Carib Scope

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  • Four schools on the move for major upgrades

    Four schools on the move for major upgrades

    Barbados’ Ministry of Education has announced a major, year-long infrastructure upgrade project that will require relocating students from four primary schools for the 2026–2027 academic year, while wrapping up a separate round of facility improvements ahead of the upcoming 2024 school term starting Monday. Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman confirmed the long-term plans during a Friday press conference, noting that the relocation decision follows routine summer facility inspections carried out as part of the ministry’s ongoing nationwide school infrastructure improvement program.

    Blackman named the four affected campuses as Good Shepherd Primary, Saint Paul’s Primary, Milton Lynch Primary and Eagle Hall Primary. Chief Education Officer Dr. Ramona Archer-Bradshaw outlined the detailed temporary placement plan for all impacted students: At Good Shepherd, nursery through Infants B students will move to Eden Lodge Primary; Classes 1 and 2 will hold classes at Trent’s Resource Centre, and Classes 3 and 4 will relocate to the John the Baptist Church. All students from Eagle Hall Primary will be temporarily hosted at Lawrence T. Gay Primary School.

    For Saint Paul’s Primary, Reception and Class 1 students will attend classes at Bay Primary, while students in Grades 2 through 4 will move to Luther Thorne Primary. At Milton Lynch Primary, Reception through Class 1 students will be hosted at St Christopher Primary, and older students in Grades 2 through 4 will take classes at St Dominic’s Roman Catholic Church.

    Officials emphasized that the multi-million dollar upgrades are designed to transform the four schools into safer, more modern, inclusive and climate-resilient learning facilities. A public statement from the ministry outlined the full scope of planned works, which includes full roof replacement and structural repairs, upgrades to structural steel frameworks, the addition of new emergency exit staircases, installation of accessible, gender-inclusive restroom facilities, construction of covered outdoor learning spaces, new security guard posts, purpose-built classrooms for inclusive education programs, overhauls of outdated electrical and plumbing systems, replacement of old windows and doors, full interior and exterior repainting, improvements to school grounds and athletic fields, installation of new large-capacity water storage tanks, and structural upgrades to bring the campuses into full compliance with Category 1 hurricane shelter standards.

    Alongside the long-term 2026–2027 project, the ministry is currently putting finishing touches on a separate round of upgrades for 13 schools, scheduled for completion ahead of the new school term starting this Monday. The 13 schools included in this summer’s immediate upgrade cycle are Blackman and Gollop Primary, A. DaCosta Edwards Primary, All Saints Primary, Roland Edwards Primary, St James Primary, St Stephen’s Primary, Hilda Skeene Primary, Bayley’s Primary, Christ Church Girls’ Primary, Hillaby Turners Hall Primary, St George Primary, Grantley Prescod Memorial Primary and Deacons Primary.

    A Barbados TODAY on-site inspection Friday found campuses across the island already preparing for student arrival. School staff were documented deep-cleaning kitchen appliances, sanitizing classroom furniture, pressure-washing exterior walkways and restocking classroom supplies, while construction teams conducted final safety inspections and walkthroughs to confirm all works meet regulatory standards.

    Specific on-site checks confirmed that repainting and kitchen upgrades at Blackman and Gollop Primary are fully complete. At St George Primary, the full roof replacement project has been finished, along with a full renovation and repainting of the school assembly hall. Grantley Prescod Memorial Primary has completed a full building repaint, replacement of damaged hall and corridor ceilings, and construction of a new auxiliary wing to host students from the Wilkie Cumberbatch Infants Department. At Deacons Primary, workers have applied a fresh coat of paint across the campus, and finished replacing the roof and windows on the school’s east wing.

  • Traffic relief measures set for school reopening

    Traffic relief measures set for school reopening

    As Barbados prepares for a surge in road traffic tied to the approaching start of the new academic year, a comprehensive cross-agency traffic management plan featuring short, medium and long-term interventions has been submitted to the national Cabinet to address persistent congestion issues, Transport and Works Minister Kirk Humphrey has announced. The plan was developed following a coordination meeting bringing together senior leaders from law enforcement, education and transport sectors, and was presented to the public Friday alongside Education Transformation Minister Chad Blackman.

  • Unicef: 20 miljoen kinderen per jaar slachtoffer van online seksueel misbruik

    Unicef: 20 miljoen kinderen per jaar slachtoffer van online seksueel misbruik

    A landmark new UNICEF report has exposed a devastating global crisis of online sexual abuse and exploitation targeting children, revealing that more than 20 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 across 21 nations have fallen victim to digital sexual harm.

    The five-year study, conducted between 2020 and 2025, draws its findings from surveys completed by more than 21,000 active child internet users across four regions: Eastern and Southern Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. The 21 nations included in the research are Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Armenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Pakistan. Researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with 100 young survivors to contextualize the survey data.

    The report quantifies the staggering scope of the problem: an estimated 20 million children across the studied countries experience some form of online sexual harm every year. Breakdowns of the data show 15 million children are exposed to unsolicited sexual content, 9 million are coerced into sexual conversations or pressured to share explicit images of themselves, and 4 million have had their private explicit images distributed without their consent.

    Social media platforms have emerged as the primary vector for this abuse, with more than 60 percent of all reported incidents occurring on major platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. These platforms not only enable predators to easily contact children, but also facilitate non-consensual image sharing, blackmail, and the permanent spread of abusive content across the internet.

    One of the most alarming findings of the study is the extremely low reporting rate for this abuse: fewer than 1 percent of all cases are ever brought to the attention of law enforcement or support services. UNICEF identifies multiple barriers that keep children silent: many young victims do not recognize their experience as abuse, many do not know where to turn for help, and many fear stigma or retaliation for coming forward. In many regions, formal support agencies are also inaccessible or feel intimidating to vulnerable children.

    Nighat Dad, executive director of the Pakistan-based Digital Rights Foundation, notes that harmful platform design choices actively enable abuse by giving predators tools to operate undetected. Features such as unmoderated private messaging, easy content resharing, and workarounds for user blocks make it extremely difficult to stop abuse before it escalates. Cultural factors also play a major role: in many communities, deeply ingrained cultural norms around honor discourage survivors from speaking publicly about their experiences.

    Gender norms also exacerbate the crisis, the report confirms. For girl survivors, widespread stigma and victim-blaming create overwhelming pressure to stay silent. For boy survivors, harmful cultural narratives that frame boys as inherently self-reliant leave them feeling they must handle abuse alone, often under threat of exposure. These normalized harmful gender norms make it far harder for children to identify abuse and reach out for support.

    The long-term harms of digital sexual abuse are severe and life-altering. The study finds child survivors are four times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and engage in self-harm, and face drastically higher rates of chronic anxiety. In some countries, including Mexico and North Macedonia, the risk of suicidal ideation among survivors is eight times higher than among children who have not experienced abuse. Abuse permeates every aspect of children’s daily lives, undermining their academic performance, eroding their personal relationships, and causing lasting damage to their mental health.

    UNICEF is calling for urgent, coordinated action from governments and major technology companies to address this growing crisis. The organization urges social media platforms to redesign their services to prioritize child safety, implementing stronger mandatory age verification, more robust parental control tools, and stricter moderation of private interactions. Beyond policy changes for platforms, UNICEF emphasizes that communities must work to reduce the stigma that keeps children silent. Parents, schools, and local community groups all have critical roles to play in building safe, supportive digital environments for young people.

    Experts point to the recent $18 billion legal settlement reached by Meta over claims the company harmed children’s mental health and safety as evidence that meaningful change to platform design is possible. In response to growing regulatory and public pressure, Meta has already implemented new safety measures, including default private accounts for teen users and restrictions on unsolicited contact from adult strangers. A Meta spokesperson noted that the UNICEF report draws largely on data collected before these new protections were put in place, and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to combating child abuse on its platforms and collaborating with law enforcement to prosecute offenders.

    UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell summarized the urgency of the crisis in closing: “These numbers lay bare a painful truth. More than 20 million children are facing sexual exploitation and abuse in the digital spaces where they learn, play, and connect with friends. The emotional damage is profound, and too many children are suffering in silence, unsure where to turn for help. We cannot look away from this crisis.”

  • Where Did $150K Go? Immigration Audit Moves to Treasury

    Where Did $150K Go? Immigration Audit Moves to Treasury

    A public financial investigation into more than $150,000 in unaccounted funds from Belize’s Immigration Department has entered a new phase this week, with auditors shifting their inquiry to the national Treasury Department to obtain critical missing financial documentation. The probe, which was launched back in late June at the formal request of the Ministry of Immigration, is being led by the Office of the Auditor General to trace the whereabouts of the missing public funds.

    According to Auditor General Maria Rodriguez, the investigation hit a procedural hurdle early on when immigration management failed to produce the required original receipts and internal financial records that would normally be held on-site by the department. These documents, which are standard for tracking public expenditure and revenue, were not available when auditors first conducted on-site examinations of the Immigration Department’s finances, forcing the investigative team to look elsewhere for corroborating records.

    “Our team was unable to get the necessary receipts directly from Immigration management, so we have had no choice but to approach the Treasury Department and the Accountant General’s Department to pull the official copies of these records,” Rodriguez explained in a public update on the inquiry. “Right now, our investigative team is on location at the Treasury Department gathering the financial documents that should have been stored and maintained by the Immigration Department itself.”

    Instead of relying on the internal documentation that should have been retained by the ministry, auditors are now working with the duplicate financial records that are routinely submitted to and stored by the Accountant General. Rodriguez confirmed that these official cross-agency records hold the key to unlocking what happened to the $150,000 as the investigation moves forward.

    This is not the first step taken by the Auditor General’s Office to unpack the case. Early in the probe, a specialized team was deployed directly to the Immigration Department to conduct a full review of its financial operations and pinpoint how the public funds went missing in the first place. Rodriguez also noted that the investigation is not limited to a single person; auditors are actively examining whether multiple individuals may have been involved in the disappearance of the funds, expanding the scope of the inquiry to unpack all potential contributing factors.

  • Universal Breakfast Programme to launch in public primary, nursery schools next week

    Universal Breakfast Programme to launch in public primary, nursery schools next week

    A landmark universal breakfast initiative for public primary and nursery school students is set to launch this Monday, crafted to deliver balanced nutrition that fuels classroom focus without overtaxing young learners, Education Transformation Minister Chad Blackman has announced. Framing the rollout as a long-awaited milestone for public education, Blackman detailed the program’s core mission and preparations during a recent press briefing, addressing public questions about future expansion to secondary education.

    Unlike large, heavy morning meals that can leave students drowsy during lessons, Blackman explained that nutrition experts have carefully calibrated portion sizes and menu options to keep children alert and energized through their first classes of the day. “This will not be a massive breakfast that sends kids off to sleep mid-lesson,” he told reporters. “The menu that the team has put together is so well-designed, I even joked that I wish this program had existed when I was a primary school student.”

    Blackman emphasized that the program goes far beyond simply providing free food to enrolled students; its core goal is to close nutritional gaps that often leave food-insecure children unable to concentrate on their studies, setting them up for academic success from the moment they arrive at school. The rollout marks the culmination of years of public demand for modernization of the national school feeding system, he added, noting that his ministry has worked systematically to restructure and upgrade the School Meals Department to deliver consistent, high-quality meals across all public educational institutions.

    “For years, we’ve heard public calls to revamp the school meals system. We’ve all been through primary school, and we’ve listened closely to what communities want: a modern, improved service that meets student needs,” Blackman said. “This breakfast program is just the first step; our goal is to lift the entire school meals framework into a new era of quality and accessibility.”

    In response to questions about food insecurity and financial hardship among secondary school students, Blackman clarified that existing support systems for at-risk secondary students will remain fully in place as the government reviews options for expanding the universal program to older grade levels. Currently, the School Meals Department already provides targeted breakfast access for secondary students who demonstrate need, and ongoing public consultations have identified broader demand for universal access at the secondary level. No final policy decision on expansion has been made, but the ministry is conducting a full review of student needs across all age groups, Blackman said.

    The minister also highlighted that long-standing public-private partnership programs that currently provide breakfast to vulnerable secondary students will continue operating uninterrupted while the government formalizes a broader national policy. “These community and private partners have been doing critical work to address nutritional gaps for years, and they will continue to collaborate with us to support secondary students as we map out the next steps,” he stated. “I want to give the entire public full assurance: the ministry and the broader government are committed to ensuring every student, whether in primary or secondary school, has access to the adequate nutrition they need to thrive.”

    Closing the briefing, Blackman reaffirmed that all infrastructure and preparations are complete for the Monday launch, with universal access ready to roll out immediately across every public primary and nursery school in the country. “We’ve left no stone unturned to make sure this program is ready to serve our kids, and to create a more comfortable, supportive learning environment for both students and teachers alike,” he added.

  • Cabinet Gives BEL Green Light for More Generation

    Cabinet Gives BEL Green Light for More Generation

    Belize’s national government has given formal approval to an emergency declaration that clears the way for Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), the country’s main power utility, to launch procurement for additional electricity generation capacity. The approval comes in response to a projected significant supply gap that BEL projects will emerge over the coming 12 months.

    In an official press statement, Cabinet emphasized that the decision is a pre-emptive measure designed to guarantee the nation has adequate power reserves to meet rising consumer and commercial energy demand, while preserving the reliability of the national grid that millions of Belizeans depend on daily.

    The policy action arrives after weeks of widespread disruptions to power service across the country, including consecutive blackouts and scheduled nationwide load shedding. These crises were triggered when Mexico’s state-owned power utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) cut back the volume of electricity it exports to Belize, a key source of supplemental power for the Central American nation.

    Earlier this week, Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Chief Executive Officer of Belize’s Ministry of Public Utilities, outlined the formal forecasting and approval process that led to the Cabinet’s decision. He explained that long-term energy demand planning is a core responsibility for BEL, as the utility must continuously track available domestic generation capacity against projected consumption growth.

    “As energy demand keeps climbing, advance forecasting is non-negotiable,” Almendarez noted. “BEL has to maintain a clear, up-to-date picture of all available domestic power generation and supply sources at all times.”

    According to Almendarez, BEL regularly produces both annual and five-year demand projections, drawing on decades of historical consumption data to build accurate models of future energy needs. Once these projections are completed, the full dataset is submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Belize’s independent energy regulator, for formal review.

    “It is not just a simple notification to the regulator; we provide the full dataset that lays out current supply levels and projected demand clearly,” Almendarez explained. “After the PUC completes its review, it does not send its recommendation directly back to BEL. Instead, the commission forwards the assessment to the Minister of Energy, because emergency generation declarations fall under the authority of the full Cabinet, not the regulatory body.”

    With Cabinet’s formal approval now secured, BEL can immediately move forward with the process of contracting new generation capacity to close the projected supply gap and prevent extended future power disruptions across the country.

  • New Electricity Tax Relief Takes Effect

    New Electricity Tax Relief Takes Effect

    In a direct move to address widespread public anger over growing cost-of-living struggles, the Belizean government has activated a major expansion of sales tax relief for residential electricity users, with the new policy taking full effect on September 1. The Cabinet has formally signed off on raising the monthly GST exemption threshold for home electricity bills from $100 to $200, a change that officials project will deliver direct financial relief to more than 91,000 households across the country.

    This expanded exemption covers 96% of all residential electricity accounts in Belize, bringing relief to the vast majority of domestic consumers. The original $100 threshold had stood for nearly a decade, having first been implemented by the previous United Democratic Party administration back in April 2017.

    The policy change comes amid sharp political friction over the government’s response to the ongoing affordability crisis that has squeezed ordinary Belizean households. Prime Minister John Briceño first announced the plan for the expanded exemption during a public address last Tuesday, when he pushed back against criticism that his government is out of touch with the financial struggles facing everyday citizens.

    The criticism that prompted Briceño’s response came from Union Senator Glenfield Dennison, who argued that government officials who receive generous fuel allowances are unable to fully understand the daily challenge working Belizeans face when stretching their salaries to cover basic expenses. Briceño rejected the critique outright, using the announcement of the new electricity tax relief as tangible evidence of his administration’s commitment to easing consumer burdens.

    “Today right now we are going to bring to Cabinet a paper where we want to present to remove the GST on electricity for consumers, I think for up to two hundred dollars,” Briceño stated during last week’s address. “That in itself is going to be positively affecting consumers.”

    It is important to note that the new exemption does not cover the full cost of residential electricity for qualifying users. Instead, it simply removes the 12% GST from the first $200 of a household’s monthly bill, reducing overall costs for consumers who qualify. As of the latest announcement, the Cabinet has not released any details on how long the expanded exemption will remain in place, leaving consumers uncertain about the long-term future of the relief.

  • Semi turns old song into fresh release with “In the Mood”

    Semi turns old song into fresh release with “In the Mood”

    After a decade of consistent output and steady artistic growth in the reggae scene, veteran Saint Lucian singer-songwriter Semi Francis has unveiled his latest release: *In the Mood*, a warm romantic track pulled from his archives of uncompleted work, written years earlier for a past project.

    In an exclusive interview with the St Lucia Times this week, Francis opened up about the unexpected origin of his new single. He explained that the song was initially crafted for his previous album *Love Strong*, but got pushed aside as the project wrapped up, never getting the final touches it needed to release. It remained stored away in his personal files until a recent deep dive into his backlog of work led him to revisit the forgotten track.

    “This is a song that I wrote a few years ago. It was supposed to be on my *Love Strong* album but when we got to the crunch, we never got a chance to finish it,” Francis said. “So I was going through my files recently and I said, ‘hey, let me revive this song’. So it was just the right time.”

    When asked about the core inspiration that drove the writing of *In the Mood*, Francis shared that the track mirrors his long-held personal outlook on life, centered around intentionally cherishing quiet, meaningful moments with loved ones. For Francis, the song captures the magic of building a soft, romantic atmosphere, rather than chasing grand gestures.

    “I always look for the best things in life, so even if you don’t have it, you can imagine it and this is what *In the Mood* is all about,” he said. “It is about creating that special moment. You don’t want to do too much talking, you just want to have that nice romantic evening with the person that you love. So, yeah, that’s how the song actually came about.”

    For Francis, who has built a reputation as a prolific songwriter over 10 years of continuous music releases, the process of turning a raw idea into a finished song remains one of the most fulfilling parts of his career. He compared the experience of completing a new track to two major life milestones: welcoming a child and earning an academic degree, emphasizing the deep sense of pride that comes from seeing an idea come to fruition alongside collaborators.

    “Every song feels like birthing a child,” he said. “Every song feels like a degree, even. It gives you a really good feeling to know that something was a thought and to see the finished product – the process, the people that you actually worked with – when you hear the finished product, you feel really, really good.”

    Francis’ musical journey began with a childhood steeped in reggae classics, and he cut his teeth in the industry with the release of his debut reggae single, a cover of Ken Lazarus’ *Put Yourself in My Place*. Today, *In the Mood* stands as the latest milestone in that ongoing evolution, showcasing his consistent growth as an artist.

    As the new single begins to gain streaming traction across digital platforms, Francis is already hard at work on his next release, which he teased will lean into the conscious reggae subgenre. True to his annual tradition, he also confirmed that a new Christmas track is in the works for this year, a staple release he puts out for fans every holiday season.

    *In the Mood* is available globally now on YouTube, all major music streaming platforms, and Francis’ official website semimusic.com.

  • “They String Up Me”: Belize City Family Accuses Police of Excessive Force

    “They String Up Me”: Belize City Family Accuses Police of Excessive Force

    A family residing in Belize City’s Oleander and Mahogany Streets intersection is speaking out against what they call persistent aggressive policing, claiming officers have wrongfully targeted their home for nearly two years — with the frequency and intensity of searches spiking following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Ewart Hernandez Jr. in August.

    The most recent confrontation unfolded earlier this week, when law enforcement officers returned to the property to conduct another search and took Jaime Anderson into custody. Anderson had previously published video footage of prior police searches on social media platforms, and household members say his detention is directly tied to that public documentation of the interactions.

    One unnamed resident of the home shared a detailed account of the encounter, which began when the family returned from a grocery run. “We were just coming back with our food when they stopped us, started asking for my name,” the resident recalled. “I asked if they had a search warrant, and they didn’t answer. When I refused to give my information right away, they restrained me, called me a gang member and asked me which gang I belong to. They keep claiming this whole house is a gang headquarters.”

    The resident emphasized that the family does not oppose legitimate law enforcement efforts to investigate criminal activity in the area, but draws the line at what they describe as ongoing excessive force and unfair profiling. Over two years of repeated searches, the family notes, officers have never recovered any evidence linking the residence or any family member to gang activity or other crimes.

    Local law enforcement officials confirm they are conducting investigations into criminal activity connected to the address, but have not directly addressed the excessive force allegations. Police Commissioner Dr. Richard Rosado told News 5 that he has not yet viewed the footage Anderson posted, and declined to comment on an incident he had not reviewed.

    For the beleaguered family, the repeated incursions and alleged mistreatment have crossed a line: they are now preparing to file an official formal complaint with law enforcement oversight bodies to address the pattern of behavior.

  • Alfred wins third straight Diamond League title

    Alfred wins third straight Diamond League title

    The 50th edition of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme kicked off in Brussels on Friday night, with Belgian royalty King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and Prince Gabriel in attendance at the iconic King Baudouin Stadium. When the dust settled on the women’s 200m final, it was Saint Lucia’s sprinting star Julien Alfred who once again stood atop the podium, securing her third straight Wanda Diamond League title in breathtaking fashion.

    Alfred, the 25-year-old rising star hailing from Ciceron, delivered a masterclass in competitive running to cross the finish line in 21.79 seconds, with a mild tailwind of just 0.1 meters per second aiding her run. The performance thrilled the packed stadium crowd, capping off another remarkable display from one of the world’s most dominant sprinters.

    Going into the race, Alfred already held the two fastest 200m times recorded globally in the 2026 season, and Friday’s result still ranks as the seventh-fastest mark of the year for the discipline. This race will also mark Alfred’s final 200m outing of the season, as the sprinter has confirmed she will shift her full focus to the 100m event at next weekend’s World Athletics Ultimate Championship, scheduled to take place in Budapest.

    Starting from the less favorable Lane 6, Alfred faced immediate pressure from American sprinter Kayla White through the first bend. Alfred clocked a solid 0.166-second reaction time out of the starting blocks, and covered the opening 100m in 11.25 seconds, putting her just behind White, who stopped the clock at 11.18 seconds, and Britain’s Amy Hunt, who ran 11.24 seconds over the first half-lap.

    But Alfred’s biggest strength has long been her elite speed endurance, and that quality shone through as the field entered the homestretch. By the 160-meter mark, Alfred had pulled even with the leading pack, hitting 160m in 17.37 seconds to White’s 17.41 seconds. She then put on a devastating surge over the final 40 meters, pulling clear of the entire field to win by a comfortable margin of more than two-tenths of a second.

    White held on to claim second place with a time of 22.00 seconds, while Hunt rounded out the podium in third, clocking a new season’s best of 22.16 seconds.

    Friday’s Diamond Trophy win caps what has been an absolutely dominant season for Alfred, who already claimed the Olympic 100m gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games. She has only suffered one defeat in outdoor races this season, arriving in Brussels fresh off a blistering 10.70-second 100m performance at Zürich’s Letzigrund just days earlier, following on from a 21.52-second 200m run in Monaco last month. With just one major race remaining on her 2026 calendar, Alfred heads into the World Athletics Ultimate Championship as one of the clear favorites to take home the 100m crown.