By Shermain Bique-Charles
Demands by the Barbuda Council to shut down the operations of the Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) project on the sister isle is nothing new, but this time the council says the request is purely for health reasons and it will be temporary.
Secretary of the Council Paul Nedd told our newsroom yesterday, that the four Barbudans who have tested positive for the virus on Barbuda were reportedly linked to the PLH project.
“We are of the opinion that the cases that are currently on Barbuda have been affiliated with PLH on their regular movement of people between Antigua and Barbuda and we are saying simply to PLH that we want them to take responsibility and halt the project for 14 days,” he said.
This two-week window, according to Nedd will be in the first instance beginning February 12th depending on the progression of new Covid-19 infections on the island.
“This is to allow our health care workers and medical team to carry out more extensive testing and contact tracing and reduce the chances of cross border spread that could quickly overwhelm their capacity to cope,” Nedd said.
Project President for the PLH Justin Wilshaw told Observer media there are no cases of the virus on the company’s property.
He also stated that the company continues to work with the qualified medical team to ensure compliance. In essence, the PLH project will not adhere to calls by the Barbuda Council to shut its doors because of the reasons stated by Nedd.