Carib Scope

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  • Man granted bail after denying assault, threat charges

    Man granted bail after denying assault, threat charges

    A 29-year-old man from St. George has been released on $3,000 bail following a court appearance this week, where he pleaded not guilty to a series of serious charges connected to an incident with law enforcement in Barbados earlier this year. Darren Ian Johnson, who resides in the Middleton neighborhood of the parish, entered not guilty pleas to all four counts brought against him by the prosecution. The charges stem from a May 27 altercation at the Constitution River Terminal, a busy public location in the capital Bridgetown.

    The first two counts relate to Johnson’s interaction with Sergeant Jerison of the Barbados Police Service: he is accused of resisting the officer while the sergeant was carrying out his official law enforcement duties, and intentionally assaulting the officer in a manner that caused actual bodily harm. Third, Johnson is charged with using threatening language toward the sergeant, specifically telling the officer that he would kill him if the sergeant placed hands on him. Prosecutors allege this statement was made with the explicit intent of making the officer believe immediate unlawful violence would be used against him. The final count accuses Johnson of illegally carrying an offensive weapon in a public space: prosecutors say he was in possession of a flick knife without lawful permission or any reasonable justification.

    During Wednesday’s court hearing, no objections to bail were raised by the prosecution, leading the judge to grant Johnson bail set at $3,000. The defendant is represented by local defense attorney Neville Reid. The case has been adjourned to allow for further procedural preparation, with the next court date scheduled for September 2.

  • NISSS clarifies no transaction fees for self-employed payments

    NISSS clarifies no transaction fees for self-employed payments

    Growing public confusion surrounding transaction fees for national insurance contributions has prompted the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) to issue a formal clarification addressing widespread misconceptions that emerged after the rollout of its updated digital payment options for self-employed workers.

    In an official statement released to media outlets, the agency emphasized that no contribution transaction fees of any kind are charged to self-employed contributors, regardless of whether they submit payments in person at physical offices, through the digital Surepay platform, or via the EZpay+ service. To resolve the most common point of misunderstanding, NISSS explained that the $0.30 per-transaction convenience fee charged by Surepay only applies to over-the-counter cash and cheque transactions, and this small charge never applies to self-employed national insurance contribution payments processed through the platform.

    The statement also drew a clear distinction between third-party convenience fees and legislated retroactive contribution surcharges, a second point that sparked public discussion. Under the terms of the National Insurance and Social Security (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, a 5% annual statutory surcharge is mandatory for all retroactive contributions covering previous income years. This surcharge applies equally to all payment methods, both in-person and digital, and is not a fee imposed by NISSS itself, but a legal requirement laid out in legislation.

    To illustrate how the surcharge works, NISSS provided concrete examples for contributors: for the 2025 income year, the 5% surcharge will only apply to contributions submitted after January 15, 2026. For 2024 income year contributions, a 10% cumulative surcharge (two years of 5% annual increases) will apply to any payments made after the same January 15, 2026 deadline.

    For the upcoming 2026 income year, the agency confirmed that the regular payment window runs from January 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027, and no retroactive surcharge will apply to any contributions submitted within this period.

    In additional news related to payment infrastructure, NISSS announced that it is on track to join the second phase of the BIMpay digital payment platform next month. The agency has been working closely with the Central Bank of Barbados to meet all technical and regulatory requirements needed to process contribution payments and disburse benefit payments through the new system. Further details about the onboarding process and available features will be released to the public once preparations are finalized.

  • Regional music rights organization to hold 15th Annual General Meeting in June

    Regional music rights organization to hold 15th Annual General Meeting in June

    The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc., a regional collective management group that represents music creators and rights holders across the subregion, has formally announced plans to host its 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in St. Lucia next month. In a public press release issued by the organization, officials confirmed that the in-person gathering will be complemented by a virtual participation option for members who cannot travel to the host venue, allowing remote attendance via the Zoom video conferencing platform.

    Founded to bring together music writers and publishers from across the Eastern Caribbean, ECCO’s core mandate is to manage global music copyright licensing for public and commercial use across all broadcast and digital platforms. The organization collects royalties on behalf of its member creators and rightsholders, ensuring that creators are compensated fairly when their work is performed or reproduced publicly.

    While a range of operational and strategic governance matters will be addressed during the one-day AGM, the most high-stakes item on the meeting’s agenda is a set of leadership elections to fill vacant board director positions across multiple regional territories and membership classifications. The open seats span all corners of the Eastern Caribbean: one Writer/Director position each will be contested for Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Additionally, five Writer Director seats and two Publisher Director seats representing host territory St. Lucia will be up for election.

    ECCO has outlined clear deadlines and requirements for members seeking to stand for the open director positions. All completed nomination forms must be submitted to the organization’s headquarters located at Maurice Mason Avenue, Sans Souci, Castries, Saint Lucia no later than 10:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Submissions may be delivered either in person to the office or sent electronically to the dedicated email address [email protected] Per ECCO’s rules, every nomination form must carry the signatures of both the nominating member (a writer or publisher matching the nominee’s classification) and the nominee themselves, as formal confirmation that the candidate agrees to serve on the board if elected.

    For members who plan to miss the AGM entirely, whether in person or virtually, the organization has also set rules for proxy voting. To allow an authorized representative to vote and conduct business on their behalf during the meeting, completed proxy forms must be submitted to the ECCO office — either physically or via email — by 10:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, June 18, 2026, one day after the nomination deadline.

    The AGM is officially scheduled to kick off at 10:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 20, 2026, at the Burke King Conference Room in Castries’ Sans Souci district. Meeting organizers confirmed that registered virtual attendees will receive their unique Zoom access link after completing their registration for the event.

  • Antigua and Barbuda to Pray for Safe Hurricane Season at National Thanksgiving Service

    Antigua and Barbuda to Pray for Safe Hurricane Season at National Thanksgiving Service

    As the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season approaches, the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is uniting communities through faith and preparedness, scheduling a national Thanksgiving church service this Sunday to mark the start of the high-risk weather period. Even with leading meteorological agencies predicting a milder than average storm season, weather experts are continuing to emphasize that all residents must maintain caution and complete pre-season emergency preparations.

    The Antigua and Barbuda Meteorological Service has formally extended an open invitation to all residents to attend the 2026 National Hurricane Season Thanksgiving Church Service, scheduled for 4 p.m. local time on May 31 at the Bible Speaks Seventh-day Adventist Church. This annual gathering carries the 2026 theme “A Nation Prepared, A People Protected”, designed to weave together spiritual faith, collective gratitude, and public awareness of hurricane readiness as the country enters the official June 1 to November 30 storm window.

    Event organizers note that the intercessory service will give worshippers and community members space to express gratitude for safety in past seasons, seek divine guidance, and pray for widespread protection over the coming months of active weather. This yearly tradition is a core component of Antigua and Barbuda’s holistic hurricane preparedness strategy, aligned with practical public safety campaigns across the Caribbean’s hurricane-prone zones.

    The lead-up to this year’s service comes alongside a new forecast from the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which projects a below-normal 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. NOAA’s official outlook estimates 8 to 14 named storms will form over the season, with 3 to 6 strengthening into full hurricanes, and 1 to 3 reaching Category 3 status or higher — classified as major hurricanes that bring catastrophic wind and storm surge damage.

    According to NOAA’s probability breakdown, there is a 55% likelihood of the season falling below historical activity averages, a 35% chance of near-normal activity, and just a 10% chance of an above-average, highly active season. Forecasters attribute the projected reduced activity to the expected development of El Niño conditions in the Pacific, which are known to create wind patterns that suppress tropical storm formation and strengthening across the Atlantic basin.

    Even with this encouraging long-term outlook, senior weather officials have repeatedly stressed that a lower projected number of storms does not erase the threat of destructive hurricane landfalls. A single powerful hurricane hitting a vulnerable coastal community can cause widespread loss of life, destroy infrastructure, and disrupt livelihoods for years, regardless of how many other storms form over the full season.

    In line with this warning, meteorological and emergency management experts across the Caribbean continue to urge all residents of at-risk areas to update their household emergency plans, stock up on non-perishable food, water, medical supplies and other critical emergency goods, and remain alert for official weather updates throughout the entire hurricane season. The national Thanksgiving service, organizers say, reinforces this message of proactive preparation while bringing communities together in collective hope ahead of the storm season.

  • Tropical Weather Outlook: Friday, 29 May 2026 (8 am)

    Tropical Weather Outlook: Friday, 29 May 2026 (8 am)

    Meteorological authorities from the Meteorological Services, MBIA, in partnership with the Grenada Airports Authority (GAA), have issued an official update on tropical weather activity across the Tropical North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. The forecast highlights a developing tropical wave marked for monitoring within the zone of special interest spanning 10 – 20 °N latitude and 40 – 65 °W longitude.

    The system, a broad tropical wave, currently sits with its central axis along 51°W, positioned south of 15°N. As of the latest advisory, the disturbance sits roughly 628 nautical miles east of the Lesser Antilles island chain, tracking steadily westward at a forward speed of between 15 and 20 knots. Following current trajectory models, the wave is on track to reach the island of Grenada between Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. Forecasts predict the system will bring increased cloud cover and scattered to widespread showers across the island during that window.

    Beyond this monitored disturbance, forecasters confirm that no additional tropical cyclone development is anticipated across the entire monitoring basin over the next 48 hours. The next official advisory update on the tropical wave’s progress is scheduled for release at 2 pm local time.

    This public weather advisory is issued by the combined Meteorological Services, MBIA and Grenada Airports Authority, with distribution via NOW Grenada. NOW Grenada notes it assumes no responsibility for contributor content included in public advisories, and invites users to report any suspected content violations through official platform channels.

  • ECCAA Staff Working Overtime to Help Region Regain Category 1 Status

    ECCAA Staff Working Overtime to Help Region Regain Category 1 Status

    The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) has entered a period of intensified preparation for a pivotal International Aviation Safety Assessment reassessment by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with all full-time staff now working six-day weeks to get ready for the review that could restore the region’s coveted Category 1 aviation safety status.

    Director General Anthony Whittier publicly outlined these accelerated efforts during Thursday’s inauguration ceremony for ECCAA’s newly expanded headquarters at V.C. Bird International Airport, where he emphasized the regulatory body’s full commitment to meeting every FAA requirement ahead of inspectors’ arrival. “Right at this moment, our teams across the organization are putting in extra hours six days a week to cross every t and dot every i,” Whittier told the assembled audience of regional government and aviation stakeholders.

    This stepped-up work schedule comes on the heels of the successful completion of an extended FAA technical assistance initiative, during which 19 key findings for improvement were identified by U.S. aviation officials. Whittier confirmed that every single one of these findings has now been fully resolved and formally closed, clearing the procedural hurdle for ECCAA to submit an official request for the long-awaited reassessment.

    Per Whittier’s announcement, the FAA notified ECCAA of the technical assistance phase’s conclusion on May 12, with the regulator given the option to move forward with either a preliminary technical review or the full reassessment. ECCAA submitted its formal request for the full reassessment on that very same day, marking a key milestone in a process that nearly ground to a halt after an earlier round of work wrapped up in 2024.

    Following the stall, Whittier said ECCAA leadership held successful negotiations with FAA officials to restart the assessment timeline, highlighting the progress the small regional regulator had already made and arguing for the need to bring the ongoing process to completion. As part of those negotiations, Whittier made two formal commitments to the FAA: first, that the authority would not call for inspectors to arrive until it was fully prepared, and second, that all required regulatory systems, safety protocols, and supporting documentation would be fully organized and accessible when the review team landed.

    Whittier used the ceremony to highlight the extraordinary effort of ECCAA’s small but dedicated workforce, noting that the organization’s limited staff often take on multiple overlapping core functions, from drafting regional aviation regulations and issuing industry certifications to conducting routine safety inspections and upholding ongoing oversight responsibilities across the area of operation.

    A successful outcome of this reassessment ranks as one of ECCAA’s highest-priority initiatives at present, regional aviation leaders confirmed at the event. Regaining Category 1 status is expected to drastically boost international confidence in the Eastern Caribbean’s aviation oversight system, creating a more stable foundation for sustained growth in air travel and connectivity across the region’s six participating Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) member states. The opening of the expanded headquarters itself underscores the growing role of the regional regulator in upholding consistent safety and security standards across the Eastern Caribbean’s aviation sector, officials noted during the ceremony.

  • Antiguan Keondre Herbert Awarded Prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

    Antiguan Keondre Herbert Awarded Prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

    In a remarkable achievement that highlights the global reach of early-career scientific talent, Antiguan biomedical engineering scholar Keondre Herbert has earned a spot in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s highly competitive Graduate Research Fellowship Program – one of the most coveted honors for emerging graduate researchers in science and engineering fields across the nation.

    This year’s selection process drew more than 14,000 applicants from across the United States, with only 2,500 top candidates advancing to receive the award. Beyond the national recognition that comes with this honor, the fellowship provides three full years of financial support to fuel promising early-career researchers as they pursue advanced graduate work.

    Herbert, who completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering with a specialized neuroengineering concentration at Columbia University in 2024, cut his research teeth working in Dr. Barclay Morrison’s campus laboratory, where he investigated the underlying biological mechanisms that drive damage from traumatic brain injury. Following his graduation, he took on a role as a research associate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, working in the lab of Dr. Peter Rudebeck. There, his current research leverages macaque electrophysiology and advanced neuroimaging to explore how deep brain stimulation can be adapted to treat common, debilitating psychiatric conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder.

    This coming fall, Herbert will move to Baltimore to begin his doctoral studies in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where he will continue building his research portfolio focused on translational neuroengineering. His NSF fellowship will provide critical financial backing for his PhD work, which centers on advancing clinical neuromodulation therapies. Herbert’s long-term research goals include deepening scientific understanding of how these treatments alter brain function, and refining the technologies to make them more effective and widely accessible to patients who need them.

    The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is designed to identify and uplift graduate students who show extraordinary potential to make transformative contributions to scientific research. Applicants are evaluated on two core criteria: their demonstrated intellectual merit, and their existing contributions to active scientific inquiry. For the 2024 award cycle, Herbert was one of just six current and graduating students from Columbia University’s Biomedical Engineering department to earn this prestigious honor.

  • 10 orderlies to receive specialised training

    10 orderlies to receive specialised training

    The Caribbean island nation of Grenada is taking tangible steps to upgrade its mental health care system, starting with a targeted skills development program for frontline support staff at the country’s only psychiatric treatment facility.

    Ten orderlies currently working at St. George’s-based Mt Gay Psychiatric Hospital will begin a specialized Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) Level 2 training course by the end of May, Mental Health Minister Delma Thomas confirmed during this week’s sitting of Grenada’s Lower House of Parliament. Thomas framed the six-month initiative as a dual investment: it will both improve the quality of care for at-risk, vulnerable mental health patients across the country, and raise the professional competencies of frontline workers who interact with these patients daily.

    Managed by local training provider La Boucan Training Centre and greenlit by Grenada’s Ministry of Mental Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs, the full program carries an estimated price tag of EC$81,600. In addition to funding the training itself, Grenada’s Cabinet has approved an additional EC$42,000 allocated to stipends for participating trainees, a measure designed to reduce financial barriers and help all participants complete the program successfully.

    “This initiative represents an important investment in human resource development and the improvement of care services for some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Thomas told parliament.

    The training program forms just one part of the government’s broader, long-term overhaul of the national mental health sector. Over the coming weeks, officials will launch a series of external stakeholder consultations to gather input on two landmark policy documents: a new National Mental Health Policy and a dedicated Suicide Prevention Policy. The first consultation session is scheduled to open Tuesday, June 2 at the Deluxe Cinema in Grenville, located in the parish of St Andrew. The sessions are being held in partnership with a technical advisor from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the UN regional health agency for the Americas.

    According to Thomas, the multi-stakeholder consultations will bring together mental health providers, civil society groups, public health officials and community partners to advance a national conversation centered on three key goals: expanding access to quality mental health services, strengthening evidence-based suicide prevention strategies, and boosting public awareness of mental health challenges across Grenada. Beyond improving service delivery, Thomas noted that the new policy framework is intended to advance the government’s commitment to ending the social stigma that often prevents people living with mental health conditions from seeking and accessing the care they need, and building a far more inclusive, supportive national community for all those affected.

  • Fernandez: ECCAA Headquarters Reinforces Antigua’s Role as Aviation Hub

    Fernandez: ECCAA Headquarters Reinforces Antigua’s Role as Aviation Hub

    On Thursday, Antigua and Barbuda celebrated the official inauguration of the expanded Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) headquarters located at V.C. Bird International Airport, a milestone that government officials say will solidify the island nation’s standing as the Eastern Caribbean’s preeminent aviation hub.

    Addressing attendees at the opening ceremony, which drew senior government officials, key aviation industry stakeholders, and regional diplomatic representatives, Charles Fernandez — the country’s Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation and Investment — emphasized that the regional regulator’s long-term presence in Antigua and Barbuda is a powerful testament to the widespread confidence in the nation’s aviation infrastructure and governance.

    “Having ECCAA’s headquarters based here in Antigua and Barbuda speaks volumes about the trust the region places in our country and our growing aviation sector,” Fernandez noted during his remarks. “This expansion only reinforces our position as a strategic connectivity and regulatory hub across the Eastern Caribbean.”

    Far from being just a construction project, Fernandez framed the addition of the new headquarters wing as a visible marker of the steady growth and ongoing modernization of civil aviation across the entire Eastern Caribbean. Over the past decade, the regional aviation sector has shifted dramatically: passenger volumes have climbed steadily, commercial airline networks have expanded into new markets, and regulatory requirements for safety and security have grown more stringent, creating new demands for governing bodies.

    The ECCAA serves as the primary regional aviation regulator, holding responsibility for safety oversight, security enforcement, and regulatory compliance across six member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Fernandez reaffirmed the Antigua and Barbuda government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring the authority has the modern infrastructure, resources, and institutional support needed to fulfill its critical regulatory mandate across the OECS bloc.

    Beyond supporting the regional regulator, Antigua and Barbuda is advancing an aggressive strategy to expand its overall airlift capacity, with active negotiations already underway to secure new direct air routes from the United Arab Emirates, Latin America and South America. As the nation pursues these ambitious connectivity goals, Fernandez stressed that strong regional institutions like ECCAA become ever more critical to long-term success.

    “Safe, consistently regulated aviation systems are non-negotiable for the sustainable growth of the air transport sector, and that is exactly what ECCAA delivers,” he added.

    The minister also offered public praise to ECCAA Director General Anthony Whittier and the entire authority staff, highlighting their commitment to upholding strict global regulatory standards for years while operating out of cramped, inadequate facilities at their former Nugent Avenue location before the relocation to the V.C. Bird International Airport campus.

    Looking ahead, Fernandez pledged the Antigua and Barbuda government would continue to back future expansion initiatives for the authority, noting that rising aviation activity across the Eastern Caribbean will require ECCAA to steadily scale up its operational capacity and service offerings to meet growing demand.

    ECCAA leadership echoed that outlook following the official opening, confirming that the upgraded facility will streamline internal operations, cut bureaucratic delays, and boost the authority’s ability to deliver consistent, effective safety and security oversight across all six of its OECS member states.

  • A Force to Be Reckoned With: Carty and Willock Join Forces for Employees

    A Force to Be Reckoned With: Carty and Willock Join Forces for Employees

    Workers across Antigua and Barbuda now have access to a powerful new ally in the fight against workplace injustice, as two seasoned veterans of industrial relations and employment advocacy have joined forces to defend employees facing unfair treatment at the hands of employers.

    The new partnership brings together Anderson Carty, a widely respected figure in industrial relations, and Javonson Willock, an experienced employment and human resources consultant – both of whom bring first-hand, hard-won knowledge of the toll drawn-out workplace disputes can take on individual workers. Carty first made his name in legal circles with a landmark unfair dismissal case that began when he was fired from his role while out on vacation. His fight for justice wound its way through every tier of the national legal system, from the Industrial Court to the Court of Appeal, and ultimately reached the Privy Council. Today, his case remains a cornerstone of legal and policy discussions around exemplary damage awards in unfair dismissal proceedings across the region.

    Willock, too, brings personal experience of systemic workplace injustice to the new partnership. He has long spoken openly about his own six-year battle against unfair employment action, which began when he was pressured to resign over unproven misconduct allegations. At the time, he was repeatedly denied access to the evidence the allegations were based on, despite multiple formal requests. What followed was years of legal wrangling, which ultimately ended with multiple court rulings ruling in his favor. That experience, Willock says, gave him an unfiltered look at the gap in support for ordinary workers navigating disciplinary claims, unfair pressure and formal workplace investigations.

    In a recent statement, Willock emphasized that their shared personal experiences navigating high-stakes workplace disputes have given both men unique insight into the multi-layered burden these conflicts place on employees. Beyond the legal costs, workers face crippling emotional stress and long-term professional damage that often goes unrecognized by institutions and employers alike. “It is because of those experiences that we have chosen to combine forces to advocate on behalf of employees who believe they have been treated unjustly,” Willock explained.

    While the pair prioritize amicable, out-of-court resolutions whenever possible to reduce the strain on workers, they have made clear they will not shy away from vigorous legal action when employers refuse to adhere to basic labour standards. “The requirements of the Labour Code and good Industrial Relations practice are not optional,” Willock noted, adding that the pair intends to hold employers fully accountable when they show blatant disregard for established labour protections.

    Industry observers note that the new partnership marks a shift toward more assertive, worker-centered advocacy in key areas of workplace conflict, including unfair dismissal, disciplinary disputes, workplace victimization, and systemic breaches of labour law. For workers in Antigua and Barbuda who have previously felt overwhelmed, intimidated, or out-resourced when confronting employers on their own, the collaboration fills a critical gap in available advocacy and representation services, expanding access to justice for marginalized and disadvantaged workers across the country.