Carib Scope

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  • Jeremie: A terror T&T escaped

    Jeremie: A terror T&T escaped

    Trinidad and Tobago’s Attorney General John Jeremie has made a stunning disclosure during parliamentary debate on the 2026 Special Operations Bill: the man accused of ordering the assassination of State prosecutor Randall Hector has been in custody at Chaguaramas’ Teteron Barracks since last year. The revelation comes as the current Persad-Bissessar administration pushes for expanded powers to dismantle transnational criminal gangs that have terrorized the country for years, using the high-profile 2024 killing as a stark example of the failures of the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) government.

    Hector, a 43-year-old veteran prosecutor with deep experience targeting organized crime, was gunned down in a meticulously planned attack on New Year’s Eve 2024, just moments after he left a year-end church service at Port of Spain’s Stanmore Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church. According to Jeremie’s account to the House of Representatives, Hector had just delivered a sermon on the goodness of God and was walking with his family toward their car when two vehicles — a black SUV and a Nissan B15 — ambushed the group. Hitmen exited the vehicles and fired seven shots into Hector’s chest, killing him instantly.

    What makes the killing even more damning for the former PNM administration, Jeremie argued, is the timing: the assassination occurred just hours after the then-government had declared a national state of emergency (SoE) in response to surging gang violence. The then-Attorney General Stuart Young had justified the SoE by citing police intelligence that warned of imminent brazen criminal attacks and reprisal killings between rival gangs, particularly in violence-plagued areas like Port of Spain and Laventille. Yet, Jeremie pointed out, then-Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley was nowhere to be seen during the crisis — he was photographed attending a social event in Tobago holding a drink, leaving the SoE announcement to Young instead of the sitting national security minister or prime minister.

    “The gangs’ immediate answer to the declaration of their state of emergency was to do precisely what the state of emergency was supposed to prevent,” Jeremie told the Deputy Speaker. He added that Hector’s murder was just one high-profile example of the systemic failure of gang policy under the PNM, which left the country reeling from a historic murder crisis: three consecutive years of annual homicide totals approaching or exceeding 600, culminating in a record-breaking bloodshed in 2024. When the current United National Congress (UNC)-led Persad-Bissessar administration took office, it inherited a nation grappling with unprecedented levels of gang-related terror, Jeremie noted.

    In his address to parliament, Jeremie confirmed that the alleged mastermind behind Hector’s killing has been cut off from his criminal network while in custody at Teteron Barracks, stripping him of the ability to exert the same level of violent influence that left the previous PNM administration “timid and silent.” Jeremie declined to name the suspect or confirm whether formal charges have been filed in connection with Hector’s death.

    Jeremie stressed that while national security has improved measurably under the current administration, with statistical data backing up claims of falling violence, this is no time for complacency. That is why the government is advancing the Special Operations Bill, which would grant law enforcement expanded powers to disrupt and dismantle organized criminal networks.

    Hector’s assassination sent immediate shockwaves through the country’s legal and justice system. The prosecutor had previously served as legal director of the Strategic Services Agency before opening his own private practice, and he was regularly retained by the state to prosecute high-profile cases against alleged gang leaders. In the wake of the killing, prosecutors across the country were left traumatized and boycotted court proceedings for the remainder of the week, forcing the rescheduling of jury selection in supreme courts across Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Tobago. The Law Association called for urgent enhanced security protections for prosecutors and judicial officers handling sensitive gang cases, and law enforcement quickly moved to implement additional security detail for at-risk legal personnel. As of April 2025, acting Police Commissioner Junior Benjamin confirmed that the investigation file had been sent to Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, who ordered additional inquiries before formal prosecution can proceed.

  • UAE President, VPs congratulate Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis Federation on Independence Day

    UAE President, VPs congratulate Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis Federation on Independence Day

    ABU DHABI, 19 September 2026 (WAM) — Diplomatic goodwill is on display this week as the United Arab Emirates’ highest ranking national leaders have extended formal messages of congratulations to the leadership of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis to mark the Caribbean nation’s annual Independence Day celebration.

    His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, was the first to issue a celebratory message addressed to Marcella A. Liburd, the Governor-General of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The message carries warm wishes from the UAE’s head of state for continued prosperity, stability and development for the people and government of the Caribbean island nation.

    Following President Sheikh Mohamed’s greeting, two of the UAE’s Vice Presidents also issued their own congratulatory communications. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who serves as UAE Vice President and Prime Minister as well as Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the second Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, jointly dispatched similar celebratory notes. Their greetings were sent not only to Governor-General Liburd but also to Dr. Terrance Drew, the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

    This diplomatic gesture follows a pattern of recent goodwill outreach from UAE top leadership, which has seen similar congratulatory messages sent to the heads of state of Chile and El Salvador to mark their respective national independence celebrations in recent days, underscoring the UAE’s commitment to fostering positive bilateral relations and friendly ties with nations across the globe.

  • OPEN LETTER: To The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority

    OPEN LETTER: To The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority

    A frustrated regional traveller has penned an open letter to the Director General of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA), demanding urgent regulatory intervention to address persistent poor service from regional carrier InterCaribbean Airways — including a high-profile recent incident that left dozens of passengers stranded in Barbados without their checked luggage.

    The most recent disruption unfolded last Friday, when passengers traveling from Dominica to Barbados arrived at their connecting hub only to discover that airline staff had offloaded nearly all checked bags from their flight, citing mandatory aircraft weight-and-balance requirements. Among the affected passengers were travelers connecting to international destinations including Manchester, the U.S. Midwest, and Panama, along with others heading to other Caribbean points of arrival. Many passengers, especially those traveling to cooler climates, were forced to pay out of pocket for emergency clothing, toiletries, and other daily necessities. What made the situation even more unacceptable was that the airline offered no clear timeline for when the abandoned luggage would depart Dominica or how it would be delivered to passengers’ final destinations.

    The letter acknowledges that weight-and-balance protocols are non-negotiable for aviation safety, so the criticism does not question that core safety rule. Instead, the core grievance centers on whether InterCaribbean is intentionally overbooking seats and accepting more checked baggage than its assigned aircraft can legally and safely carry. The author argues that if an airline operates aircraft with fixed load limits, its booking and baggage acceptance systems must be updated to reflect those constraints. It is completely unacceptable, the letter argues, for the airline to collect full ticket fares and baggage fees only to leave passengers’ belongings behind with no advance warning, no adequate on-the-ground support, and no clear plan to reunite passengers with their property.

    This latest baggage fiasco is far from an isolated unavoidable error, the author emphasizes. InterCaribbean charges premium ticket prices for short regional routes, enforces strict baseline baggage limits, and charges steep additional fees for extra checked luggage. In exchange for these costs, passengers have a reasonable right to expect competent operational planning, transparent communication, and delivery of all baggage the airline agrees to carry.

    Friday’s incident is also just the latest in a long string of complaints from passengers across the Eastern Caribbean. For months, travelers have publicly reported repeated issues including widespread delayed and canceled flights, chronic lost or delayed baggage, missed international connecting itineraries, abysmal communication from airline staff, and near-impossible access to meaningful customer assistance. Most recently, in August 2024, the government of the British Virgin Islands was forced to hold emergency talks with senior InterCaribbean leadership after a surge in passenger complaints about poor service, delays, and cancellations. At that time, airline representatives attributed the widespread service failures to ongoing aircraft technical issues and industry-wide staffing shortages.

    Against this backdrop, the open letter calls on ECCAA to launch a full formal inquiry to answer several critical questions: First, are InterCaribbean’s passenger and baggage loading plans properly aligned with the capacity of the aircraft assigned to each route? Second, is the airline consistently meeting all mandatory operational and consumer protection standards? Third, does the airline properly notify passengers before departure if their checked baggage cannot be accommodated on their scheduled flight? Fourth, what formal protocols are in place to track and speedily deliver baggage that is intentionally offloaded for operational reasons? Fifth, are passengers affected by these disruptions receiving adequate support and reimbursement for their out-of-pocket costs? And finally, do the repeated delays, cancellations, and baggage issues point to broader systemic operational or capacity problems that require formal regulatory intervention?

    The author stresses that this call is not an attempt to pressure ECCAA to override legitimate, safety-focused aviation decisions. Instead, it is a request for the regulator to investigate whether persistent poor operational planning is repeatedly creating scenarios where the airline cannot deliver on its promise to transport passengers and their baggage as booked.

    A key point highlighted in the letter is the limited competition for regional air travel in the Eastern Caribbean, leaving most travelers with few alternative carriers. The author argues that this lack of consumer choice must not become a free pass for an airline to deliver consistently substandard service without regulatory scrutiny or meaningful consequences.

    The letter outlines clear next steps for ECCAA: the authority should publicly outline its regulatory remit in this matter, launch a full investigation into any potential violations of aviation rules falling within its mandate, and coordinate with national consumer protection agencies and national aviation authorities across the region as needed. If operational deficiencies are confirmed, InterCaribbean should be ordered to implement binding corrective actions within a fixed, public timeline. Persistent noncompliance should result in appropriate sanctions under regional and national aviation laws, up to and including a formal review of the airline’s operating approvals if necessary.

    Beyond regulatory action, the letter demands that InterCaribbean immediately provide all passengers affected by Friday’s baggage disruption with updated information about their luggage, arrange expedited delivery to their final destinations, and compensate passengers for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses caused by the incident.

    “Caribbean passengers deserve more than expensive tickets, unexplained disruptions and silence when things go wrong,” the author concludes. “They deserve an airline industry that is safe, reliable, accountable and properly regulated. ECCAA must act.”

  • PM Drew highlights history and symbolism of St. Kitts and Nevis Coat of Arms – WIC News

    PM Drew highlights history and symbolism of St. Kitts and Nevis Coat of Arms – WIC News

    As the Caribbean Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis counts down to its 43rd Independence Day on September 19, 2026, Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew is encouraging all residents to revisit the layered history and unifying meaning woven into the country’s National Coat of Arms. Adopted the same year the nation gained sovereignty in 1983, the emblem is far more than a formal national symbol: it carries the full narrative of St. Kitts and Nevis, from its earliest Indigenous communities to its colonial past, its fertile natural landscapes, its long fight for self-governance, and the weaving together of diverse peoples into a single national community.

    In a public message shared across social media platforms, Drew broke down the symbolic meaning embedded in every element of the Coat of Arms. At its core sits a central shield, which features a fully sailed lighter (a shallow-draft trading vessel historically vital to the islands’ economy), vibrant Poinciana flowers, a depiction of a Kalinago head honoring the islands’ first inhabitants, a fleur-de-lis representing French colonial influence, and a rose marking British colonial rule. Above the shield, a flaming torch is held aloft by three hands: one from an African descendant, one from a European descendant, and one from a person of mixed descent. This design carries a powerful core message: people of all racial and ancestral origins in St. Kitts and Nevis share a united, ongoing quest for freedom and progress.

    Flanking the shield are the country’s national bird, the pelican, alongside stalks of sugar cane and a coconut palm, two iconic crops that highlight the nation’s rich agricultural bounty and abundant natural resources. Below the full emblem, the national motto “Country Above Self” is inscribed. For Prime Minister Drew, these four words serve as a timeless reminder that collective nation-building demands every citizen to set aside individual interests and consider what they can contribute to the shared prosperity and greater good of the entire federation.

    This year’s 43rd Independence celebrations carry the unifying theme “One People, One Vision, Endless Possibility: Independence 43.” In the lead-up to the official commemorations, Drew is challenging citizens to deepen their knowledge of the stories behind the Coat of Arms’ individual symbols. He emphasized that every detail of the emblem acts as a permanent reminder of the nation’s hard-won history, its hard-fought freedom, and the shared collective vision that binds the people of St. Kitts and Nevis together.

  • Het katje dat niemand herkende: Bolivia ontdekt nieuwe wilde kattensoort

    Het katje dat niemand herkende: Bolivia ontdekt nieuwe wilde kattensoort

    For most major scientific discoveries, researchers must trek deep into uncharted jungles, spend decades excavating fossils, or deploy cutting-edge equipment to probe the depths of the world’s oceans. But the story of *Leopardus tilcayo* — the first new living species of wild cat identified by science in more than 100 years — began with a far more ordinary chain of events: a lost kitten, a local family’s mistake, and an attentive biologist’s quiet suspicion.

    The small, spotted feline was found alone as a kitten on the edge of forestland in Bolivia’s Yungas region. A local resident took the animal in and cared for it for roughly a year, assuming it was just an ordinary domestic cat. As it grew, however, the animal began to display wild behaviors, including hunting the neighborhood’s chickens, making it clear this was no house cat. In 2016, the animal was transferred to Senda Verde, a local wildlife rescue center, where staff reached out to biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz with a simple, curious note: they had a “strange cat” that didn’t match any known local species.

    That single phone call launched nearly a decade of international collaborative research, whose results were published this week in the peer-reviewed scientific journal *Current Biology*. Led by Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic researcher, the study has upended existing understanding of small South American wild cats, and added an entirely new species to the world’s taxonomic records.

    The newly named tilcayo is a remarkably small feline: it grows to roughly 46 centimeters in body length and weighs an average of just 1.4 kilograms, smaller than the average adult domestic house cat. Its light brown coat is marked with dark, irregular rosette spots, it has proportionally small, rounded ears, and a longer, fuller tail than its closest genetic relatives. At first glance, the tilcayo closely resembles other small spotted cats native to South America — a similarity that hid it from formal scientific identification for centuries.

    The *Leopardus* genus, commonly called tiger cats, is what researchers call a cryptic species group: its members can look nearly identical to the naked eye, but genetic analysis reveals they are evolutionarily distinct lineages separated by millions of years of independent development. “You need full genetic analysis to uncover the meaningful differences between these groups,” explained Jonas Lescroart, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Antwerp and a co-author of the study. For this research, the team sequenced and analyzed the full genome of 38 *Leopardus* individuals, including DNA samples from century-old museum specimens to build a full evolutionary history of the group.

    The results were surprising: what was long classified as a small group of just a few species is actually five genetically distinct species, one of which was the unrecognized Bolivian cat. Genetic dating confirms the tilcayo’s evolutionary lineage split from other tiger cats roughly 1.4 million years ago — meaning the species has roamed South America’s forests for millennia before it ever received a formal scientific name. Notably, the name *Leopardus tilcayo* is not a new coinage created in a laboratory: “tilcayo” is the traditional name that Indigenous and local communities in the Yungas have used for generations to distinguish this cat from other small spotted felids in the region. By retaining the traditional name in the formal scientific classification, researchers centered the long-held local knowledge of the species that predated modern scientific discovery by centuries.

    As the research team emphasizes, the story of the tilcayo’s discovery is almost a story that never happened. When Nogales-Ascarrunz first examined the rescued cat in 2016, she too initially assumed it was a known species, *Leopardus tigrinus*. But she noticed subtle differences in the shape and size of its coat spots that did not match the known profile of the species. That small, nagging suspicion ultimately grew into a full international research collaboration that brought together genetic data from across the world and compared it to hundreds of archived museum specimens. “Once we combined all our data sets, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place,” Lescroart said.

    Now that the species has been formally identified, the work to understand it is only just beginning. Researchers still do not know how many tilcayo individuals live in the wild, nor the full extent of their geographic range. To date, the species has only been genetically confirmed in Bolivia, and it remains unclear if populations also exist in neighboring Peru or Argentina. Very little is known about the species’ behavior and ecology: preliminary camera trap data suggests the tilcayo is primarily nocturnal, and analysis of fecal samples confirms small rodents make up part of its diet, but almost nothing is known about its breeding patterns, territorial range, natural predators or social behavior. Teams have already begun deploying camera traps across the Yungas to collect more data on the elusive species.

    While the identification of a completely new mammal species is widely being celebrated as an exciting scientific breakthrough, it also comes with an urgent new conservation responsibility. The Yungas, the humid montane cloud forest that is the tilcayo’s known habitat, is under severe threat from deforestation, industrial agricultural expansion and unregulated mining. Smaller geographic ranges automatically put a species at greater risk of extinction, and the new classification means the entire tiger cat group will require re-evaluation by conservation scientists. Currently, the IUCN Red List classifies tiger cats as a single vulnerable group; with the confirmation of five distinct species, each lineage will now be assessed individually for conservation status. The research team has already shared their full findings with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to support this updated evaluation, meaning a species that did not exist in formal scientific literature just weeks ago could soon receive targeted endangered species protection.

    The discovery of the tilcayo comes at a moment when many people assume all terrestrial megafauna have already been documented by science. In an era of high-resolution satellite mapping that can image every corner of the globe, and DNA sequencing technology that can reconstruct evolutionary history with unprecedented precision, many assume there are few large, new species left to find. But the tilcayo’s story proves the natural world still holds hidden secrets: it walked the forests of Bolivia for 1.4 million years, was known to local communities for centuries, and only revealed itself to formal science when a curious biologist stopped to question a seemingly obvious identification. The small spotted cat now roaming the cloud forests between the Andes and the Amazon basin is a reminder that even on our well-explored planet, there are always new discoveries waiting to be made.

  • Halo Foundation Donates Scholarship Funds to Support UWI Education for Local Student

    Halo Foundation Donates Scholarship Funds to Support UWI Education for Local Student

    ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda — A local community leader and committed volunteer has received a vital financial boost to advance his higher education, thanks to a targeted scholarship donation from the Halo Foundation. The grant will cover Kamalie Mannix’s tuition costs as he works toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies at the University of the West Indies Global Campus.

    Mannix is far from an ordinary scholarship recipient: he has built a decades-long record of public service across Antigua and Barbuda, and has volunteered with the Halo Foundation for multiple years. A former educator, he regularly steps forward to share his skills, professional expertise, and free time to support the foundation’s community-focused work. He also previously served as President of the National Youth Parliament, where he advocated for young people across the country. Beyond his professional and volunteer commitments, Mannix is an avid amateur historian, currently deep in research exploring the lives and legacies of prominent historical figures from Antigua and Barbuda. His consistent dedication to community service and youth empowerment has made him a beloved and respected member of the Halo Foundation network.

    In a statement following the donation, a spokesperson for the Halo Foundation emphasized that the scholarship reflects the organization’s core belief in education as a transformative force for individual and national growth. “We are proud to invest in deserving young people like Mr. Mannix, who demonstrate commitment, discipline, and a genuine desire to grow and give back to their communities,” the spokesperson said.

    This contribution is part of the Halo Foundation’s longstanding institutional mission to expand educational opportunity and personal growth for young people across Antigua and Barbuda. By investing in emerging leaders like Mannix, the foundation works to empower the next generation of national decision-makers, laying the groundwork for sustained long-term development and progress across the country. The foundation closed its announcement by extending warm wishes to Mannix for his academic studies and future professional career.

    Founded and led by Her Excellency Lady Williams, the Halo Foundation is a broad-based philanthropic organization that supports a wide range of public initiatives across Antigua and Barbuda and beyond. Its core focus areas extend beyond youth development and education to include support for elderly communities, people with disabilities, uniformed service groups, public health, sports, gender equity for women and girls, environmental protection, global peace, historical heritage preservation, arts and culture, and community infrastructure growth.

  • Historic Citizenship Reform Approved for Second and Third Generation Kittitians and Nevisians

    Historic Citizenship Reform Approved for Second and Third Generation Kittitians and Nevisians

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – After 43 years of unaddressed gaps in the country’s citizenship law, the Cabinet of St. Kitts and Nevis has taken a landmark step toward answering decades of calls from the global diaspora by approving the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026 to the National Assembly.

    The proposed legislation creates a clear pathway to citizenship for adult descendants of St. Kitts and Nevis citizens born abroad after the country gained independence in 1983. Specifically, it opens registration eligibility to any adult born outside the federation on or after September 19, 1983, who can trace their lineage to a parent or grandparent that obtained citizenship at independence.

    Prior to this reform, the St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution only granted citizenship by descent to first-generation descendants born abroad: if a child was born outside the country, they could claim citizenship only if their parent was born in St. Kitts and Nevis. Second- and third-generation descendants born abroad were locked out of citizenship, even with direct ancestral ties to the federation. People born before independence were unaffected by this gap, as they were already granted citizenship under the original constitutional framework.

    Members of the large St. Kitts and Nevis diaspora have pushed to resolve this discrepancy for decades. Community members have raised the issue through official correspondence with overseas missions, through diaspora and family organizations, and most recently in a formal petition submitted to the National Assembly in 2025. Successive national administrations have been aware of the demand for change, but it is the current government that has moved forward to correct the long-standing legal oversight.

    Acting Prime Minister Dr. Geoffrey Hanley emphasized the government’s commitment to responding to diaspora needs in a statement on the reform. “This Bill corrects a gap that has existed since 1983 and our diaspora have asked for this for a long time, and this Administration has listened,” Hanley said. “The pathway is a defined one. An adult born after Independence whose parent or grandparent became a citizen at Independence may apply, subject to proof and security screening. It is not a general claim based on ancestry.”

    To illustrate how the reform will work in practice, government officials outlined two common scenarios that will now see resolution. In the first, a 23-year-old woman born in Hamilton, Bermuda, whose grandfather was born in Dieppe Bay, St. Kitts, was previously ineligible for citizenship: because her mother was also born in Bermuda, she did not qualify under the original constitutional rules. Under the new amendment, she will be able to apply for citizenship using her grandfather’s birth records as proof of her ancestral tie.

    In the second example, a 30-year-old man born in New York City in 1996 has a father born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1965. The father gained citizenship at independence because his own mother (the man’s grandmother) was born in Gingerland, Nevis. When the man was a minor, his father could have applied to register him, but he never did, and the entitlement expired when the man turned 18. Under the new legislation, the man can now submit an application in his own right using his father’s citizenship records.

    The Bill is scheduled to have its first reading in the National Assembly on September 18, 2026. If passed by lawmakers, the government will draft supporting regulations that outline the required application forms, supporting documentation, and processing fees. The act will go into effect on a date set by the relevant government minister, and full application details will be published before the application window opens.

    In the lead-up to the process opening, diaspora community members who intend to apply are encouraged to begin collecting and certifying their family historical and birth records. The government has reminded prospective applicants not to submit applications until the official process is formally opened.

  • Troops ready to march at 43rd Independence Parade

    Troops ready to march at 43rd Independence Parade

    As the clock ticks down to September 19, 2026, Basseterre, the capital of Saint Kitts and Nevis, is buzzing with growing anticipation for the island nation’s 43rd Independence anniversary celebration, headlined by the annual ceremonial Independence Parade. This year’s event, hosted at Warner Park Cricket Stadium and scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m., brings new elements and long-held traditions together to mark four decades of sovereign self-rule since the country broke away from British colonial rule in 1983.

    Leading the assembled marchers this year will be Captain Jervin Lapsey of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF), who takes on the role of Parade Commander for both armed and unarmed contingents. For Lapsey, this appointment holds personal significance: it marks his first time leading the national parade in eight years, and he has described the opportunity as a profound honor. Speaking ahead of the event, he shared that every participating service member has spent weeks in intensive, detailed training to perfect their drill routines, and every troop member views the chance to march on the parade square as a career-defining point of national pride.
    Beyond local uniformed groups, the 2026 parade will welcome a special international contingent: a delegation of troops from the Guyana Defence Force, who will join traditional participating units from across the nation’s public security services. These include regular detachments from the SKNDF, national police force, prison service, fire department, customs bureau, and port security division, alongside community uniformed youth groups. A fan-favorite feature returning to this year’s parade is the SKNDF 4th West India Regiment re-enactor platoon, which made its successful debut at the 2025 Independence celebration. The group will wear historically accurate period uniforms to honor the island nation’s military heritage, bringing a piece of Caribbean history to life for spectators.
    A key change made by the 2026 Independence Planning Committee has already earned widespread public praise: shifting the traditional parade from daytime to an evening time slot. The schedule adjustment first proved its popularity in recent years, drawing massive crowds and filling venue stands to capacity, and it has been retained for this year’s event.
    Acting SKNDF Commander Major Kayode Sutton has extended an open invitation to all citizens, permanent residents, and visitors in the country to attend the parade and show their support for participating troops. Sutton noted that public turnout serves as a powerful motivation for service members, particularly when loved ones are in the stands to cheer them on. “When soldiers see and know that they are being watched, especially by family members, that always motivates them to put out their best,” Sutton said, urging attendees to come cheer on the troops as they demonstrate their discipline and skill.
    This year’s national Independence celebration carries the unifying theme “One People, One Vision, Endless Possibility: Independence 43,” reflecting on 43 years of shared national progress and looking ahead to the nation’s future as a sovereign Caribbean country.

  • Liquor Licence Amendments to make licencing easier for small businesses

    Liquor Licence Amendments to make licencing easier for small businesses

    Basseterre, Saint Kitts – In a targeted move to support small and medium-sized local enterprises, the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis has tabled proposed amendments to the country’s 1990s-era Liquor Licence Act, designed to streamline the often burdensome licensing and renewal process for small business owners across the federation.

    Presenting the Liquor Licence (Amendment) Bill 2026 to the National Assembly on September 18, Acting Prime Minister Dr. Geoffrey Hanley outlined that the core goal of the legislative changes is to eliminate unnecessary administrative red tape that has disproportionately hurt small operators, including neighborhood bars, family-owned restaurants, small independent hotels, local convenience stores and other micro-enterprises that rely on alcohol sales for a significant share of their revenue.

    Under the current regulatory framework, all liquor licence holders are required to make an in-person appearance at the Magistrate’s Court every January to complete their annual licence renewal – a requirement that remains in place even when there are no public objections to renewal and no outstanding issues that require judicial review. Dr. Hanley emphasized that this mandatory court appearance carries a steep, avoidable cost for small, owner-operated businesses. “For a sole trader, a day at the Court is a day with the doors closed and a day’s takings lost,” he told lawmakers.

    The proposed reforms address two key pain points of the existing system. First, the amendments will replace the single annual January licensing sitting with four scheduled quarterly sittings held each January, April, July and October. This change eliminates the long waiting period that new businesses have previously faced: under the old rule, an entrepreneur that missed the January application window could be forced to wait nearly a full year before they could legally begin selling alcohol, delaying their business launch and cutting into potential early revenue.

    Second, for existing licence holders seeking renewal with no outstanding objections and no judicial order requiring their appearance, the amendments will remove the mandatory in-person court attendance rule. Instead, these operators will be able to collect their renewed licence directly from the Magistrate’s Court Office, skipping the need for a court appearance entirely.

    Crucially, Dr. Hanley stressed that the regulatory changes do not weaken existing public safety safeguards governing alcohol sales. All existing rules related to grounds for licence refusal, mandatory closing hours, defined offences and associated penalties remain completely unchanged. Law enforcement and members of the public also retain their full legal right to object to any new licence application or renewal request, maintaining the current system of checks on irresponsible alcohol sales.

    “This Bill is part of this government’s wider effort to make public services work for the people who use them,” Dr. Hanley said. “It saves the time of business owners. It saves the time of our Courts. And it does so without any new cost to the Treasury and without any reduction in public safety.”

    The proposed reforms were developed after months of collaborative consultation with key stakeholders, including the Office of the Chief Magistrate, the Commissioner of Police and the Ministry of National Security, to ensure the changes would function smoothly for both businesses and regulatory bodies.

    Dr. Hanley added that the amendments form one part of the government’s broader national agenda to improve the overall ease of doing business across Saint Kitts and Nevis, with a particular focus on removing barriers that hold back the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the country’s local economy.

  • Payment Systems and Services Bill, 2026, passed in National Assembly

    Payment Systems and Services Bill, 2026, passed in National Assembly

    On September 18, 2026, the National Assembly of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis approved the groundbreaking Payment Systems and Services Bill, 2026, a piece of legislation crafted to overhaul the country’s outdated legal and oversight structure for domestic payment systems and financial services.