resilient corridors one of the safest places to be as it has been keeping guests and staff safe in line with the health and safety guidelines mandated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
Last Thursday, Stewart emphasised that the safety protocols are working.
“We know way more today about the virus than we did in April or May last year,” he said. “We know how to keep ourselves safe; you’ve seen the protocols work... to my knowledge, I don’t know of a single transmission from a foreigner to a Jamaican... I haven’t heard anything different. It shows you that wearing your mask, deep cleaning and sanitisation, social distancing are the bedrock of the way forward.”
He argued that “countries that have gone into super aggressive austerity have created a different level of knock-on effect” and flayed the fear-mongering about the virus taking place in many jurisdictions worldwide even as he reiterated that people need to give serious attention to COVID-19.
“I really hope that we can regain our axis somewhat and the fear mongering slows,” said Stewart.
“I believe in business and the power of business to transform lives and allow people to achieve their economic goals [and] now that we know more [about the virus] we have to be able to get back, one step at a time, to the world that we all miss so much,” he said.
FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The pastor of Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Falmouth, Trelawny, where 51-year-old Andrea Lowegarwood was shot dead last Sunday, said her murder was collateral damage in the warfare against evil and urged worshippers to remain undaunted as they battle ungodly forces.
“Let me tell you, in a battle soldiers are going to die, but there is no turning back, because the battle is on. The fight has begun,” a militant and upbeat Reverend Junior Rutty told the congregation yesterday.
“We will not recant, we will not go back, we will not go under, we will go over victoriously because the one that we serve, He is leading us triumphantly,” Rutty said.
Michael Carter, of Celebration Church in Portmore, St Catherine, concurred. He was among visitors from other churches across the island who worshipped at Agape Christian Fellowship yesterday in a show of solidarity.
Carter said: “There are some persons who will ask where was God” when the gunman struck last week during the praise and worship service. But he underscored that the scripture has not shied away from narrating human suffering. “The real test [is] to see if we are standing for the Lord,” he told congregants.
“Many of our young males are turning to a life of crime to put food on their table. There has to be another way than the life of crime. So, Church, if you bend under cowardice, if church attendance falls next week, if you give up on your faith, if these numbers dwindle, you have said to the set of evil factions in the society that they have won,” Carter preached.
He also slammed insensitive social media users who were in a race to break the story shortly after the killing.
“We got a viral video talking about this [killing] last Sunday. I was really ticked off... other people were telling a story that they had no business talking about so early. We have no guiding light as to how to break a story like this. We are not trained professionals, and everybody was up there on social media, not concerned about points of view, just concerned about views. That thing went viral for people who spoke about the matter between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. But what good is it when somebody’s character has been vilified?” he asked.
Before administering communion Rutty reminded the congregants that the Lord’s Supper was in remembrance of the Israelites who had crossed the Red Sea to escape from bondage in Egypt. As such, he said the Church should use Lowe-garwood’s killing to gather momentum in its mission.
“We are about to cross over from what happened last Sunday into a new gear, a new flight of what God wants to do in Agape Christian Fellowship, and not only in Agape Christian Fellowship, but those who are connected with what is happening here last Sunday, but we got to move on,” Rutty said.
Yesterday’s service also saw popular Trelawny medical practitioner and reggae artiste Dr Michael Godfrey, and Rutty’s wife, Sharon, ministering in song.
On Saturday the police reported they had charged three men in connection with Lowe-garwood’s murder.
Deputy Commissioner of
Police Fitz Bailey identified them as:
• 23-year-old Leon Hines, a storekeeper of a St James address who was the driver of the getaway car. He is charged with murder, illegal possession of firearm, accessory before the fact of murder, accessory after the fact of murder, and conspiracy to commit murder;
• 29-year-old Javan Garwood, otherwise called Janoy, an account analyst who is the stepson of the murder victim. He is charged with murder and conspiracy to murder; and
• Dwight Bingham, the alleged shooter who is charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, and illegal possession of firearm.