Carib Scope

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  • 15-y-o Vincy sailor makes debut at World Championships

    15-y-o Vincy sailor makes debut at World Championships

    Emerging sailing talent Kai Marks-Dasent from St. Vincent and the Grenadines has marked a major milestone in his burgeoning athletic career, competing in his first-ever senior youth World Championship and earning his place among the youngest competitors in the 15 to 18-year-old age division.

    The 9-day championship event, which ran from August 11 to 19 in Denmark, saw the young sailor secure 74th position in the tightly contested Under-17 fleet, and finish 290th in the overall rankings across all entered competitors. Notably, Marks-Dasent traveled directly to the Danish venue immediately after competing at the Central American and Caribbean Games hosted in the Dominican Republic, pulling off a demanding back-to-back racing schedule that tested his endurance and mental grit.

    Racing in the ILCA 6 class, the young competitor turned his first world stage appearance into a valuable learning opportunity, going head-to-head with the most promising young sailing talent from across the globe. Reflecting on the experience after the event, Marks-Dasent emphasized the steep learning curve he navigated throughout the championship. ‘Going to two regattas back to back and racing in winds up to 30 knots was a real challenge, but I learnt a lot and I can see what I need to work on to become a better sailor,’ he shared.

    Industry observers and sailing insiders frame this debut as a foundational first chapter in what many hope will be a long and successful international sailing career. With three full years of eligibility remaining to compete in this age division, Marks-Dasent has ample time to refine his technique, accumulate high-stakes racing experience, and climb the rankings on the global youth sailing circuit.

    The rising star already has his next major competition locked in: the World Sailing Youth World Championships, set to kick off in Portugal this coming December. There, he will once again line up against the world’s top youth sailors, getting another critical opportunity to test his skills against elite international competition and advance toward his long-term development objectives.

    For Marks-Dasent, every race is a step toward his ultimate career dream: representing St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. This landmark debut, far from being the end goal, is just the opening stretch of what he and his team hope will be a path to Olympic competition.

  • Bangladesh kiest regeringsveteraan Alamgir als nieuwe president

    Bangladesh kiest regeringsveteraan Alamgir als nieuwe president

    Bangladesh’s parliamentary body has elected veteran Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the country’s new president, filling the vacancy left by former president Mohammed Shahabuddin’s early resignation over declining health.

    The 78-year-old ruling party leader secured a clear victory in Thursday’s vote, garnering 255 votes against 88 cast for his challenger, 84-year-old retired colonel Oli Ahmed. Ahmed, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, ran as the candidate of an 11-party opposition coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami.

    Speaking ahead of the parliamentary vote, Alamgir outlined his core vision for Bangladesh: a prosperous, equitable nation where even marginalized communities and daily wage laborers can reliably afford two meals a day, according to Bangladesh’s official news agency BSS.

    Alamgir’s ascent to the presidency comes nearly 18 months after the BNP returned to national power, following the 2024 collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government amid widespread youth-led protests. The BNP won a two-thirds parliamentary majority in February 12 general elections, after which the party appointed Tarique Rahman to the post of prime minister.

    Shahabuddin, who was elected in 2023 during the Awami League’s final term in office, stepped down in late July due to ongoing health complications. Under Bangladesh’s constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 90 days of a vacancy occurring to fill the role.

    While the Bangladeshi presidency is largely a ceremonial position, the officeholder serves as the country’s head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, giving the role symbolic and institutional significance in the nation’s political structure.

    Alamgir’s political career began at the University of Dhaka, where he emerged as a leading figure in the 1969 student uprising against Pakistani military rule. During Sheikh Hasina’s successive Awami League governments, he was detained repeatedly on multiple occasions, detentions he has long described as politically motivated. Over his decades in public service, he has held a range of cabinet portfolios, including Minister of Local Government, Agriculture, Civil Aviation, and Tourism.

    In the wake of the 2024 uprising that ousted the Awami League, Hasina fled to neighboring India, but the former prime minister has publicly announced plans to return to Bangladesh this coming December.

    Political analysts view Alamgir’s election as marking a new chapter in Bangladesh’s post-transition political history, as the country continues to realign its power balance between competing political parties and leadership blocs following the 2024 transfer of power.

  • Authors launch ‘I Do Not Consent: The Vincentian Chapter of the COVID-19 Plandemic’

    Authors launch ‘I Do Not Consent: The Vincentian Chapter of the COVID-19 Plandemic’

    On August 13, two Vincentian writers, Shefflorn Ballantyne and Ann-Marie Ballantyne, celebrated the official in-person launch of their provocative new work *I Do Not Consent: The Vincentian Chapter of the COVID-19 Plandemic* in Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This launch marked the fulfillment of a public promise the pair made more than seven months earlier, when they released the Kindle digital edition of the book online on November 19, 2025. That release date was carefully chosen to align with the fourth anniversary of the controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate rolled out in 2021 by the then-ruling Unity Labour Party administration, with the authors committing from the start to host a formal public launch in 2026.

    During the well-attended launch event, themed “Be a Part of the Conversation,” the Ballantynes walked attendees through the multi-year process of researching and writing the book, explaining what drove them to take on the project. The core of their work centers on collecting and sharing firsthand accounts from Vincentians who were directly penalized for refusing to comply with the 2021 mandate, which resulted in hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs.

    The authors described the profound emotional weight of interviewing dozens of affected people who agreed to share their experiences for the book. “To hear how families’ lives had been disrupted, parents separated from their children to sustain their household, children’s university studies cut short, people forced to give up their homes or leave them in a state of disrepair, teachers reduced to selling snacks or provisions on the street just to make ends meet, was heartbreaking,” they shared.

    They added that even more devastating were the accounts from families who lost loved ones or saw loved ones suffer permanent health damage they attribute to the COVID-19 vaccine. “Worse still were the stories of those who were injured or died from the jab, leaving children behind and their families in grief and hardship,” they said. The authors also criticized the former government’s response to the hardship, saying: “In the face of all that suffering, we had a callous government, with a prime minister rubbing salt in our wounds by justifying the mandate even after evidence was available that the jab was unsafe and ineffective, and who was still insisting that workers had abandoned their jobs.”

    The launch featured special guest addresses from several prominent local figures, including SVG Teachers’ Union President Fiona Charles-Williams, immediate past union president Oswald Robinson, and Anesia Baptiste, Associate Director of the Thusian Institute for Religious Liberty Inc. Baptiste used her remarks to share new details drawn from recent revelations in Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recently released private diary, noting that the new disclosures further reinforce the authors’ opposition to the vaccine mandate and the vaccine itself. Baptiste emphasized that the book fills a critical gap, saying it serves three key purposes: “record, history and inspiration.”

    Following the formal remarks, attendees joined in an open, candid discussion where many shared their own personal experiences under the 2021 mandate. Common stories included being locked out of workplaces indefinitely and feeling coerced into taking the vaccine to avoid losing income required to pay home mortgages.

    One high-profile attendee was newly appointed acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Brenton Smith, who himself was among the hundreds of public sector workers dismissed for refusing the vaccine. In a Facebook post after the event, Smith shared that the evening was a deeply moving experience that stirred long-buried painful memories. “The evening was well attended, but for me, it was much more than a book launch. As the authors gave their historical account and reflected on the experiences surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, many painful memories came flooding back,” Smith wrote. “There were moments when I felt I needed to step outside simply to compose myself, yet I did not want to miss a single word. I was reminded of the insults, humiliation, uncertainty and hardship that many persons endured, including members of my own organisation.”

    Smith echoed the authors’ assessment of the mandate’s far-reaching harm, adding: “People were placed in extremely difficult circumstances because of their decision not to comply with the vaccine mandate. Families were affected, livelihoods were disrupted, careers were interrupted, and relationships within workplaces were deeply strained.” He extended his congratulations to the Ballantynes for completing and launching the work.

    As an interactive event designed to center survivor voices, the launch closed with the authors encouraging attendees to continue sharing their stories and keep the conversation about the mandate’s legacy going in communities across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

  • Marvin: Don’t go public

    Marvin: Don’t go public

    The People’s National Movement (PNM), Trinidad and Tobago’s long-standing 70-year-old political party, has drawn a firm line against public airing of internal factional disputes, after one of its sitting Members of Parliament went public with unaddressed concerns over irregularities in his home constituency.

    Marvin Gonzales, chairman of the PNM, issued a formal public warning this week that the national party leadership will refuse to engage in open, public back-and-forth exchanges over internal conflicts between party members. The statement came in direct response to public complaints posted to Facebook by Brian Manning, the PNM MP for the San Fernando East constituency, who outlined a series of unaddressed grievances about local party operations that he said had not been resolved through internal channels.

    At the core of Manning’s criticisms is overlapping leadership held by Patricia Alexis, who serves simultaneously as San Fernando East constituency chairman, the PNM’s assistant national general secretary, a San Fernando East delegate to the party’s General Council, and a sitting member of the party’s national Central Executive. Manning said rank-and-file constituency members have raised concerns that this combination of senior roles at both the local and national level could undermine impartial decision-making when constituency issues are reviewed at the national party level.

    Manning also questioned the outcome of a recent constituency executive election, noting that an unpublicized vacant position was filled by a candidate little-known to long-standing constituency members who reportedly has close personal ties to Alexis. Local members have characterized this appointment process as non-transparent and inconsistent with the PNM’s written constitution, according to Manning. The MP further added that many constituency members have grown increasingly uneasy over the unexplained affluence of some sitting members of the local constituency executive, a concern he brought to the national party’s attention.

    Contrary to Manning’s claims that the party had failed to address his complaints, Gonzales outlined the steps the national leadership has already taken to resolve the dispute internally. He confirmed that back in July 2026, after receiving formal correspondence from both Manning and Alexis, the PNM General Council convened an independent inquiry team with clearly defined, pre-approved Terms of Reference to investigate all raised issues related to the San Fernando East constituency.

    The inquiry has already concluded its evidence gathering phase: the appointed team met separately with both Manning and Alexis, accepted formal statements and testimony from the pair and their respective witnesses, and ultimately submitted a full written report with detailed findings and actionable recommendations to the party leadership. That report has already been reviewed by the PNM’s Central Executive and full General Council, Gonzales said, and implementation of the report’s recommendations is already underway, with the internal resolution process ongoing.

    Gonzales emphasized that the PNM, as a democratic political movement with seven decades of service to Trinidad and Tobago, has long navigated internal disagreements between members. He noted that tensions between parliamentary representatives and local constituency executives are not uncommon, particularly in the period immediately following internal constituency elections.

    Rejecting calls for public adjudication of the dispute, Gonzales argued that open public exchanges of accusations and counter-accusations do nothing to resolve the underlying challenges facing the San Fernando East constituency. “They risk prejudicing the process, damaging individual reputations and undermining the very institutions upon which all members must ultimately rely,” he cautioned. He called on all party members to respect the PNM’s constitution and internal processes, and refrain from publicly debating matters that are already under formal review by the General Council.

    “For seven decades, our strength as a movement, has rested on respect for the Party’s structure and processes, on allowing all parties to be heard and on recognising that our institution must remain stronger than any individual disagreement,” Gonzales said. He gave a formal assurance that the national party leadership and General Council remain fully committed to working collaboratively with Manning, Alexis, and all San Fernando East constituency members to reach a fair, lasting resolution to the current dispute.

    “The Party will not be drawn into publicly adjudicating allegations concerning individual members while that work continues,” Gonzales reaffirmed. He added that the PNM has endured for 70 years because generations of members have understood that the organization as a whole is bigger than any individual or any single disagreement, and that every member serves as a temporary steward of the party’s larger mission. While differences of opinion and strongly held beliefs are inevitable, Gonzales said all members bear a responsibility to resolve disputes through fair, disciplined process that upholds mutual respect for fellow members and the party itself. “The Leadership of the People’s National Movement remains committed to doing exactly that,” he concluded.

  • Cudjoe defends East Indian acts at event

    Cudjoe defends East Indian acts at event

    Amid public and political backlash over the decision to integrate East Indian performance acts into the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2024 African Emancipation Day celebration series, the institution’s top governing leader has remained firm in his choice, announcing the inclusive programming model will return for next year’s event.

    Speaking to journalists on Tuesday following the funeral service of celebrated Trinidadian artist and author Willi Chen, held at the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in San Fernando, Executive Chairman of UTT’s Board of Governors Professor Selwyn Cudjoe laid out his unwavering stance on the controversial programming choice. In the lead-up to this year’s national African Emancipation Day observances, UTT staged its sold-out signature event *Uhuru: Celebrating Freedom* at Port of Spain’s National Academy for the Performing Arts. The lineup featured established African Caribbean performers including Patrice Inglesbirth, the Onilu Brothers, Dr Edward Cumberbatch and Nkosi Waldron, alongside East Indian music and dance pieces presented by the Shiv Sangeet School of Music and choreographer Susan Mohip. The mixed lineup quickly drew criticism from opposition political figures and social media users, who pushed back against centering non-African traditions in an event dedicated to commemorating the end of chattel slavery.

    Cudjoe pushed back against this criticism, noting that inclusive framing of Emancipation programming is not a new or unprecedented concept. Instead of focusing solely on the historical divides between Trinidad and Tobago’s two largest descendant groups, Cudjoe argued that the country’s shared histories of exploitation demand recognition of overlapping struggles. “There were similarities in Indian indentureship and slavery,” he explained. “Indians had to get permission to leave the estates, blacks had to do the same thing. So, we had many similarities and we said how we going to have a celebration of Emancipation, we wanted to bring in both the parties.” Cudjoe questioned what harm could come from centering collective struggle in the pre-Emancipation celebration, emphasizing that the core goal of the event was to highlight shared experience: “What we want to do, to say that we had similar experiences, and if you’re going to overcome, we got to do it together. So that’s what we were trying to do.” Dismissing the backlash as “propaganda nonsense,” Cudjoe reaffirmed that the inclusive format would return in 2025, challenging critics to outline a concrete harm from the programming. “This nonsense about you got to stay apart and I don’t like you…” he said, rejecting calls for racial segregation in public cultural programming. He pushed back against debates over which community suffered greater trauma, noting that both systems of forced labor inflicted profound intergenerational harm that extended far beyond physical violence: “Working together does not take away the competitive pain; who get more pain, was slavery worse than indentureship, who cares? They were very both bad against the mind…The problem of slavery is not what it did to your backs and the scars, it’s what it did your mind.” The core mission of a university, Cudjoe added, is to educate, liberate, and expand public consciousness, a mandate that prioritizes bridging divides over enforcing separation.

    Beyond the Emancipation Day controversy, Cudjoe also shared his perspective on two major current policy issues facing Trinidad and Tobago: proposed new data centre development and ongoing public sector wage negotiations. On the topic of data centres, Cudjoe argued that the country cannot cling to outdated economic or social models to avoid progress, noting that all large-scale development carries both benefits and risks. While acknowledging legitimate concerns about potential environmental harm from the projects, he called for a balanced assessment that prioritizes national interest: “There are strengths and balances and there are weaknesses… we need to balance of the good and the bad, and see how we can arrive at something that is best for the country…You can’t want progress without ploughing the field.” On the demand for a 10% wage increase for public workers, Cudjoe noted that while worker demands are legitimate, any final agreement is constrained by government fiscal capacity. He expressed confidence that negotiators will reach an amicable resolution, whether through direct cash payments or structured bond agreements, emphasizing that the current administration is negotiating in good faith despite limited public coffers: “A million demands can be made but unless the Government has the money, you have to wait and see how best they can distribute what they have for you… I think that the Government is acting in its best faith but the money is not there.”

  • PM mum on top cop’s leave

    PM mum on top cop’s leave

    A cloud of uncertainty has hung over Trinidad and Tobago’s national security establishment this week after Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro took unannounced emergency leave to travel outside the country, with senior government officials refusing to disclose the specific circumstances behind his sudden departure.

    Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who also serves as chair of the country’s National Security Council (NSC), reaffirmed on yesterday that classified national security interests would prevent any public release of details surrounding Guevarro’s trip. The Prime Minister confirmed that the top law enforcement official completed all required administrative protocols before leaving the jurisdiction, adding that she received full briefings both ahead of his departure and following his return to the country.

    Guevarro himself broke his silence on the matter earlier this week with a publicly released audio statement, offering a high-level explanation for his absence without revealing sensitive details. He stated that the trip was prompted by undisclosed information received on August 10 from the director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) and the head of the Special Branch. Following this intelligence, Guevarro submitted an application for five days of emergency leave to Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, who approved the request. The commissioner added that official documentation of his leave was properly forwarded to the Police Service Commission (PolSC) as required by regulation.

    The opposition has raised sharp questions about Guevarro’s sudden absence, specifically criticizing the failure to appoint an acting commissioner of police to fill the role during his time out of the country. Guevarro pushed back against these claims in his audio message, rejecting assertions that his unplanned leave created a leadership crisis within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). He clarified that the appointment of an acting commissioner falls outside the mandate of the TTPS or the sitting commissioner, noting that the process is legally defined and managed by relevant statutory bodies.

    After returning to Trinidad and Tobago, Guevarro completed required debriefings with both the NSC chair and the Homeland Security Minister, and has since declined to answer any additional questions about the trip, directing all further enquiries to the two senior officials. Both Persad-Bissessar and Alexander have refused to comment on the triggering circumstances of the leave, while PolSC chairman Dr Wendell Wallace has not responded to repeated attempts by reporters to reach him for comment since Sunday.

    To clarify the legal framework governing acting appointments for the police commissioner post, the process is laid out explicitly in Section 123 of Trinidad and Tobago’s Constitution. Unlike routine administrative roles, the TTPS cannot automatically appoint an interim commissioner when the substantive holder leaves the country. Instead, the PolSC holds the constitutional authority to nominate a candidate for acting commissioner or deputy commissioner. Under subsection 3 of Section 123, the PolSC must forward the nominated name to the President of Trinidad and Tobago, after which the President issues an official notification of the nomination. This notification must then receive approval via an affirmative resolution from the House of Representatives before the acting appointment can go into effect.

    This formal process was followed most recently in October 2025, when Guevarro traveled to Denver, Colorado, to attend the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference and Exposition. For that scheduled five-day trip, the PolSC nominated Deputy Commissioner Junior Benjamin to serve as acting commissioner, with Assistant Commissioner Curt Simon nominated to act as deputy commissioner in Benjamin’s place. The President’s notification of the nominations was tabled in the House of Representatives on October 10, and parliament ultimately approved both acting appointments, with government MPs explicitly noting the appointments were necessary to cover Guevarro’s authorized travel.

    Currently, the House of Representatives is in scheduled recess and is not set to reconvene until September, creating a procedural gap that would prevent the approval of any acting appointment even if the PolSC moved forward with a nomination. This context has deepened opposition questions over why the emergency leave proceeded without prior arrangements for interim leadership, even as government and law enforcement officials continue to cite national security confidentiality to avoid releasing details of the trip.

  • ‘The Express never forgets’: Bassant, Kissoon win CBU awards

    ‘The Express never forgets’: Bassant, Kissoon win CBU awards

    Georgetown, Guyana – At the 37th annual Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Media Awards held Wednesday night, two veteran journalists from Trinidad and Tobago’s Express newspaper claimed top regional honors, while two additional reporters from parent company CCN earned special recognition for impactful work across public interest and children’s rights beats.

    Senior multimedia investigative journalist Mark Bassant took home the award for Best Print Item for his deeply reported exposé *The $440 Million LifeSport Rip-Off*, published by the Express. Bassant, a longtime correspondent for CCN TV6 who has built his career on unpacking public corruption, organized crime and other underreported issues of public concern, also earned a special mention for his televised investigative series *LifeSport Secrets Revealed*, which aired on CCN TV6. Both works probe the long-controversial $440 million LifeSport program, reigniting public and official scrutiny of one of the region’s highest-profile public spending scandals.

    This latest win marks Bassant’s 10th CBU Media Award, capping a decades-long decorated regional journalism career that has also seen the reporter face intimidation and threats for his unflinching investigative work. For Bassant, this recognition carries unique personal weight: he dedicated the two honors to his mother, who passed away in February of this year.

    “This one was very special to me because I dedicate that win to my mother who passed earlier this year in February. When I was working on this piece, we spoke briefly in November of last year, when her health was a little bit better then. I really wanted to dedicate that tenth CBU award to my mother’s memory,” Bassant said in comments after the ceremony.
    Bassant explained he returned to the LifeSport story years after initial reporting because core questions about the program’s mismanagement, alleged ties to gang figures and use of non-existent “ghost” companies remained unanswered. “There’s always room to find out more. I realised there was more to this story rather than just what we saw on the surface. If something has not been revealed 20 years later, it still becomes a story, and one that turned out to be quite powerful,” he said. The investigation required painstaking review of a 72-page official document to structure findings accessible to general readers.
    In the wake of his win, Bassant emphasized the urgent need for expanded investigative journalism across the Caribbean, framing the work as a core function of the press as a fourth estate. “Investigative journalism, more so than normal news, is needed in this region. We need more investigative journalists across the region to come out and be there to expose things, to shine a light on things that people need to know about. We definitely have to hold those persons or government or businesses accountable,” he added.

    The second Express journalist to claim a CBU award was Carolyn Kissoon, head of the outlet’s South Bureau, who won Best Item on a Children’s Rights Issue – sponsored by the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area Office – for her feature *Mariah’s Painful Life and Brutal Death*. The report investigates the short life and tragic death of 12-year-old Mariah Seenath, who was found dead in September 2025 after she went missing while walking a familiar bush path from her home in Friendship Village, Ste Madeleine, to her grandmother’s residence.

    Kissoon said the child’s death hit her personally, driving her to investigate the systemic failures that preceded Mariah’s death. “This bothered me terribly. There were too many unanswered questions, and too few people who seemed to care to get the answers,” she said. She returned multiple times to the community, conducting interviews with Mariah’s family, school officials and local residents to piece together the full context of her life. The reporting exposed devastating systemic and personal hardship: Mariah lived in severe poverty, missed school regularly because she could not afford taxi fare, went extended periods without adequate food, and faced repeated allegations of domestic abuse. The story also raised critical questions about the failure of social protection authorities to intervene to protect the child.
    For Kissoon, the award is a bittersweet honor. “Truthfully, I would give up this award if it meant Mariah never having to suffer this way. It is far more bitter a feeling than a sense of accomplishment,” she said.
    Alongside the two category wins, two additional CCN journalists earned special mentions for their work. Khamarie Rodriguez, a past CBU award winner, received recognition in the Best Investigative Item category for her piece *The AI Revolution and Elections*, which examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and regional democratic processes. Rodriguez expressed gratitude for the recognition at a time of widespread industry pressure. “As journalists, we face challenges both within and outside of our newsrooms every day that can very easily overwhelm. It is encouraging that amid those vast challenges, the CBU has set aside the time and resources to give a nod to the exceptional work being done by dedicated reporters,” she said, celebrating her fellow winners’ work.
    Broadcast journalist Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh of CCN TV6, also a past CBU award recipient, earned a special mention in the Best Item on a Children’s Rights Issue category for her reporting on the need for accessible youth vacation programs. Raghubar-Teekersingh called the regional recognition “an absolute honour,” noting “I dedicate myself to every story with an open mind, keen attention to detail and compassion, so to have my work acknowledged at the regional level for highlighting children’s rights issues is deeply rewarding.” She added that journalism has a unique power to “move audiences, drive meaningful change, and inspire future policies.”
    CCN multimedia editor Richard Charan said the collection of honors reaffirms the enduring value of truth-centered, public-facing journalism across the region. “There are still journalists who, on behalf of our readers, will go out there and find the truth, without distortion, without lies and without a slant. These awards are a reminder that good journalism still matters,” Charan said. “They are a reminder that there are journalists willing to do the hard work, ask the difficult questions, and hold people and institutions to account. And most importantly, they are a reminder to everyone, that the Express never forgets.”
    Hosted during the CBU’s Annual General Assembly at Georgetown’s Hyatt Regency, the 2025 37th CBU Media Awards recognized excellence across all segments of Caribbean media, with 92 total winners honored across 56 categories spanning print, digital, television, radio and photography. The 2025 awards were held under the theme “Caribbean Media and AI,” reflecting the region’s growing conversation about technological transformation in journalism. By the end of the ceremony, Barbados emerged as the top-performing country with 15 category wins and eight special mentions, while Trinidad and Tobago secured six category wins and nine special mentions overall.

  • Jogi: AML-Taskforcevoorzitter krijgt SRD 100.000 per maand

    Jogi: AML-Taskforcevoorzitter krijgt SRD 100.000 per maand

    A Surinamese parliamentarian has sparked public debate by calling on the government to clarify unusually high monthly compensation packages for members of newly established state committees and special units, including a presidential anti-money laundering task force. Mahinder Jogi, a member of the National Assembly from the VHP party, raised the question during a plenary session Thursday, questioning the staggering pay increases compared to similar anti-money laundering bodies formed in previous years. At the center of the controversy is the Anti-Money Laundering Task Force (AML-TF), created by a presidential decree signed by President Jennifer Simons on August 10, 2026. According to the official text of the decree, the task force chair, Jennifer van Dijk-Silos, will receive a monthly expense stipend of 100,000 Surinamese dollars (SRD), with each of the four other appointed task force members earning 80,000 SRD per month. The pay scale, which far outpaces compensation for past comparable roles, has drawn sharp scrutiny from opposition and ruling coalition lawmakers alike. Jogi pointed out that just a few years ago, officials serving on similar anti-money laundering commissions and working groups received between 10,000 SRD and 15,000 SRD per month, a fraction of the current stipends. He recalled that even decades ago, public controversy erupted over far lower compensation packages for a former prosecutor general who led an earlier anti-money laundering unit, leaving many wondering why the dramatic increase is justified today. The newly formed task force will operate from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, with an option for extension, and falls directly under the Office of the President in her role as chair of the national Anti-Money Laundering Steering Council. Its core mandate is to prevent Suriname from being added to international anti-money laundering blacklists. The South American nation is currently in an enhanced international monitoring process for its anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation frameworks, and must demonstrate measurable progress on technical compliance, enforcement effectiveness, and institutional implementation to avoid punitive blacklisting. In addition to the chair and four members, the decree also sets pay for support staff: a secretary earns 65,000 SRD per month, and two administrative support staff each receive 55,000 SRD monthly. Technical advisors, if added, would also earn 80,000 SRD per month under separate contracts. All operational costs, including stipends, are charged to the national budget of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. The total fixed monthly payroll for the task force’s core team already comes to 595,000 SRD, not including any additional costs for technical advisors that may be hired. The AML-TF’s responsibilities include cataloging all outstanding regulatory obligations, reviewing existing and draft anti-money laundering legislation, identifying gaps in current implementation, developing a national action roadmap, reporting bottlenecks directly to the president, and publishing regular progress updates. The task force is granted broad authority to request information directly from government departments, semi-public agencies, state-owned enterprises, and private sector business associations, though access to confidential or legally restricted information requires explicit presidential approval. The decree also imposes strict controls on external communication: all substantive media statements from the task force must first be reviewed and approved by the president. Jogi has formally asked Finance and Planning Minister Adelien Wijnerman to provide full detailed information on the compensation scheme to the National Assembly, to answer the core question of whether a new presidential unit is indeed paying its members five to 10 times more than equivalent prior bodies. VHP parliamentary leader Asis Gajadien has echoed Jogi’s request, noting that he has also been shocked by reports of inflated stipends for multiple new state committees. Gajadien pointed out that many similar commissions previously received less than 25,000 SRD per month total, yet today individual members are receiving more than 75,000 SRD per month with no corresponding increase in the scope or difficulty of their assigned duties. Beyond transparency for the AML-TF, Gajadien is demanding the government release a full public overview of all active anti-money laundering bodies and committees operating under Suriname’s existing legal framework, including details on which bodies are currently operational, which new bodies have been added in recent months, and what compensation each serving member receives.

  • LETTER: Concern Raised Over Nurse Shortages at Antigua and Barbuda Community Clinics

    LETTER: Concern Raised Over Nurse Shortages at Antigua and Barbuda Community Clinics

    A concerned citizen from Antigua and Barbuda has sounded the alarm over a deeply flawed management failure that has left community clinics across the country grappling with crippling nurse shortages, despite a recent high-profile initiative to recruit 100 nursing professionals from Ghana to address the crisis.

    The whistleblower, who shared their experience in an open letter to the editor, recounts being turned away from their local community clinic for the third time due to an absence of available nursing staff, forcing them to seek care at an alternate facility. Determined to test whether this was a one-off occurrence, the citizen conducted an independent on-the-ground survey of five community clinics spread across the island, and what they found paints a troubling picture of systemic mismanagement.

    Across all five facilities, critical understaffing remains the norm. Patients are regularly turned away for basic care or forced to travel long distances to access services, and nearly all clinics only operate during narrow standard working hours, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, limiting access for working residents. The most glaring contradiction uncovered by the investigation centers on the 100 newly recruited Ghanaian nurses: despite being brought in specifically to solve the existing staffing shortage, none have been deployed to fill the empty shifts at local clinics.

    According to information obtained by the citizen, the hold-up stems from a basic logistical failure: the government has failed to arrange transportation for the new recruits to travel to and from their assigned clinic locations, even for nurses who live within close proximity of their posts. This explanation has sparked outrage over unfair treatment of local nursing staff, who have long been required to cover their own commuting costs and arrangements without any government-provided transport support.

    The citizen has outlined three urgent questions that demand a public response from national healthcare administrators and Health Minister Michael Joseph. First, why was critical transportation infrastructure not arranged and finalized before the recruited nurses arrived in the country? Second, is official transport provided to local nursing staff, or is this special privilege reserved exclusively for foreign recruits, creating a two-tier system that puts additional burden on locally employed nurses? Third, how are public healthcare funds being managed when a costly investment in international recruited staff is left idle, while community clinics continue to turn away patients due to empty positions?

    The open letter emphasizes that recruiting international healthcare workers to strengthen the national health system represents a major public investment. But without sorting out basic logistical support ahead of time, and by creating unfair double standards between foreign and local nursing personnel, the initiative has done nothing to improve care for waiting citizens or ease the workload on overstretched local staff. The citizen is calling on Minister Joseph to immediately address this administrative bottleneck, enforce equal treatment for all nursing staff regardless of origin, and get the newly recruited nurses into understaffed community clinics so that facilities can deliver the basic care that Antigua and Barbuda residents depend on.

  • Jermaine Jarvis Wins Big in Flow’s Riddim Hour Pop the Balloon Challenge

    Jermaine Jarvis Wins Big in Flow’s Riddim Hour Pop the Balloon Challenge

    In an exciting display of luck and quick reflexes that captivated listeners across the region, Jermaine Jarvis has walked away as the big winner of Flow’s highly anticipated Riddim Hour Pop the Balloon Challenge. The interactive on-air contest, a signature segment of the popular Riddim Hour programming block hosted by Flow, has drawn thousands of participants since its launch, combining musical entertainment with the thrill of a high-stakes game for fans of all backgrounds.

    The challenge, which has become a weekly favorite for radio audiences, works by inviting registered listeners to call in during the designated Riddim Hour slot, where they must correctly identify a snippet of a popular reggae or dancehall riddim before moving on to the main event: popping a virtual balloon to reveal their prize. Jarvis, a long-time fan of the program who has entered the contest multiple times over the past six months, earned his spot in the final draw after correctly identifying a classic 90s dancehall riddim that stumped three other callers before him.

    When he popped his balloon, the grand prize was revealed: a cash reward of $10,000, a year of free mobile service from Flow, and a brand-new home entertainment system worth an additional $2,000. In an interview immediately after his win, an elated Jarvis shared that he had been listening to Riddim Hour every week with his coworkers during their lunch break, and never expected that his persistence would pay off in such a big way.

    Flow’s marketing team has announced that the Riddim Hour Pop the Balloon Challenge will continue through the end of the year, with new prizes added each month to keep the competition fresh for returning and first-time participants. Industry observers note that the interactive contest has been a major success for Flow, boosting listener engagement and growing the brand’s connection with local music communities across the Caribbean. The company has already hinted that future editions of the challenge could include even larger grand prizes as it seeks to maintain its position as a leading supporter of regional riddim and dancehall culture.