​First Dominica Prime Minister Patrick Roland John was laid to rest yesterday 29th September 2021 with State Funeral, and Coordinator Simeon Joseph delivered a powerful eulogy highlighting the need for a national edifice in his honor.
 
John was born on January 7, 1938. He served as the leader of the Waterfront and Allied Workers' Union and was youngest person to have been elected as Mayor of the Capital City Roseau, before being elected to the legislature in 1970. John led Dominica to independence from the United Kingdom in 1978. He passed away on July 6, 2021.
 
Mr. Joseph shared powerful life lessons and painted an image of his life.He also noted the fragility of political power.

​He stated that Mr. Patrick Roland John was on a mission to provide love, compassion, care and service.

​Mr. Joseph describes John as a treasured myth, and a man on a mission.

​Spokesman for the Patrick Roland John family, and Funeral Coordinator Simeon Joseph

​Covid19 Health Team’s Nurse Dubois is encouraging Students and the General public of Portsmouth to get vaccinated as the Pfizer Vaccines are now available at the Portsmouth Secondary School. Nurse Dubois stated that so far, the vaccine roll out is a bit slower than anticipated and although the aim is to get youth vaccinated, the general public is free to come and receive their vaccine shots. She encouraged the parents to be proactive and get their children vaccinated.

​She says the vaccines are available to all and it is absolutely free.

​Covid19 Health Team’s Nurse Dubois

​Former Roseau South MP and Attorney, Joshua Francis says that there is great need for proper Electoral Reform in Dominica. Francis went on to highlight the reasons he believes substantiate the call for Electoral reform – which is currently being led by Jurist Sir Dennis Byron. Francis spoke on Q95’s Talk on the Block program on Wednesday.

Former Roseau south MP and Attorney, Joshua Francis

​The Dominica State College had required students to return to face-to-face classes for this Academic year in October 2021, however, at a subsequent meeting of the College Administration, a decision was taken to extend online classes to October 29, 2021, as a result of feedback received from stakeholders.
 
The data indicated that a significant number of students had contracted COVID-19.  Some were in home isolation, and others were at the COVID Hospital. Against that unstable background, it was decided to adhere to a safer and least disruptive learning environment by maintaining online learning, as the country continues to experience a relatively high prevalence of COVID-19.
 
President of the College, Dr. Donald Peters, advised that several factors are being considered for the resumption of face-to-face learning. DSC’s PRO Monelle Alexis spoke to Q95 news on Wednesday.

​DSC’s PRO, Monelle Alexis

DPSU General Secretary Thomas Letang is disturbed by the lack of development of CREAD in implementing more impactful goals, in which Dominicans economically benefit.
 
Operating as a statutory government agency, the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) is expected to lead and coordinate strategic initiatives across sectors in the Commonwealth of Dominica with the goal of making the country the world’s first climate resilient nation.
 
CREAD acts to bolster the ability of the business community, public services, and social sector partners to build strong and resilient communities, develop adaptive infrastructure, accelerate economic growth, strengthen institutional systems, enhance Dominicans’ capacity to respond to the local impacts of global climate change, and set an example for the rest of the world on how to respond to the challenges of a changing climate.
 
Letang also calls for greater engagement with the Trade Unions to resolve many of the issues faced by employees on the island.

DPSU General Secretary, Thomas Letang.

Education Consultant and Director of the Achievement Learning Center (ACL) Beverly Leblanc is for a change in the deliverance of education to youth in Dominica and the wider region. She was speaking on the ECCB virtual panelist dialogue dubbed ‘pandemic and Education’ on Tuesday where she called for a multisectoral approach to education, along with coming up with new and innovative ways to teach our students, especially now during this pandemic and virtual era.

Education Consultant and director of the Achievement learning Center (ACL), Beverly Leblanc.

​Teachers are being called upon to lead by example and get vaccinated. That’s according to President of the Dominica Association of Teachers Mervin Alexander. Mr. Alexander reminded the teachers that their role is important and encouraged them to do the necessary research so that they can make the right choice. He also called on the teachers to influence their colleagues to do the same.

​Dominica Association of Teachers President, Mervin Alexander.

Immunologist Dr. Swinburne Augustine commends Dr. Adrien Dechausay for his recent presentation on the status of the Covid Care Complex in Dominica, and the active cases, however Dr. Augustine says after analyzing the data provided, he is concerned about the availability of resources to effectively care for the number of critically ill Covid Patients.
 
Based on the data, Dominica has some 27 individuals who require advanced care to ensure their recovery, however according to Dr. Dechausay Dominica’s Covid Care Complex only has four ventilators available to treat these patients, this leaves the other patients in critical conditions between life and death.

​Immunologist Dr. Swinburne Augustine.

Dominica Joins the rest of the World in recognizing International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, for the second time.Reducing food loss and waste is of significant importance as it contributes to the realization of broader improvements to agri-food systems toward achieving food security, food safety, improving food quality & delivering on nutritional outcomes, as well as contributing to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions & pressure on land and water resources. 
 
With less than 9 years left to reach SDG goal 12, target 12.3 – by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail & consumer levels, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses – the second observance will highlight the urgent need to accelerate collective action to reduce food loss and waste.
 
In 2020, the United Nations General Assembly designated September 29 as International Day of Awareness of Food Loss & Waste (IDAFLW). An estimated one third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste annually. That’s equal to about 1.3 billion tons of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, and grains that either never leave the farm, get lost or spoiled during distribution, or thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens every year.
 
The World Wildlife Fund estimates that this could be enough calories to feed every undernourished person on the planet. Speaking at a Virtual Press conference panel discussion, Sam Kashani, Country Manager – Canada highlighted the stark reality of our food priority and the level of waste that goes on.

Sam Kashani, Country Manager and wholistic Foods advocate, Canada
 
Meantime, António Guterres (UN Secretary-General) says we need to step up our efforts, and Covid19 has brought to light the fragility of food loss.

​António Guterres, UN Secretary-General.

The Dominica Association of Teachers (DAT) cancels scheduled activities due to Covid19.This from DAT President Mervin Alexander. This week was supposed to be recognized as teacher’s week, with a number of activities planned. Alexander explains that some of these events have been canceled due to Covid19, but he encouraged students & parents to express gratitude to teachers using innovative and creative ways.

​Dominica Association of Teachers President, Mervin Alexander