Healthcare workers testing a woman for the novel coronavirus. Photo credit: Pan American Health Organization

COVID-19 testing on hold until kidnapped lab employee is released

Healthcare workers testing a woman for the novel coronavirus. Photo credit: Pan American Health Organization

National Laboratory employees took to the streets Monday and said they will not conduct any further coronavirus tests until kidnappers release their lab technician colleague. 

Berthony Sylvar and his step-brother, Jean Reynold St-Hilaire, were both taken hostage Dec. 22.

The latest results of Covid-19 testing available from the Ministry of Health are from Dec. 26. Haiti experienced a sharp rise in confirmed cases in December. Source

Moïse: Talks underway to renovate town damaged by massacre

Jean-Rabel officials during a meeting with Haiti President Jovenel Moïse in December 2020. Jovenel Moïse’s Twitter Images

President Jovenel Moïse said he spoke about the renovation of Jean-Rabel, a farming town in the Northwestern Department, with local authorities and members of the civil society. 

In a tweet posted Wednesday, Moïse also said he and the local officials talked about connecting Jean-Rabel with other communes nearby, such as Baie-de-Henne, Bombardopolis and Môle Saint Nicolas.

Jean-Rabel was the site of a massacre on Jul. 23, 1987. At least 200 residents died and 100 were wounded, according to reports. Goons also killed farming animals and destroyed gardens and houses. As of July 2016, residents were still asking the government for justice and assistance to repair the town, according to The Canada-Haiti Information Project.

Renowned journalist says guns and driving skills give him edge

Radio Television Caraibes reporter Roberde “Bob C” Celiné.

A prominent reporter said he owns an illegal gun and that having weapons is one reason he has an edge over fake journalists. 

“The entire world knows I have two guns, a short one and a long one,” said Roberde “Bob C” Celiné on First Occasion, a Radio Television Caraibes news show, Tuesday. “I tried to fill papers for the long one but they didn’t let me.”

The three other factors Celiné said put him over other reporters are that he drives well, knows how to fight and he knows how to multiply money. 

Celiné has been a reporter at Radio Tele Caraibes, an eminent radio station, since 1995.

Email me at onz@haitiantimes.com
Onz Chery is a Haiti correspondent for The Haitian Times. Chery started his journalism career as a City College of New York student with The Campus. He later wrote for First Touch, local soccer leagues in New York and Elite Sports New York before joining The Haitian Times in 2019.

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