Carib Scope

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  • Health Minister Michael Joseph Personally Funds Gift Baskets for Nurses During Nurses Week Visits

    Health Minister Michael Joseph Personally Funds Gift Baskets for Nurses During Nurses Week Visits

    As 2026 Nurses Week gets underway, Antigua and Barbuda’s top health official has launched a cross-island initiative to shine a well-deserved spotlight on the nursing professionals who form the backbone of the nation’s public healthcare system. Michael Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs, has personally funded and spearheaded a tour of public health clinics across Antigua, with the sole mission of delivering hand-delivered gift baskets to every practicing nurse across the country’s network of public care facilities.

    The heartfelt gesture comes as a tangible token of gratitude for the steady commitment, compassionate care, and daily sacrifices that nurses make to serve the communities of Antigua and Barbuda. Unlike many government-sponsored recognition events, this effort is funded entirely out of Minister Joseph’s own pocket, underscoring the personal respect he holds for the nursing workforce.

    On the first day of the tour, Joseph and his team completed deliveries to 12 major clinics across the island, including high-traffic facilities such as Grays Farm Clinic, Villa Polyclinic, Cedar Grove Clinic, Judges Hill Clinic, Clare Hall Clinic, Pigotts Clinic, Parham Clinic, All Saints Clinic, Glanvilles Clinic, Potters Clinic, Bendals Clinic, and Brownes Avenue Clinic. Nurses at each location received their individual gift baskets as a direct recognition of their daily work caring for patients from across Antigua.

    During the visits, Minister Joseph took time to speak with nursing staff, emphasizing that their role is irreplaceable to the function of Antigua and Barbuda’s entire healthcare system. He noted that consistent, compassionate, professional care from nurses is the foundation of delivering high-quality healthcare services to every citizen and resident across the two-island nation, regardless of where they live.

    Joseph confirmed that the recognition tour will continue on the second day of Nurses Week, with deliveries scheduled to reach all remaining clinics until every one of the nation’s 22 operating public health clinics has received the gifts. Before wrapping up his first day of visits, the minister extended warm holiday wishes to all nurses across Antigua and Barbuda, praising their extraordinary contributions to national public health and the thousands of individual lives they touch and improve through their work every single day.

  • Education Ministry to Hold 6th Research Symposium

    Education Ministry to Hold 6th Research Symposium

    The 6th iteration of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s signature Research Symposium is set to get underway this Tuesday, with an in-person opening ceremony scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. local time at the John E. St. Luce Building. For attendees unable to join the event in person, the Ministry’s Education Broadcasting Unit will stream the entire opening ceremony live, expanding access to the discussions and presentations for remote participants across the country.

    Organized around the core theme “Plan it! Execute it! Share it! Use it!”, the symposium is crafted to advance a clear strategic goal: cultivating high-quality research that directly shapes evidence-based education policy, enhances instructional practices in K-12 and higher education classrooms, and fosters systemic innovation across the national education sector. Beyond academic output, the event is designed to create open spaces for cross-sector dialogue between researchers, educators, policymakers, and student innovators, encouraging collaboration that turns research findings into tangible on-the-ground impact.

    The opening day’s program centers on two key research themes: mathematics education achievement and family-focused education research. Leading the presentations at the opening ceremony are researcher Shoya Hurst and student researcher Kelsey Cochrane, with Allison Ledeatte stepping in to moderate discussions following the talks.

    Following the launch, the symposium’s first full formal session for 2026 will be held virtually on Wednesday evening, running from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time. This cross-disciplinary session showcases research projects beyond the education sector, reflecting the symposium’s commitment to supporting innovative inquiry across all fields. Featured topics include sustainable conversion processing for sargassum seaweed, advances in cancer diagnosis and disease staging, best practices for community-centered unused medication disposal, and a review of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) music education curriculum.

    Presenters for the virtual session lead with established researchers Resa Nelson, Dr. Andre Bovell, and Ellisa Zakers, alongside three rising student researchers: Nivron Browne, Sheneela Deane, and Jedidiah Christian. Sharifa George will moderate the virtual session, guiding audience questions and cross-presenter discussion throughout the two-hour program.

  • New Senator Jonathan Wehner Pledges Focus on Youth Issues, Cost of Living and Accountability

    New Senator Jonathan Wehner Pledges Focus on Youth Issues, Cost of Living and Accountability

    At a swearing-in ceremony held Monday at Antigua and Barbuda’s Government House, 24-year-old Jonathan Wehner took office as one of the newly appointed Opposition senators, bringing a fresh, youth-centered agenda to the country’s Upper House of Parliament. Fresh off formally accepting his legislative post, Wehner laid out his policy and legislative priorities in an exclusive interview with ABS Television, framing his tenure as a commitment to elevating young voices across the twin-island nation.

    Wehner made clear that his work in the Senate will center on pushing for tangible action on the critical issues that hit young Antiguans and Barbudans the hardest, including access to affordable high-quality healthcare, expanded educational opportunities, robust youth employment programs, and policy interventions to curb the skyrocketing cost of living. “In Parliament, I will be a voice for youth, an advocate for youth, across every issue that touches young people across our country,” he explained. “Whether it is healthcare, education, employment, or rising living costs, young people deserve representation that shows up for their needs.”

    Beyond his policy priorities, Wehner emphasized that he intends to move beyond petty partisan rivalry to focus on solving pressing national challenges, rejecting the common political tactic of scoring points at the expense of public good. He described his unexpected appointment to the Senate as a deeply humbling milestone, and extended public gratitude to Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle and the United Progressive Party for putting their trust in a young, emerging political leader.

    Opening the interview with a show of cross-party goodwill, Wehner publicly congratulated the incumbent government on its victory in the April 30 general election, noting that the final result reflected the clear will of Antigua and Barbuda’s voters. “The government has won, the people have spoken, and we must all listen to the voice of the people,” he said. Wehner pushed back against the common misconception that the role of an opposition legislator is simply to block government action, arguing instead that the Opposition’s core responsibility is to enforce government accountability and advance shared national progress. “It is our job to hold the government accountable, keep their feet to the fire, to ensure we deliver a better future for all of Antigua and Barbuda,” he noted. “This is never about party colors. It is always about moving our country forward.”

    Wehner also credited the wide network of supporters, family members, and party leaders who helped him build his political career, stressing that his appointment to the Senate was not a solo achievement. He noted that the United Progressive Party gave him multiple opportunities to grow as a leader, including roles as an executive committee member and acting public relations officer, and he owed a deep debt of gratitude to the party and its leadership for his journey to the Upper House.

    In a notable gesture of cross-party respect, Wehner also extended congratulations to Shaquan O’Neil, the newly sworn-in government senator who made history at 22 as the youngest senator in Antigua and Barbuda’s history. Wehner revealed that O’Neil is a close personal relative, and argued that political differences should never stand in the way of celebrating achievement and extending mutual respect. “Even though we are on different sides of the political aisle, it is still important to congratulate him on this milestone,” he said. Wehner also singled out Senator Colin O’Neil for special thanks, calling him one of his biggest supporters and most influential encouragers throughout his political career.

    Wehner was one of three opposition senators sworn in during Monday’s ceremony, joining fellow legislators Ashworth Azille and Chester Hughes. A fourth opposition senator-designate, Malaka Parker, was unable to attend the event due to ongoing international travel, and will be sworn in at a formal ceremony at a later date.

  • Wurggreep van mamio-regeringen: Na suiker, bauxiet, goud en offshore olie geen ontwikkeling!

    Wurggreep van mamio-regeringen: Na suiker, bauxiet, goud en offshore olie geen ontwikkeling!

    Suriname remains trapped in a neocolonial stranglehold under what commentator Jack Menke terms “mamio-regeringen” — coalition governments that prioritize patronage over national progress, perpetuating what is widely known as the resource curse across the small South American nation. Writing in a critical opinion piece published May 12, Menke argues that after decades of exploitation centered on sugar, bauxite and gold extraction, a new term of mamio-led government would put even the potential economic gains from offshore oil development completely out of reach for ordinary Surinamese people.

    Menke defines a mamio government as a fragmented “patchwork failure”: a loose coalition of competing political parties that never coalesce into a unified, functional administration with a clear development vision. According to his analysis, this pattern of failed coalition governance has repeated consistently across successive Surinamese administrations, dating back to the adoption of the country’s 1987 constitution. A troubling core dynamic, Menke notes, is that political parties have steadily accumulated more power over the decades even as public trust in these institutions has collapsed to near-zero among the Surinamese population.

    Legislative changes have only reinforced this imbalance of power, Menke argues. The 1988 Political Organizations Act, the 2005 recall law, and the 2024 ban on pre-electoral coalitions have all consolidated control over government formation in the hands of large established parties and their financial backers. Smaller parties, which often maintain more robust internal democratic practices, have been systematically squeezed out of meaningful representation in the political system.

    Against this backdrop, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become a central locus of corruption, mismanagement and patronage, Menke says. The public has been repeatedly confronted with high-profile scandals in SOEs spanning agriculture, forestry and transportation sectors, yet almost all of these cases fade away without meaningful accountability after temporary, half-baked fixes from politicians and self-styled experts. While the current governing coalition inherits most of these conflicts from previous administrations, Menke documents that endless infighting, embezzlement and mismanagement persist across both governing coalition partners and opposition parties within the current system.

    At the root of the crisis, Menke explains, is the practice of dividing up leadership positions in government agencies and state-owned enterprises as political spoils for coalition party members, rather than appointing qualified, competent leaders. He outlines three core factors that sustain the “mamio curse” on Suriname’s SOE sector: first, the flawed legacy of pre-independence strategies that relied on unproductive state-owned entities and joint ventures with foreign multinational corporations; second, the failure to address systemic problems, which Menke attributes to short-term political self-preservation and competing economic interests that allow scandals to fester without resolution; and third, the ongoing pattern of visonless mamio governments leaving mountains of unresolved problems for successive administrations to muddle through. As of 2026, Menke notes, more than 150 Surinamese state-owned enterprises are effectively looted, drained and operating at a sustained loss. He points to the Suriname Landbouw Maatschappij (SLM) as a notable example: decades of chaos, mismanagement and financial scandal have left the state agricultural firm a poorly grounded experiment that continues to operate without any sustainable foundation.

    The exposed scandals that reach public attention are only the tip of the iceberg, Menke emphasizes: the entire mamio political system is structured to perpetuate itself, regardless of whether parties hold power in coalition or sit in opposition. The core function of a mamio government is the deliberate division of control over central government ministries, directorates, overseas diplomatic posts and SOEs, with positions filled by unqualified party loyalists and political opportunists seeking personal gain rather than public good.

    Menke argues that the long-term cost of clinging to this colonial-era economic model, which centers resource extraction as the core policy priority for all mamio governments, is stunted development and entrenched systemic inequality. By delaying progress on collective land rights while facilitating multinational exploitation along neocolonial lines, successive governments have fueled persistent conflict with Indigenous and Maroon communities across the country. The outsized legal power granted to political parties, combined with their deep ties to illegal activity, failing SOEs and private economic interests, blocks the formation of functional, productive coalitions and derails any path to sustainable national development. Even well-intentioned, honest government leaders are ground down by the system, Menke says, eventually falling back on counterproductive micromanagement within this rotten neocolonial political structure.

    In Menke’s view, there is only one path to meaningful development for Suriname: the entire existing political system must be fundamentally rebuilt. To achieve this overhaul, he argues that targeted extra-parliamentary pressure from the Surinamese public is the only viable lever for change. Menke outlines that voters frustrated with the status quo have multiple options to exercise their opposition: casting a regular ballot for change, submitting a blank protest vote, discarding their ballot or joining collective direct action to push for systemic reform.

  • If party faithful doesn’t get support, they will go elsewhere – Aubrey Armstrong

    If party faithful doesn’t get support, they will go elsewhere – Aubrey Armstrong

    On May 11, 2026, former senior People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) figure Dr. Aubrey Armstrong delivered the annual Hugh Desmond Hoyte commemorative lecture in Guyana, issuing a stark warning to his former party and laying out enduring leadership lessons drawn from the life and tenure of the nation’s second executive president. The event, held to honor the legacy of the PNCR icon who led the party from 1985 until his death in 2002, came amid a years-long trend of high-profile PNCR members crossing the aisle to join the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC).

    Opening his address, which carried the theme “Strategic transformation from charismatic/hero-centered leadership: Some lessons from the leadership journey of Hugh Desmond Hoyte,” Dr. Armstrong centered his first critical warning on the need to prioritize the well-being of the party’s grassroots supporters. He emphasized that failing to deliver tangible support to loyal voters creates an open invitation for rival parties to poach disillusioned members. “You have to take care of your people. You have to find ways of feeding them and so on. If not, you open the door for somebody else to poach them,” he told the assembled audience.

    Dr. Armstrong rooted this advice in Hoyte’s own actions immediately after the PNCR’s historic 1992 electoral defeat, the first loss of national power for the party after decades in office. He recalled that within days of the result, Hoyte directed internal party policy experts to draft four landmark policy frameworks, one of which focused on expanding equitable access to credit and mainstream financial services for low-income Guyanese. At the time, Dr. Armstrong explained, Hoyte argued that formal banks and insurance institutions had long systematically excluded working-class Black and Indo-Guyanese citizens, and expanding financial access was core to both supporting the party’s base and advancing national equity. This initiative, Dr. Armstrong noted, grew directly from Hoyte’s core principle that parties must actively care for their supporters immediately after losing power, not only when holding office.

    Turning to his core analysis of Hoyte’s leadership style and the lessons it offers modern political actors, Dr. Armstrong argued that effective leadership relies on far more than raw intellectual intelligence. He stressed that emotional intelligence is equally critical: leaders must be able to self-reflect, publicly acknowledge mistakes, and deliberately recruit people with diverse skills — even those who do not personally align with the leader, or hold views that differ from their own. Other core pillars of strong leadership, he added, include creating space for constructive criticism from within, actively listening to grassroots feedback, systematically assessing and managing risk, solving problems pragmatically, and building teams that complement the leader’s gaps in skills and perspective.

    Dr. Armstrong specifically highlighted Hoyte’s personal commitment to this model of leadership, noting that the former president never felt threatened by colleagues with stronger expertise in specific areas. Confident in his own decision-making, Hoyte actively broke down long-standing barriers to bring more women and young people into senior party roles, making tough, unpopular choices to prioritize skills and representation over loyalty to existing party elites. Dr. Armstrong also celebrated Hoyte’s “iron will” to stand by difficult decisions, pointing to his landmark work on party reform that opened space for new generations of leaders to rise through the ranks. Above all, he emphasized Hoyte’s uncompromising “radical integrity,” noting that the former leader had zero tolerance for corruption and refused to tolerate any illicit financial connections to criminal activity in party or government affairs.

    Drawing another lesson from Hoyte’s observations during a visit to African National Congress (ANC) party branch activities in South Africa, Dr. Armstrong noted that Hoyte came away convinced of the need to strengthen local PNCR party chapters rather than keeping them weak and dependent on national leadership. “He began to understand the need for us to strengthen party groups. And they will talk back to you. When you strengthen them, they will talk back to you,” Dr. Armstrong said, adding that allowing local branches to retain financial and operational independence builds a more resilient party over the long term. Weak grassroots groups, he warned, cannot sustain a party through political struggles.

    For context, Hoyte assumed the Guyanese presidency in 1985 following the death of the nation’s first executive president, and won a disputed general election later that year widely condemned by international observers as rigged. Hoyte ultimately conceded to mounting local and international pressure for sweeping electoral reform, leading to the PNCR’s 1992 electoral defeat that ended the party’s decades hold on national power. The PNCR returned to government from 2015 to 2020 as the lead partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, but lost the 2020 general election and was relegated to the position of second-largest opposition party in parliament following the 2025 national polls.

  • What is the thermal conversion process for improving Cuban crude oil?

    What is the thermal conversion process for improving Cuban crude oil?

    Against the backdrop of a tightened economic blockade that has squeezed Cuba’s fuel supplies to critical levels, a homegrown technological breakthrough developed by local petroleum researchers is offering new momentum for the island nation to capitalize on its own natural resources and advance toward long-term energy sovereignty.

    The innovation, crafted by a team of scientists at Cuba’s Center for Petroleum Research (Ceinpet), centers on a thermal conversion process tailored to address the unique challenges posed by the country’s most abundant crude oil resource: heavy crude extracted from northern Cuban oil fields. To break down the impact of this new development, Cuban state newspaper *Granma* sat down for an exclusive interview with Rafael López Cordero, senior researcher and management advisor at Ceinpet, who walked through the process, its potential benefits, and its roadmap for scaling.

    López Cordero explained that Cuba produces a range of crude oil grades, from light to extra-heavy, but more than 70% of the country’s domestic output comes from northern deposits of heavy crude. This variant is defined by extremely high concentrations of asphaltene compounds, which create the crude’s signature high density and viscosity, paired with elevated sulfur levels. This chemical makeup creates cascading challenges across every stage of the oil supply chain, from initial extraction all the way to refining and end use.

    “These asphaltenes complicate not just refining, but also transportation, pumping, and even extraction,” López Cordero noted. When heavy crude is pulled from wells, it arrives mixed with water, requiring specialized surfactants to separate the emulsions and recover usable crude. Its extreme viscosity also makes it impossible to pump through existing pipeline infrastructure without first diluting it with solvent products to lower its thickness. Currently, these solvents come from two sources: a portion of distillate fractions produced by the Sergio Soto Refinery in Cabaiguán, which processes domestic crude, and heavy naphtha generated from processing imported crude oil – a feedstock that could otherwise be used to produce gasoline for domestic consumption.

    This is where the new thermal conversion process delivers transformative change. López Cordero was careful to clarify that thermal conversion is an upgrading process, not a full refining step. While refining produces finished fuel products that meet market quality standards – from liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline to jet fuel, diesel, and asphalt – thermal conversion targets the physical properties of heavy crude to make it far more usable and valuable.

    By reducing the crude’s viscosity enough to eliminate the need for solvent dilution, the process frees up all the naphtha previously used for this purpose to be redirected toward gasoline production, directly boosting the country’s available fuel supply. It also delivers secondary benefits: a modest reduction in sulfur content cuts the fuel’s environmental impact, and the upgraded crude’s improved combustion properties reduce wear on power plant equipment, extending their operational lifespans and cutting maintenance resource needs.

    In its current non-catalytic form, the process upgrades crude for more efficient transportation and combustion without directly producing finished fuel derivatives that meet all national quality standards, but its operational benefits are already significant. The technology is now in the pilot scaling phase at the Sergio Soto Refinery, a location selected for its unique advantages for testing.

    “Sergio Soto already processes domestic heavy crude, has all the auxiliary infrastructure we need – steam, treated water, power – and a trained staff with years of experience handling heavy crude,” López Cordero said. “We don’t have to build from scratch; we can integrate our pilot plant into the existing operational system, and the crude is already stored on site, so no extra transportation is required.”

    Contrary to common misconception, the pilot plant is not intended for mass commercial production of upgraded crude. Its core mission is to collect critical engineering data: researchers will test different temperature ranges, crude emulsion injection rates, and other operational variables to map how these factors impact final product quality. Once these core parameters are finalized, the team will design modular, scalable units that can be deployed directly at wellheads across northern oil fields, bringing the upgrading process directly to the source of extraction.

    The research line behind thermal conversion has been underway at Ceinpet for several years, and was paused for a period due to a range of resource and operational constraints. But the intensification of the U.S. blockade, which has worsened shortages of imported solvents and naphtha, created new urgency to advance the homegrown solution, pushing the team to leverage domestic expertise and local resources to bring the project across the finishing line.

    While the technology is still in early scaling and will not resolve all of Cuba’s immediate energy challenges overnight, López Cordero emphasized that it represents a meaningful, firm step forward for the country. By enabling Cuba to maximize the value of its own domestic natural resources, the breakthrough moves the nation one critical step closer to the long-held goal of full energy sovereignty.

    Ceinpet has been investigating thermal conversion technology for several years, and the project’s progress amid ongoing economic pressure highlights the role of domestic scientific innovation in building resilience for the island nation.

  • Column: Pompen of verzuipen

    Column: Pompen of verzuipen

    Across the agricultural districts of Wanica and Saramacca in Suriname, smallholder farmers are watching their livelihoods rot underwater as government bureaucracy drags its feet on life-saving flood mitigation. For these producers, endless seminars, crisis committee meetings, and press conferences full of empty buzzwords like “assessment”, “coordination” and “integrated strategy” mean nothing when their crops are literally submerged in standing water. What they need is dry farmland — and they need it now.

    The crisis unfolding across hundreds of hectares of cultivated land stems from long-standing neglect of the region’s drainage infrastructure. At the Uitkijk sluice in Creola, the structure designed to redirect excess water from the Saramaccakanaal to the Saramaccarivier cannot function properly: river water levels remain equal to canal levels even at low tide. What makes this failure even more bitter is that a $35 million rehabilitation project for the 25-kilometer canal connecting the Saramacca and Suriname rivers was already completed, yet farmers have seen no relief from chronic flooding.

    Agriculture Minister Mike Noersalim has openly acknowledged that most local vegetable crops cannot survive more than 24 hours of submersion without total loss. Even with this knowledge, government officials continue to focus on slow, bureaucratic damage assessments, while losses mount by the hour. This mismatch between urgent need and glacial government action has left farmers furious. What is the point of counting damaged crops, they ask, when their entire income is already drowning?

    When local farmers gathered for an emergency press conference to demand action, their expectations were straightforward: they wanted to hear that additional excavators would be deployed to clear clogged drainage canals the same day, that blocked trenches and outfalls would be opened immediately, that emergency pumps would be brought in to drain floodwater, that a dedicated registration point would be set up for impacted producers, and that emergency aid would be prepared for small independent farmers who have no steady salary, no formal employment, and no social safety net to fall back on.

    None of these commitments were delivered. Instead, farmers left with the same vague promises: crisis plans still in development, future seminars to discuss the issue, and new committees to review the problem. For context, of the more than 40 main drainage canals marked A and B in the Saramaccapolder and Kwarasan districts, fewer than three have been cleared in recent years. This is the outcome of decades of deferred maintenance, overgrown canals clogged with weeds, and successive governments kicking the problem down the road. Billions have been borrowed, countless plans have been drafted, endless meetings have been held, but no lasting, structural solutions have ever been implemented.

    The glaring contradiction between the current administration’s rhetoric and on-the-ground reality is impossible to ignore. President Jennifer Simons identified agriculture as a top national priority during her New Year’s address to the Suriname Association of Economists, framing the agrarian sector as the core of her government’s economic policy, and the key to achieving national food security, price stability, job creation, and broad-based prosperity.

    But as local farmers know well, agriculture cannot be protected with speeches alone. It requires functional drainage infrastructure, operational pumps, consistent routine maintenance, clear long-term vision, and rapid action when crisis hits — none of which have been forthcoming amid bureaucratic gridlock. Already, vegetable prices across Suriname have spiked in response to the crisis, and the situation is set to worsen. When entire harvests are lost to flooding, widespread scarcity follows, driving up market prices for all consumers. In the end, it is not just farmers who will pay the price for government inaction: every citizen in Suriname will feel the impact at grocery stores.

    This failure also raises larger questions about Suriname’s ambitions for the agricultural sector. How can the nation seriously market itself as the “breadbasket of the region” when entire farmlands turn into stagnant reservoirs after every heavy rainfall? How can the government attract foreign and domestic investment to agriculture when a single day of heavy rain can wipe out a farmer’s entire annual investment? How can policymakers persuade young people to pursue careers in farming when they see smallholders lose everything with no insurance, no protection, and no compensation from the state?

    The reality for Suriname’s smallholder farmers today is brutally simple: it is pump or drown. Right now, there is no pumping. The Suriname government must recognize that this is no longer a theoretical water management problem. It is a full-blown social and economic crisis that directly threatens the livelihood security of thousands of people. A farmer survives off what the land produces. And right now, that land is completely underwater.

  • Regering kondigt crisisaanpak aan voor wateroverlast

    Regering kondigt crisisaanpak aan voor wateroverlast

    Suriname’s government has moved quickly to confront escalating flood emergencies that have submerged residential and agricultural areas across Paramaribo, Wanica, Saramacca and multiple other districts, announcing the formation of a special interdepartmental crisis commission during an urgent press briefing held Monday.

    Public Works and Spatial Planning Minister Stephen Tsang outlined the multiple overlapping causes of the deepening crisis during the briefing, explaining that while unprecedented extreme rainfall triggered the current disaster, years of systemic neglect and decay of critical water management infrastructure created the conditions for widespread flooding. “We are not just fighting against extreme weather,” Tsang told reporters. “We are also fighting against illegal filling of drainage canals, unauthorized discharge networks and widespread dumping of solid waste that clogs our water systems.”

    Tsang painted a grim picture of the state of the country’s flood management infrastructure, noting that government inspection teams found dozens of non-functional pumping stations, locks dating back to the colonial era that have been stuck shut for years, and roads that were constructed without any comprehensive drainage planning. The minister said he began touring key infrastructure sites as early as 5:00 a.m. Monday, and found that pumping stations along the Sommelsdijckkreek and Boomskreek had gone offline due to power outages operated by the national utility EBS. Other sites were facing outages caused by failed transformers and pump intakes blocked by accumulated debris. If all pumping infrastructure had been fully operational, Tsang confirmed, floodwaters in the northern districts would have already receded by Monday.

    In addition to long-deferred maintenance, Tsang pointed to actions by private citizens that have directly exacerbated flooding risks. He cited a recent incident at the Clevia lock, where local residents forcibly opened a lock gate because they were unwilling to wait five minutes for the official operation, causing permanent damage to the structure. Illegal dumping, unauthorized filling of drainage trenches and unapproved construction along water channels all restrict water flow, turning routine rainfall into major flood events, he added.

    The newly formed crisis commission brings together representatives from multiple government agencies including the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Agriculture, the National Coordination Center for Disaster Management (NCCR) and district-level commissioners. The body has been given an urgent mandate to address immediate flood threats and prepare formal policy recommendations for the Council of Ministers by Wednesday.

    To ramp up immediate response efforts, all operational pumping stations are now running at full capacity. The government is also partnering with the private sector to source additional mobile pumps and excavation equipment, with local businesses already donating machinery and resources to the effort. Even prison inmates have been deployed to manually clear debris from clogged drains and drainage trenches. Tsang warned that the outlook for the coming days remains poor, with forecasters predicting another round of heavy rainfall on Thursday, May 14, driven by a strong El Niño pattern that is amplifying precipitation across the region.

    The agricultural sector has already borne the brunt of the disaster, with Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Minister Mike Noersalim confirming that farmland across nearly every district has been inundated. Hard-hit areas include major agricultural regions in Saramacca, Nickerie, Commewijne and parts of the interior. Agricultural extension officers are currently conducting on-the-ground assessments to calculate the full scale of crop damage. Noersalim noted that many staple crops cannot survive more than 24 hours of continuous submersion, making rapid drainage improvements critical to preventing catastrophic, irreversible losses.

    For rural communities in Suriname’s interior, the disaster risks escalating into a full food security crisis, according to NCCR. Flooding has already submerged subsistence farm plots in multiple southern Suriname villages, and officials warn that if flood waters do not recede soon, the country could face widespread food shortages within four to six weeks.

    Beyond immediate emergency response, the government has announced plans to move beyond temporary fixes and implement long-term structural reforms to address repeated flooding. Tsang emphasized that the administration is developing a multi-year plan for a full overhaul of the coastal plain’s drainage system, which will consolidate existing fragmented plans into a single national master plan after a full review of current infrastructure gaps.

    The government is also considering stricter enforcement measures and new legislation to crack down on pollution and unauthorized construction along drainage channels and canals. The proposed new rules will allow authorities to impose harsher penalties on individuals who block critical flood infrastructure or build without permits in designated drainage areas. Moving forward, all new land development projects will only receive government approval if they include modern, code-compliant drainage infrastructure, Tsang confirmed. The administration is also working to source affordable pumping stations for low-lying neighborhoods such as Sophia’s Lust, where flooding is a chronic recurring problem that cannot be solved by just clearing existing trenches.

    To help residents access emergency support, the government has launched a dedicated hotline for acute flood emergencies at the number 844-2646. Residents can report severe flooding or situations requiring immediate intervention through the line. At the same time, the government is calling on residents to take personal responsibility by avoiding dumping waste in canals and drainage ditches, and taking proactive steps to limit damage to homes and personal property.

  • Two arrested following fatal Picard shooting

    Two arrested following fatal Picard shooting

    A fatal shooting that claimed the life of a St. Kitts national in Dominica’s Picard region has led to the arrest of two suspects, one man and one woman, local law enforcement announced Monday. Police Chief Lincoln Corbette shared details of the ongoing investigation during an official press briefing, confirming the developments that unfolded over 24 hours prior.

    The incident was first reported to Portsmouth district police at approximately 9:20 p.m. Sunday, when residents alerted authorities to sounds of gunfire in the Picard vicinity. Promptly responding to the emergency call, officers arrived at the scene to find a young Black man with braided hair lying unresponsive, Corbette said. First responders immediately requested emergency medical support, and a physician attending the scene officially pronounced the victim dead at the location.

    In the hours following the discovery of the body, law enforcement launched a rapid manhunt, which culminated in the arrest of the two unidentified suspects. No further details about the suspects’ identities, potential motives for the shooting or connections to the victim have been released to the public as of Monday’s briefing, as investigators work to piece together the sequence of events leading up to the fatal shooting.

    Corbette emphasized that the investigation remains active and ongoing, and appealed for public assistance to move the case forward. Any residents or visitors with information related to the shooting — whether they witnessed the incident, noticed suspicious activity in the area Sunday evening, or have details that could aid investigators — are asked to contact the official police tip line at 1-800 TIPS. All tips can be submitted anonymously, and law enforcement has encouraged anyone with relevant information to come forward, even if they believe the details they have are minor.

  • «Corventina» wins the UNFP trophy for best player of the season (video)

    «Corventina» wins the UNFP trophy for best player of the season (video)

    On May 11, 2026, one of women’s football’s most exciting rising talents cemented her status as a global star when Haitian midfielder Melchie Daëlle Dumornay, widely known by her nickname “Corventina”, took home the top individual honor at the 34th annual National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Awards. The ceremony, hosted at Paris’ iconic Palais Brongniart, celebrated the best of French women’s top-flight football, and the 22-year-old Olympique Lyonnais standout outperformed a field of elite competitors to claim the Best Player of the Season trophy for Arkema Première Ligue, France’s top-tier women’s football competition.

    Dumornay beat out four other nominated stars to secure the award: her Lyon teammate and last season’s winner Tabitha Chawinga, Paris Saint-Germain duo Sakina Karchaoui and Romee Leuchtführer, and Paris FC’s Clara Matéo. The honor comes as the capstone to a breakout 2025-2026 campaign for the attacking midfielder, who notched a string of impressive goals and game-changing assists to power Lyon’s domestic title run. Over the past two seasons, the Haitian international has rapidly evolved from a promising young prospect to one of the most influential and recognizable figures in European women’s football.

    News of Dumornay’s historic win sparked widespread celebration across her home nation of Haiti, with top government and sports institutions rushing to congratulate the 22-year-old. The Haitian Football Federation (FHF) released a statement framing Dumornay as far more than a national sports icon, calling her a beacon of inspiration for young Haitians across the country. “Melchie is a source of immense pride for our entire nation, and a symbol of hope and determination for Haiti’s youth,” the FHF said. “Congratulations to this incredible daughter of our soil, who has already claimed both the French league title and this well-deserved individual honor.”

    Haiti’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Pythagore Dumas, also extended his warm congratulations, noting that Dumornay’s landmark achievement brings honor to Haitian football and the country’s emerging generation of athletes. “Through this remarkable distinction, the talented Haitian attacking midfielder continues to raise our national flag high on the global stage, thanks to her extraordinary talent, unwavering discipline, and relentless determination,” Dumas said. “She is a true inspiration to Haitian youth, proving once again that hard work, perseverance, and commitment can open the door to the highest levels of world sport.”

    Haiti’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights (MCFDF) added its own praise, highlighting Dumornay’s trailblazing path as a young Haitian woman competing at the top of international sport. “This prestigious award is a testament to the exceptional talent, determination, and hard work of this young Haitian athlete, who continues to bring glory to Haiti on the international sports scene,” the ministry said. “Through her remarkable journey, she embodies the excellence, courage, and perseverance of Haitian women.” The MCFDF also commended Dumornay for her work encouraging young Haitian women to pursue their dreams despite systemic and social challenges, calling her recognition a source of national pride and a symbol of hope for an entire generation. The ministry closed by reaffirming its support for Dumornay and wishing her continued success in her career.

    Speaking to attendees at the Paris awards ceremony, Dumornay is expected to reflect on her journey from youth football in Haiti to the pinnacle of the European game, thanking her teammates, coaches, and supporters both in France and her home nation for the role they played in her historic win.