Carib Scope

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  • Nevis’ Kymarni Newton secures Team SKN’s lone medal at CARIFTA 2026

    Nevis’ Kymarni Newton secures Team SKN’s lone medal at CARIFTA 2026

    The 2026 CARIFTA Games, held over the Easter weekend in Grenada, delivered a historic moment for tiny Caribbean federation St. Kitts and Nevis, as 17-year-old Nevisian runner Kymarni Newton secured Team SKN’s sole medal of the regional youth athletics competition.

    Competing in the hotly contested Under-17 Boys’ 800-meter race, Newton crossed the finish line to claim bronze with a stunning personal best time of 1:55.34. Beyond his spot on the podium, the young runner’s performance also broke a long-standing St. Kitts and Nevis Under-18 national record, marking a new high-water mark for his athletic career.

    Newton’s road to the 2026 podium was years in the making, and punctuated by off-track drama that tested his grit just days before the race. He first earned a spot to compete at CARIFTA back in 2024, when the Games were also hosted in Grenada, and narrowly missed qualifying for the 800m finals at the 2025 iteration in Trinidad. This year, 11 Nevisian athletes earned qualifying spots for the regional meet, and 10 ultimately made the trip to Grenada — a group that almost did not include Newton.

    In a recounting of the pre-race chaos that preceded his historic finish, the St. Kitts and Nevis Athletics Association revealed that Newton nearly missed his connecting flight from St. Kitts to Grenada after realizing he had left his passport at home. The last-minute scramble turned out to be a fitting metaphor for his entire 2026 Games journey, association officials noted.

    “Kymarni has proven that no hurdle, on or off the track, is too high,” the association said in its official congratulatory statement, highlighting how the young athlete overcame early career setbacks and last-minute travel chaos to reach the podium.

    Honourable Troy Liburd, Minister of Youth and Sports for the Nevis Island Administration, also joined in celebrating Newton’s win, noting that the runner has made his home community of Cherry Gardens, his alma mater Charlestown Secondary School, and the entire island of Nevis proud with his landmark performance.

    Newton’s medal is more than a personal achievement: it underscores the growing strength and untapped potential of Nevis’ emerging generation of young track and field athletes, who continue to hold their own against top regional competitors at one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious annual youth sports competitions.

  • NIA Celebrates Excellence, Honours Women Across Diverse Fields

    NIA Celebrates Excellence, Honours Women Across Diverse Fields

    CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS – April 7, 2026 – The Department of Gender Affairs under the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has marked International Women’s Day 2026 by celebrating seven outstanding women whose work has shaped progress across multiple sectors of Nevisian society, shining a spotlight on the enduring influence of women’s leadership and community service across the island.

    Held at the scenic Malcolm Guishard Recreational Park, this year’s award ceremony carried the official theme “Rights, Justice, Action for All Women and Girls,” as a core event in the Department’s full calendar of activities to observe the global occasion. The 2026 global International Women’s Day framework centers on the theme “Give To Gain,” which encourages individuals, community groups, and institutions to contribute tangible resources, mentorship guidance, advocacy support, and time to uplift women and girls, strengthening collective commitments to closing gender equity gaps.

    Seven women received recognition for excellence in their respective professional and community spaces. Jackie Hunkins-Taylor claimed the Women in Law Award, while Sharmyn Powell took home the honor for the Finance sector. Valerie Hendrickson was recognized for her work in Agri-Processing, Noellisa Swaby for her contributions to the Circular Economy, and Dianne Hobson for her impact on Arts and Culture. The prestigious Minister’s Award went to Leander Cornelius, and Thema Ward was honored with the special Tricia Greaux Ocean Governance Award. Unlike the appointed Minister’s Award, all other honors were selected through public nomination, meaning awardees were chosen by their own neighbors and community members who have witnessed their work firsthand.

    Honourable Jahnel Nisbett, Nevis’ Minister of Gender Affairs, opened the ceremony with heartfelt congratulations to the recipients, emphasizing that public celebration of women’s work is a critical step toward advancing equity.

    “We are here to celebrate seven amazing women who have left an indelible mark on their fields,” Nisbett remarked. “With the exception of the Minister’s Award, the entire selection process was led by the general public. The people of Nevis see your work, they see the change you’ve created, and they have chosen you to be publicly celebrated. Through the Department of Gender Affairs, we are proud to serve as the platform to honor your dedication, say thank you, and present you with your honors while you are here with us, so you can truly understand how deeply valued you are by this community.”

    Feature speaker Ayana McCalman, a practicing attorney, used her address to push back against long-held harmful gender stereotypes, calling for lasting cultural change and consistent action to embed gender equity into daily life, rather than limiting progress to symbolic one-off events.

    “It is time that we write a new reality for women across our region and the world,” McCalman said. “Women are warriors, and they deserve space to lead every single day. As we celebrate these remarkable women today, let us also reflect on how we show up for the women in our own lives, not just in the month of March, not just at award ceremonies, but in the small, everyday moments. Do we show up to support them? Do we listen when they speak? Do we invest in their goals? Do we create space for them to heal, and to lead? Because empowering women is not a single annual event – it is a culture, it is an ongoing commitment, it is a choice we have to make again and again, in our homes, our workplaces, and our communities.”

    The event marked one of the NIA Department of Gender Affairs’ most visible public celebrations of women’s achievement in recent years, bringing together community members, government officials, and family to recognize the contributions of women that often go uncelebrated in public life.

  • Government calls for responsible vending practices while supporting livelihoods

    Government calls for responsible vending practices while supporting livelihoods

    On April 7, 2026, officials from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis outlined a balanced, engagement-first policy for street vending regulation across the capital Basseterre and its adjacent neighborhoods, framing the approach as a way to support vulnerable livelihoods while safeguarding public health, environmental integrity, and urban order.

    Senator Dr. Joyelle Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, laid out the government’s position during a recent address to the country’s National Assembly, noting that unregulated unauthorized vending has emerged as a growing challenge with cascading negative impacts. These risks include unchecked environmental degradation, increased traffic congestion that disrupts daily movement for residents and visitors, and measurable public health hazards that can impact the broader community.

    Clarke emphasized that the government’s approach is rooted in collaboration rather than punitive enforcement, highlighting that the ministry prioritizes dialogue and partnership with vendors operating in unapproved green spaces. “For any vendor who has set up on greenspaces without permission, we engage several times to explain to them that this is not a place that is authorised for vending. Either it is going to create an environmental problem or traffic congestion,” Clarke stated. “We generally and in most cases, provide persons with alternatives,” she added, reinforcing the administration’s commitment to supporting vendors as they earn a living.

    Instead of relying solely on punitive measures to address noncompliance, the ministry has shifted its core strategy to proactive outreach. Officials work directly with vendors to facilitate relocation to officially designated vending zones, and provide flexible timelines and targeted guidance to ease the transition for small business owners.

    Even with this supportive framework, Clarke drew attention to ongoing problematic practices that require urgent action from vendors. Along high-traffic city corridors, improper waste disposal – particularly the dumping of coconut husks – has created ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, raising the risk of vector-borne illness and creating broader public health concerns for the surrounding area.

    “What we are saying to the vendors who are deciding to sell, you must take everything with you at the end of the day,” she stressed, calling on all vending operators to take greater personal responsibility for maintaining clean, safe vending sites that do not harm the surrounding community.

    To help vendors operate legally and sustainably, Clarke encouraged all street vendors to formally coordinate with either the Department of Physical Planning or the Department of Urban Development and Resilience to secure access to approved vending spaces. She concluded by noting that long-term sustainable livelihoods for vendors and planned, orderly urban development are complementary goals, not competing priorities, and that both must be advanced together to support the prosperity of all residents of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

  • J’keem Weste Jr. Makes Urgent Appeal for Kidney Donor to Support Life-Saving Transplant

    J’keem Weste Jr. Makes Urgent Appeal for Kidney Donor to Support Life-Saving Transplant

    For 36-year-old father J’keem Weste Jr., the chance to watch his child grow up hinges on one urgent, life-changing act: a stranger coming forward to donate a kidney. Facing end-stage kidney failure that leaves a transplant as his only shot at long-term survival, Weste has launched a public appeal to find a compatible donor who meets a key requirement: holding a valid U.S. visa. Because the transplant procedure is scheduled to take place outside the United States, only donors with active U.S. visas can complete the full pre-surgery evaluation and medical process, per the appeal. Unlike many donation scenarios that leave participants covering out-of-pocket costs for travel, medical testing, and post-procedure care, organizers behind the appeal have confirmed every expense tied to the donation will be fully covered. This provision eliminates one of the most common financial barriers that stop willing potential donors from moving forward with the process. Interested individuals can start the confidential medical evaluation process through a dedicated online portal, and organizers stress that even those who are not able to donate themselves can help by sharing the appeal across social media and personal networks. Wider distribution dramatically increases the chance of reaching a compatible, willing donor who may not otherwise see the request. For people seeking more detailed information about the process, eligibility criteria, or Weste’s story, direct contact is available via both phone call and WhatsApp messaging through the published contact channels. Medical experts and donor advocates have long emphasized that kidney transplantation remains the only clinically viable, life-extending treatment for people living with severe end-stage kidney failure. As demand for donor kidneys continues to outpace supply globally, public outreach efforts like Weste’s rely on community participation to connect patients with the donors that can save their lives. Advocates add that living kidney donation carries a low long-term risk for healthy donors, and can mean the difference between life and death for recipients waiting for a matching organ.

  • Government advances fair land transition for farmers and future homeowners

    Government advances fair land transition for farmers and future homeowners

    BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts – In a deliberate push to reconcile national development goals with the protection of vulnerable livelihoods, the Government of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis has launched a compassionate, fair land transition process that aims to support relocating agricultural workers while unlocking long-awaited homeownership opportunities for hundreds of waiting citizens.

    The initiative, which reallocates land zoned for residential development away from current agricultural use, has been structured from its inception around a people-centred approach, Sustainable Development Minister Joyelle Clarke outlined in a recent address to Parliament on March 31. Clarke, who also holds portfolios for Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, stressed that the administration has rejected rushed, uncompromising relocation that would leave farmers without critical support, while still upholding the property rights of citizens who have already paid for their residential land plots.

    According to Clarke, the Ministry of Sustainable Development has proactively engaged with all farmers occupying land marked for development through standardized, transparent outreach since July 2025, working to address concerns and identify solutions collaboratively. The process is already underway across three high-priority zones: Racecourse in Newton Ground, Cabbage Tree in Cayon, and Lemon Hill in Molineaux. In each site, government teams have worked one-on-one with affected farmers to craft tailored solutions, ranging from identifying suitable replacement agricultural land to providing ongoing agricultural support that preserves income stability. In at least one confirmed case, new land has already been secured for a transitioning farmer, ensuring they can continue their work without prolonged disruption to their livelihood.

    The transition initiative also addresses a years-long backlog for aspiring homeowners across the federation. More than 400 individuals and families have already completed payments for their allocated residential land, and have been waiting to begin construction on their homes. The government’s structured transition clears the way for these families to move forward with their long-planned property investments, expanding access to housing for local citizens as part of the administration’s broader development agenda.

    Clarke emphasized that the cross-ministerial collaboration between the Ministry of Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Agriculture underlying the process underscores the government’s core commitment to inclusive growth. “We are engaging the farmers to ensure we are not disrupting their livelihoods, but we are also allowing the almost 400 plus persons who have paid for their land… to move on to be homeowners,” Clarke explained, noting that the federation’s development progress will not leave any community behind.

    This press release was originally issued by the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS) and distributed Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

  • Jomo explains why gov’t can’t ‘settle’ case against Adriana King

    Jomo explains why gov’t can’t ‘settle’ case against Adriana King

    Prominent defense attorney Jomo Thomas has recently cleared up widespread public confusion over why the newly inaugurated Godwin Friday-led New Democratic Party administration cannot unilaterally resolve the pending criminal case against well-known educator and activist Adriana King — a question that emerged after the government greenlit a civil settlement for the family of 18-year-old motorcyclist Cjea Weekes, who died in a 2022 police pursuit crash.

    Thomas, whose legal chambers have a long track record of winning high-profile suits against the previous Ralph Gonsalves administration, first announced the settlement of the Weekes case last month during his regular weekday “Plain Talk” segment on local radio station Boom FM. The agreement came just one day before the civil trial was set to begin, a move the lawyer praised for sparing the teen’s family additional emotional strain from a public court proceeding. He also highlighted that the settlement, authorized by Attorney General Louise Mitchell on Prime Minister Friday’s instruction, marked a break from the previous Gonsalves government’s years-long refusal to settle the suit, even noting that Weekes’ mother worked at Gonsalves’ official residence at the time of her son’s death.

    Following the public announcement, the news of the settlement, first reported by iWitness News, sparked intense debate across local social media platforms, with many listeners and readers asking why the Friday administration would not extend the same resolution to King’s case. King faces criminal charges stemming from allegations she intended to block then-Prime Minister Gonsalves from accessing Parliament on August 5, 2021.

    In his recent public address on the topic, Thomas emphasized that the core difference between the two matters lies in their legal classification: the Weekes dispute was a civil wrongful death claim against the government, while King’s case is a criminal prosecution. This legal distinction changes which government body has the authority to end the proceeding, he explained.

    To contextualize the comparison, Thomas noted that civil cases, such as the Weekes suit, center on claims for financial compensation for damages, and the sitting government, through the Attorney General, has the authority to reach a settlement to resolve the claim. Criminal cases, by contrast, are brought by the state to punish unlawful conduct, and can result in prison time, suspended sentences, or permanent criminal records for convicted defendants. Only the constitutionally independent Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has the authority to dismiss criminal charges, Thomas explained, adding that the Prime Minister and Attorney General have no power to direct the DPP to drop a case, even if they wished to do so.

    Thomas went on to share his personal assessment of King’s case, arguing that when applying the two core tests the DPP uses to evaluate criminal charges — the sufficiency of evidence test and the public interest test — the case against King fails on both counts. “I don’t think there’s a public interest in that case, I don’t think there’s sufficient evidence to support the charge against Miss King,” he stated.

    A timeline of King’s case shows that the charges were initially dismissed in May 2024, when Magistrate John Ballah ruled that pursuing the charge amounted to an abuse of process. However, then-DPP Sejilla McDowall filed an appeal against the dismissal, and the appeal has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

    Thomas stressed that the DPP’s office is a constitutionally independent branch of government, so Prime Minister Friday cannot legally order the DPP to abandon the appeal. While he acknowledged that a sitting prime minister or attorney general may choose to privately communicate their position on a case to the DPP, they have no authority to force a specific outcome. “I think that we have to understand these things when we are having these conversations. Otherwise, we confuse and conflate issues, and we confuse a criminal case for a civil case,” he said.

    Thomas also pushed back against public questions over why the Weekes case was settled civilly but no criminal charges were ever filed against the police officers involved in the pursuit that led to Weekes’ death. Weekes was killed in February 2022, when he crashed his motorcycle on Twenty Hill during a high-speed police chase that began in Questelles, just over a mile from the crash site. A coroner’s inquest ruled Weekes’ death a misadventure, and McDowall previously concluded there was no basis for criminal liability. Thomas confirmed that he has formally asked current acting DPP Duane Daniel to re-examine the evidence in the case to reconsider pursuing criminal charges against the involved officers, a position he has maintained despite the previous findings.

    To correct another common misconception that only the current Friday administration settles civil claims against the government, Thomas added that the previous Gonsalves administration also greenlit settlements in other high-profile police brutality cases, including the 2008 beating of 15-year-old Jemark Jackson, who was left in a coma by officers at the Kingstown Criminal Investigation Department.

  • “Environment For Everyone” campaign tackles illegal dumping and community responsibility

    “Environment For Everyone” campaign tackles illegal dumping and community responsibility

    BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts – April 7, 2026 – A nationwide environmental protection initiative is growing in traction across Saint Kitts and Nevis, as the country’s Ministry of Environment scales up its high-profile “Environment For Everyone” campaign, a multi-agency effort designed to crack down on illegal waste dumping and embed a culture of collective environmental accountability across local communities.

    Leading the push is Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, the Honourable Senator Dr. Joyelle Clarke, who emphasized that the campaign represents a landmark cross-sector collaboration bringing together 10 distinct government and private entities. Partner agencies include the Parks and Beaches Unit, the Solid Waste Management Corporation, the S.T.E.P environmental program, His Majesty’s Prison, the Department of Public Infrastructure, the Ministry of Health, St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd., the Traffic Department, and the Ministry of Environment itself.

    Clarke explained that the expanded campaign grows out of the nation’s popular Annual Christmas Cleanup, a long-running event that has evolved into a sustained movement that integrates public service, volunteer participation, and individual responsibility for environmental stewardship. “By uniting all these agencies under one umbrella, we are directly confronting the blight of illegal dumping that disfigures our public spaces,” Clarke noted in her remarks.

    Recent targeted cleanup operations in the Beacon Heights neighborhood laid bare the full scale of the illegal dumping crisis facing the island. Intervention teams pulled tonnes of improperly discarded large waste from public green spaces, including full-sized mattresses, broken household appliances, and accumulations of single-use plastic debris – all of which had been deliberately dumped in unauthorized areas rather than taken to official waste disposal sites.

    Clarke questioned the logic of illegal dumping practices, pointing out that Saint Kitts already offers some of the lowest official waste disposal tipping fees in the region, meaning proper disposal costs households and commercial haulers almost nothing. “Why go out of your way to offload waste illegally when disposing of it properly costs next to nothing?” she asked. The minister stressed that the act of illegal dumping imposes an unnecessary financial and ecological burden on local communities, erodes the island’s natural beauty, and undermines the country’s core tourism sector, which is branded under the national slogan “Venture Deeper.”

    “Environmental protection is not just about keeping our postcard-perfect beaches clean. It requires care for every green space, every community neighborhood, and every stretch of land across Saint Kitts and Nevis,” Clarke added.

    Backed by new regulatory authority granted under the recently passed Community Beautification and Safety Bill, the campaign is now rolling out to every electoral constituency across the federation, with organizers placing heavy emphasis on grassroots citizen participation. Central to the initiative’s core message is a simple but urgent reminder: safeguarding the islands’ natural environment is not a responsibility that falls to the government alone – it requires action from every resident.

    This report is based on an official press release from the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS), distributed via SKNVibes.com.

  • Jealous man questions woman about her underwear, beats her

    Jealous man questions woman about her underwear, beats her

    A domestic violence case that unfolded in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has concluded with a legal ruling holding an abusive partner accountable for his violent actions. 32-year-old Fidel Francois, a carpenter and mason from the Chauncey community, was handed down a sentence by Senior Magistrate Tamika McKenzie at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court that requires him to pay EC$500 in immediate compensation to his 23-year-old former girlfriend Kittanna Codougan, also a resident of Chauncey. If Francois fails to meet the compensation requirement, he will face a five-month prison sentence.

    Francois entered a guilty plea to a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, which was committed in Chauncey on the evening of March 20. The court heard full details of the incident and the history of the couple’s relationship, which had spanned more than nine months marked by repeated verbal and physical conflicts that were never reported to police before the March confrontation.

    The chain of events that led to the violent outburst began when the pair returned from the capital city of Kingstown and stopped at Rasto’s Bar in the South Leeward village. Codougan gave Francois money to purchase drinks as she had promised, then returned home early to begin cleaning. When Francois arrived at the residence minutes later, he was already consumed by suspicion that Codougan had been unfaithful. He confronted her, questioned what she had been doing, blocked her path when she tried to move past him, and ultimately stepped close to smell her clothing before demanding to know where she had been and whether she was wearing underwear.

    Codougan did not respond to the invasive questions and moved to the home’s porch to escape the confrontation, but Francois followed her and attempted to force her back inside. When she refused and instead walked toward the public road, Francois grabbed her, continued demanding she return inside, and escalated to brutal violence: he shoved her into a wall, punched and slapped her across multiple areas of her body, wrapped both hands around her throat, lifted her off the ground, and pressed her against the wall. After releasing her initially, Francois fled toward the road only to return and resume the assault. He then went into the home, retrieved a nail gun and attempted to power it to threaten Codougan, and when the tool failed to turn on, he returned inside and emerged carrying an axe and other tools, threatening to kill her.

    Local law enforcement from the Questelles Police Station was contacted immediately, and officers arrived within minutes to take Francois into custody. During court proceedings, Codougan told the magistrate she requested EC$5,000 in compensation, explaining that since the choking assault, she has experienced persistent depression, frequent crying spells, and ongoing pain in her neck and back. Medical evidence presented to the court confirmed Codougan suffered visible injuries including swelling, bruising, and superficial open wounds. She also told the court she no longer feels safe around Francois, and that he returned to her home after the attack and threatened to burn the property down.

    During mitigation, Francois pushed back on some details of the prosecution’s account. He admitted to smelling Codougan’s clothing, claiming he only acted after seeing another man leave the property when he returned from the bar, and said he only slapped her after she bit his shoulder. He denied choking her, lifting her, or pushing her against a wall, as well as denied threatening to burn down the home, claiming he only returned to retrieve a forgotten mobile phone. He told the court he felt regret shortly after the incident.

    Magistrate McKenzie rejected Francois’ claims of remorse, noting she found no genuine evidence of contrition in his statements and actions. She considered imposing a six-and-a-half-month prison term, but ultimately sentenced Francois to a nine-month good behavior bond set at EC$1,000, in addition to the immediate compensation order. If Francois violates the terms of his bond, he will be required to pay the full EC$1,000 immediately or serve six months behind bars.

  • $10b Afreximbank shield for C’bean, African economies amidst Gulf crisis

    $10b Afreximbank shield for C’bean, African economies amidst Gulf crisis

    Against the backdrop of an escalating Gulf crisis that has roiled global commodity markets and supply chains since late February, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched a landmark $10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP) to buffer vulnerable African and Caribbean economies, financial institutions and businesses from the fallout of the ongoing regional turmoil. The Gulf region stands as one of the world’s most critical hubs for core global commodities: it is a leading supplier of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and agricultural fertilizers, while the Strait of Hormuz—one of the busiest and most strategically vital shipping chokepoints on the planet—carries nearly a fifth of the world’s daily oil consumption. When the crisis escalated, it sent immediate shockwaves across global trade and pricing systems, with developing economies in Africa and the CARICOM bloc disproportionately bearing the brunt of the disruption. The most severe impacts have fallen on nations that depend heavily on imports of fuel, food and fertilizers, as well as those whose trade routes rely on Gulf shipping corridors. Beyond commodity markets, the crisis has also upended foreign direct investment flows, crippled regional tourism sectors and cut off critical remittance inflows that millions of households rely on. Designed to address these overlapping vulnerabilities, the GCRP targets four core priorities to deliver immediate relief and build long-term stability. First, the program will provide urgently needed short-term foreign exchange and liquidity support to vulnerable member states, ensuring they can maintain uninterrupted imports of essential goods including fuel, LNG, food, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals. Second, it will empower African energy and mineral exporters to leverage shifting trade patterns and elevated commodity prices by expanding productive capacity for strategic raw materials, offering pre-export financing, working capital support and inventory financing to help market participants adapt to new trade routes. Third, the program delivers targeted short-term relief to member states whose tourism and aviation sectors have suffered steep losses from the crisis, helping these industries avoid permanent damage and maintain operations through the period of volatility. Finally, the GCRP includes a medium- to long-term resilience-building component, focused on expanding productive capacity for energy and mineral producers and exporters, while accelerating work on key energy, port and logistics infrastructure projects that were delayed by the crisis. Speaking on the program’s official launch on March 31, George Elombi, President and Chairman of Afreximbank’s Board of Directors, emphasized that targeted crisis response is core to the bank’s institutional mission. “We understand how our economies work and the pain points associated with these transitory crises,” Elombi noted. He added that the program will not only help African and Caribbean nations adjust smoothly to the current upheaval, but also strengthen their ability to withstand future shocks by supporting structural transformation of local economies. The GCRP is the latest in a series of timely emergency interventions rolled out by Afreximbank over the past decade. Previous initiatives have successfully helped cushion regional economies from the impact of major global shocks including the 2015/16 commodity price crash, the 2020/2021 COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023/24 Ukraine crisis, building on the bank’s established track record of rapid, targeted support for developing economies in times of global instability.

  • Tancoo, Young clash over business closures

    Tancoo, Young clash over business closures

    A growing wave of business closures is sweeping across Trinidad and Tobago, triggering a bitter political blame game between the current United National Congress (UNC) administration and the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government over who is responsible for the country’s deep economic distress. Over the past three weeks alone, multiple well-established local businesses have announced permanent shutdowns or major restructuring, marking one of the sharper downturns for the private sector in recent memory. Among the latest closures is Bick’s Auto, a long-running auto parts supplier in Penal, which announced it would shut its Penal branch and hold a liquidation sale, even giving away bulk steel components for free to clear inventory ahead of closing. Kristina’s, a beloved local shoe retailer that has operated on Port of Spain’s Frederick Street for more than 30 years, also confirmed it would close that location at the end of April. In an emotional social media announcement, the brand framed the Frederick Street outlet as more than a store, noting it had been a community hub where generations of customers built relationships and made memories. While the chain’s nine other locations will remain open, the closure of the flagship branch has been felt deeply by local shoppers. Undercover Garden Centre, a popular Santa Cruz plant and gardening retailer, is also leaving its current location to prepare for relocation, though its weekly farmers’ market will continue operation under new management. Soapmakers Paradise, a Tacarigua-based craft supply business, announced its permanent closure after more than a year of attempting to stay open amid persistent operational challenges. The company explained that repeated struggles to access sufficient foreign exchange – a long-running pain point for local import-reliant businesses – ultimately forced the decision to shut down permanently, after the business had already extended operations for a year in response to customer requests. As the closure trend accelerates, the country’s top political figures have traded sharp accusations over which administration created the crisis. Current Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo placed full blame on the previous PNM government, arguing that the outgoing administration’s flawed economic policies left the current government with an economy that had contracted by 20% when the UNC took power nearly a year ago. When asked directly for a message to struggling small business owners fighting to stay open, Tancoo declined to comment directly on their plight, instead hitting out at local media for failing to hold the prior PNM administration accountable for its economic mismanagement. He pushed back against critical coverage of the current government’s performance, claiming that the UNC has already rolled out a series of pro-growth policies that will drive a future economic resurgence, and argued that media outlets continue to ignore the lasting damage of 10 years of PNM rule. Former prime minister Stuart Young, representing the opposition PNM, rejected Tancoo’s claims and turned the blame back on the current UNC administration led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Young argued that the UNC’s own policy decisions have devastated the economy: he pointed to the government’s decision to lay off more than 40,000 public sector workers and sweeping tax increases implemented in the administration’s first national budget, which have left households with less disposable income and driven sharp increases in the cost of living. Young noted that small businesses are not just struggling, but closing at record rates, with bars and restaurants hit particularly hard by what he described as “inhumane” new tax policies. He also condemned Tancoo for hosting a celebratory government event amid widespread economic hardship, calling it a slap in the face to tens of thousands of struggling families who face food insecurity. Independent economic analysis has framed the current wave of closures as an expected growing pain amid a long, slow transition period for Trinidad and Tobago’s energy-reliant economy. Leading local economist Dr. Roger Hosein explained that persistent foreign exchange shortages, a core challenge that has forced multiple businesses to close, are a temporary issue tied to the country’s current energy production cycle. Hosein noted that while the next two and a half years will remain difficult for businesses, a gradual economic recovery is expected starting in 2027, when the new Manatee gas field and other small natural gas projects come online. The International Monetary Fund, which recently completed an official visit to the country, has also projected a gradual growth pickup between 2027 and 2030, which should ease foreign exchange constraints as energy export revenues rise. Hosein added that if proposed cross-border energy projects, including the Dragon gas field and development of Venezuelan gas reserves for processing in Trinidad and Tobago, move forward, the recovery will be even stronger. In the near term, he advised struggling businesses to prioritize survival strategies, including targeted cost cutting, expanded marketing and networking to boost sales, and hold on until improved economic conditions arrive.