A years-long problem of accumulated waste at the Parham Fisheries Complex has been addressed through a landmark collaborative clean-up initiative that brought together government fisheries officials, local parliamentary representatives, and inmate volunteers from His Majesty’s Prison. The targeted effort, which was led on the ground by the complex’s own manager Piet Jeffrey, marks the latest in a series of attempts to upgrade the popular fishing hub that serves dozens of local fishermen and industry workers daily. According to Randy Baltimore, the Member of Parliament for the St. Philip’s North constituency where the facility is located, the project brought together stakeholders from across the region to achieve a shared goal of revitalizing public space. When crews completed the multi-day work, photographs documented the massive haul of discarded fishing equipment, general debris and accumulated waste that was cleared out of underused and public areas of the complex. Baltimore, whose office coordinated part of the logistics for the initiative, offered high praise for every group and individual that contributed to the project’s success. He emphasized that the cross-sector partnership that made the clean-up possible stands as a powerful model for future community improvement projects across the constituency. Beyond clearing tons of unsightly and potentially hazardous waste, Baltimore noted that the project has transformed the complex into a far cleaner, more inviting space for working fishermen, on-site staff, and any other visitors who access the facility on a regular basis. “Thank you to Mr Jeffrey and everyone who rolled up their sleeves and got the job done,” Baltimore said in a statement following the completion of the work. The successful clean-up addresses longstanding community concerns that have been raised about waste accumulation and declining facility conditions at the complex over the past several years. Looking ahead, Baltimore confirmed that more infrastructure improvement and community-focused projects are planned for the St. Philip’s North constituency as local leaders continue to address resident needs and upgrade public assets.
作者： admin
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PM meets police top brass, vows to ‘stick with it’ until crime problem solved
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday has launched urgent, coordinated action to curb a sharp, unacceptable rise in gun violence across the nation, convening a high-level security summit with the country’s top law enforcement leaders to map out a strategic response.
Speaking to reporters in Kingstown Tuesday, shortly after concluding an official visit to Taiwan, Friday disclosed that the closed-door meeting — held roughly two weeks prior on the island of Bequia — brought together the highest-ranking command of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, senior Coast Guard leadership, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security St. Clair Leacock, and Leacock’s permanent secretary. The gathering centered on the growing public anxiety over the spike in shootings and widespread feelings of insecurity that have shaken communities in recent weeks.
To signal a clear shift in the government’s approach to public safety, Friday confirmed that his administration has already implemented leadership reshuffling at the very top of the national police force. On Monday, Trevor “Buju” Bailey was appointed acting Commissioner of Police, replacing Enville Williams who is currently on seven months of paid leave. Junior Simmons will serve as acting Deputy Commissioner, while Brenton Smith has taken on the role of acting Assistant Commissioner. These leadership changes took effect immediately after a violent weekend that saw three separate shooting incidents in Kingstown leave two women wounded, followed by a fatal shooting early Tuesday that left one man dead in an abandoned building directly across from His Majesty’s Prison on Kingstown’s White Chapel Road.
Friday openly acknowledged that the string of violent attacks has amplified public fear and placed his administration’s security record under intense public scrutiny. While he reaffirmed the government’s full commitment to directly confronting the national crime crisis, he warned that translating policy commitments into tangible, visible public safety improvements will require time.
Among the most pressing issues discussed at the Bequia summit, the prime minister highlighted the unregulated flow of illegal firearms into the country as a particularly urgent threat. “We don’t manufacture them here, yet anybody who wants a gun seems to be able to get one. This has to end,” he stated. Friday added that law enforcement already holds intelligence on key entry points for these illegal weapons, and the government is now finalizing a targeted plan to crack down on smuggling networks, prioritizing strengthened border control and interdiction of illegal gun shipments. He declined to share sensitive operational details, but stressed that halting the inflow of illegal firearms is a non-negotiable core priority.
For Friday, guaranteeing public safety is the most fundamental obligation a government owes its citizens. “The first thing that a government owes its citizens is security,” he said, expanding on this core principle: “We are responsible for creating an environment where these violent incidents don’t happen, and that if they do occur, perpetrators are quickly apprehended, prosecuted, and jailed.”
The prime minister also emphasized that solving the long-standing crime crisis will require more than just law enforcement action — it demands a whole-of-society approach. He announced plans to convene a national dialogue with political leaders across the aisle and civil society stakeholders at an appropriate time to align on a unified national strategy to tackle violence. “We can’t allow a situation where people are afraid to leave their homes. How can a country function that way?” he noted, underscoring the high stakes of the current crisis.
When asked about his past criticism of the previous administration’s handling of rising crime during his time in opposition, Friday pushed back against claims of inconsistent rhetoric. “When I speak in opposition, I don’t speak with a forked tongue,” he said. “What I said then, I stand by now; it is just shaped by the different facts and circumstances of holding office.” He did acknowledge that timelines for progress he outlined while in opposition may need adjustment, and pledged to be transparent with the public if deadlines shift: “If the timeline changes, I will come to the public and explain why, and reasonable people will understand that.” On the question of accountability, he was unambiguous: “You asked if we are responsible. Of course we are. We hold the office of national security, so we are responsible for building a safe society.”
Friday also pointed to systemic impunity for violent offenders as one of the most damaging weaknesses in the current security system. Restoring public trust, he argued, depends on establishing a consistent track record of arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for serious violent crimes — something the public has not consistently seen in recent years.
International assistance, including security support from Taiwan, will play a supporting role in the national strategy, but Friday stressed that all foreign aid must be aligned directly with St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ domestic priorities. During his recent visit to Taiwan, security cooperation was discussed, with Taipei already providing some equipment and hosting training for Vincentian law enforcement officers. However, Friday argued that ad hoc donations of surplus equipment — such as secondhand vehicles or extra bulletproof vests — while useful, do not address the most urgent needs of the current crime-fighting plan. “We have to be clear: these are our priorities, this is our national plan, how can your support help us meet these goals?” he said. He expressed confidence that Taiwan will align its support with the nation’s formal strategy once it is finalized, and emphasized that the government will not relent until the crisis is resolved: “Until the problem is gone, we don’t back off. This isn’t a six-month quick fix; we stick with it until we get results.”
Ultimately, Friday said his mission as prime minister is to acknowledge the public’s widespread fear of violence and deliver decisive action to restore safety. He added that voters will ultimately judge his administration on whether it delivers on its promises: reducing violent crime, stemming the flow of illegal guns, strengthening policing institutions, and ending the culture of impunity that has allowed violent offenders to act without consequence.
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LETTER: Who Is Responsible for Monitoring Heavy-Duty Truck Drivers?
A concerned member of the public has issued an urgent appeal to Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Public Works, demanding immediate action to address the growing risk of reckless driving among operators of heavy-duty material haulage trucks. The question being pressed to transportation and public works regulators is clear: Which government body holds accountability for verifying that all drivers of large trucks transporting sand, construction aggregate and other bulk materials hold valid professional licensing, complete required safety training, and adhere to responsible road practices at all times?
Witnesses report that a number of these massive heavy vehicles have been observed operating in aggressively reckless patterns on public roads, creating a terrifying hazard for all other road users. Unlike standard passenger vehicles, these multi-ton haulage trucks carry enormous potential for catastrophic harm: even a minor collision involving one of these machines can result in severe infrastructure damage, life-altering injuries, and fatalities for anyone sharing the road.
The appeal lays out three critical accountability questions that regulators have yet to address publicly. First, is there consistent, formal monitoring in place to oversee the conduct of these truck drivers? Second, are routine checks conducted to confirm that every operator holds up-to-date licensing, completed mandatory safety training, and maintains a clean record of safe driving practices? Third, are meaningful penalties enforced when drivers are caught violating road safety rules, to deter future dangerous behavior?
The person raising the alarm emphasizes that this call for action is not an attack on individual drivers, but a grassroots push to protect general public safety across the nation’s road networks. They stress that waiting for a catastrophic fatal accident to occur before implementing oversight is an unacceptable approach that puts countless innocent lives at unnecessary risk.
In closing, the appeal urges the Ministry of Public Works to launch a full review of haulage truck driver oversight immediately, before preventable harm occurs. All road users, from pedestrians to passenger vehicle drivers, deserve equal access to safe public infrastructure — a right that is currently being undermined by unregulated dangerous operation of heavy commercial vehicles.
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The complete collection of Selected Works of Fidel Castro Ruz is now available for download
A landmark archival project preserving the legacy of Cuban revolutionary history has been made available to global audiences this week, as the Fidel Castro Center launches a fully annotated digital edition of *Selected Works of Fidel Castro Ruz* that can be downloaded by the public completely free of charge.
Spanning an extraordinary 76 years of the Cuban leader’s public life, from 1940 to 2016, the collection comprises 23 comprehensive volumes that gather together every form of Fidel Castro’s public output: from landmark speeches and parliamentary interventions to intimate public letters, broadcast interviews, official messages, published articles, and transcripts of key public appearances. Carefully curated for academic accessibility and historical accuracy, the edition includes a preface written by Raúl Castro Ruz, former Cuban leader and brother of Fidel Castro, and every text included carries detailed scholarly annotations to contextualize its contents.
Each volume is structured to support deeper understanding of the historical period it covers, with an introductory essay outlining the key political and social events of the era, plus comprehensive analytical, name, and geographic indexes to help researchers navigate the material. A separate supplementary booklet adds consolidated general indexes and a subject guide for the entire collection, creating a structured resource for anyone studying Cuban history and revolutionary thought. The footnotes included throughout the work clarify references to key people, locations, political institutions, and historical events that may not be familiar to contemporary readers.
Of particular historical interest is the 23rd and final volume, which devotes extensive space to primary documents chronicling the close personal and political friendship between Fidel Castro and former Venezuelan Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez. The materials included in this section stand as a permanent archival record of the deep fraternal political and national ties that bound the Cuban and Venezuelan movements together.
The Fidel Castro Center, a leading Cuban academic institution focused on preserving and studying the legacy of the Cuban revolution, confirmed the release of the digital collection in an official announcement, noting that the project is designed to make an essential primary source on 20th and 21st century Cuban history available to all people, rather than restricting access to specialized academic archives. The complete collection is currently hosted for public download via an open-access Google Drive folder, allowing anyone from independent researchers to casual readers to access the full 23 volumes without cost or access barriers.
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Friday eyes Taiwanese business mission as SVG courts investors
Following a high-profile official visit to Taipei that generated robust private sector interest from Taiwanese business circles, Prime Minister Godwin Friday of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) announced his administration is accelerating arrangements to host a Taiwanese business leader delegation on SVG soil.
Speaking at an August 18 press conference in Kingstown, Friday detailed that an SVG-focused investment forum held during his Taiwan trip drew an exceptionally strong turnout, with dozens of private investors putting forward concrete plans to explore on-the-ground investment opportunities across multiple high-growth sectors. The premier framed the upcoming delegation visit as a cornerstone of his government’s flagship economic strategy, which positions private sector investment as the primary engine of national development, paired with support from a forthcoming national development bank and longstanding bilateral cooperation with Taiwan.
“During our time in Taiwan, we laid out SVG’s current economic landscape to demonstrate the untapped potential waiting for investors, and walked through cross-sector opportunities for partnership,” Friday told reporters. “The immediate outcome is that Taiwan’s business community is already eager to organize a formal delegation to SVG to scout these opportunities firsthand.”
He emphasized that the government fully embraces the profit-driven motivation of private investment, noting that such mutually beneficial partnerships are exactly what SVG needs to accelerate economic expansion, generate new local employment, and create pathways for domestic enterprises to integrate into larger regional and global supply chains linked to incoming foreign projects.
To capitalize on the momentum built during the Taipei visit, Friday said SVG will move rapidly to coordinate cross-team logistics for the delegation, bringing together local administrative staff, SVG’s ambassador to Taiwan Kenton X. Chance, and Taiwan’s ambassador to SVG Fiona Fan for joint planning once Fan returns to Kingstown. While no official timeline for the visit has been released, the prime minister repeatedly stressed the urgency of seizing the opening, saying that the Caribbean nation cannot afford to let high-value investment opportunities pass.
Four key sectors have emerged as the top areas of investor interest from the Taiwan side, according to Friday. First, renewable energy – specifically solar power – has drawn significant attention, aligning with SVG’s national goal of advancing a just energy transition. The prime minister shared that at least three investors approached him during the visit to request detailed discussions on solar project development, with conversations cut short only by tight event schedules, not a lack of enthusiasm.
Second, SVG’s tourism sector, particularly hotel development on the main island, has piqued investor curiosity. Friday told investors in Taiwan that SVG currently faces a critical structural gap in tourist accommodation: during peak travel seasons such as the annual Carnival, many potential visitors are forced to cancel trips even when air seats are available, simply because no hotel rooms can be found. Resolving this gap, he argued, is essential to unlocking the full economic potential of SVG’s existing Argyle International Airport, and to creating new upstream and downstream opportunities for local businesses that supply goods and services to the tourism sector.
Third, Taiwanese investors have shown strong interest in SVG’s untapped marine industry potential, including shipyard development, yacht maintenance and other marine service opportunities. During the SVG delegation’s visit to Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, members toured two distinct shipyard facilities: one large-scale yard that constructs tankers and other large commercial vessels, and a smaller boutique operation that builds custom mega-yachts. The visit, Friday said, highlighted both Taiwan’s advanced industrial capacity and the opportunity for SVG to position itself as a key hub for yachting and marine services in the Caribbean, with potential projects already under discussion for the Ottley Hall area and existing yachting zones.
Finally, Taiwanese investors and officials have expressed enthusiasm for partnerships in agriculture and small-scale creative industries, with a focus on adding value to local production. In agriculture, Friday pointed to SVG’s existing smart agriculture and tissue culture laboratory project at Orange Hill, which has already drawn regional acclaim. Taiwanese stakeholders are eager to bring modern agricultural technology to SVG to boost productivity and profitability, especially for young people entering the sector. For creative industries, Friday said SVG can learn from Taiwan’s successful model of repurposing underused urban warehouse spaces into creative hubs that support artisans – from jewelry makers to craft workers – to turn traditional cultural skills into sustainable, profitable businesses.
Across all sectors, Friday reaffirmed that his administration’s commitment to private sector-led growth, a key campaign pledge from his election, remains the central anchor of national economic policy. Given SVG’s ongoing tight fiscal constraints, the prime minister argued that private investment – both domestic and foreign – is the only realistic path to deliver large-scale development. Large commercial projects such as new hotels, he noted, are beyond the government’s current fiscal capacity, and it is not the proper role of the state to serve as the lead investor in such ventures. Instead, the Friday administration will focus on creating a supportive regulatory and policy environment, building required complementary infrastructure, and ensuring that local communities and domestic businesses capture tangible benefits from every foreign investment that enters the country.
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Classy Keemo scripts Kingsmen huge win
On August 19, 2026, a raucous, capacity crowd packed Sabina Park to witness an extraordinary Caribbean Premier League (CPL) clash that will go down as one of the most memorable fixtures of this year’s tournament, with Jamaica Kingsmen claiming a dominant 51-run victory over St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots powered by a once-in-a-match performance from all-rounder Keemo Paul. The result not only earned the Kingsmen their second straight win but also catapulted them into second place in the seven-team CPL standings, while the defeat leaves the Patriots adrift at the bottom of the table.
The hosts’ innings got off to a catastrophic start, as left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar ripped through the Kingsmen’s top order inside the opening over. Opening batter Kirk McKenzie, who had notched up a polished half-century in his previous outing, was given out off his first delivery; though the decision was overturned on review, McKenzie could not escape the second ball, chopping it back onto his own stumps to leave the Kingsmen 0 for 2 before the powerplay was even two overs old. Star spinner Wanindu Hasaranga piled on the pressure immediately after, snaring wickets in consecutive overs and coming inches away from dismissing Kingsmen captain Rovman Powell off his first delivery, when Powell edged just wide of three waiting close catchers.
Trapped in early trouble, Powell and Paul launched a dramatic fightback that turned the entire tide of the match. The pair forged a match-defining 99-run partnership that first steadied the Jamaica innings, then unleashed a devastating late onslaught. Paul was in irresistible form with the bat, posting a new career-best score of 65 runs off just 36 deliveries, as the pair plundered 38 runs from the final two overs to lift the Kingsmen to a formidable total of 181 for 6 at the end of their innings, their final home fixture of the 2026 tournament.
Chasing an imposing 182 runs to win, the Patriots’ run chase got off to the wobbliest possible start. Opener Andre Fletcher hit one boundary six before being dismissed in the very first over, setting a troubled tone for the entire chase. Paul, who had already starred with the bat, turned his attention to the ball, and though he thought he had Johnson Charles caught off the first delivery of his spell, the effort was ruled out by a no-ball call for overstepping. He did not have to wait long to make his mark, however: a perfectly placed, deceptive delivery removed dangerous batter Kyle Mayers to put the Kingsmen firmly in control.
Wickets tumbled at regular intervals through the Patriots’ innings, with every Kingsmen bowler contributing to the defensive effort. Andre Russell picked up 2 key wickets for just 19 runs, while Paul finished with outstanding figures of 3 wickets for 30 runs. Only Kevin Wickham and Navin Bidaiseei offered any substantial resistance for the Patriots, but as the required run rate climbed above 12 runs per over, an unlikely comeback became increasingly out of reach. In an unusual turn of events, Bidaiseei became the first batter this CPL season to retire out in an attempt to prolong the chase, but no miracle materialized. Russell and Paul returned to close out the match, bowling the Patriots out for 130 runs with two full overs remaining to spark jubilant celebrations among the home crowd at Sabina Park.
The two points earned from the 51-run win cement the Kingsmen’s position as one of the top contenders in the 2026 Republic Bank CPL, while the Patriots will now face an uphill battle to climb out of the basement in the remaining matches of the tournament.
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Four Kittitian Cricketers Selected For CWI Under-19 Women’s High-Performance Camp Ahead of 2027 World Cup
St. Kitts and Nevis is marking a landmark milestone for its youth sports community, after four promising young female cricketers from St. Kitts earned selection to Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) elite Under-19 High-Performance Camp, a key preparatory step ahead of the 2027 ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
The four selected players — Zara Skerritt, Aaliyah Weekes, Leanga Warner and C’Quinya Dasent — are part of a cohort of 22 top-ranked emerging female Under-19 cricketers from across the Caribbean region invited to attend the two-week intensive training program. What makes this achievement even more notable is that all four players chosen to represent the Leeward Islands at the camp hail from St. Kitts, cementing the island’s reputation as a hotbed of young cricket talent targeted for development and potential future selection to the West Indies national youth squad.
In an official statement released by the country’s Prime Minister’s Office on August 18, 2026, Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew extended his warm congratulations to the four young athletes, framing their selection as a source of national pride for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and clear proof of the extraordinary untapped talent held by the nation’s younger generation.
“This is a truly remarkable achievement for Zara, Aaliyah, Leanga and C’Quinya, and it is an accomplishment the entire country should celebrate deeply,” Drew noted in his remarks. “The fact that every single Leeward Islands selection comes from St. Kitts speaks volumes about the caliber of our young cricketers, and it demonstrates what young athletes can accomplish when raw talent is paired with discipline, access to opportunity, and targeted community and institutional support.”
Hosted in Antigua, the high-performance camp runs from August 17 to August 29, 2026, launching just two days after the conclusion of the CWI Rising Stars Women’s Under-19 Championship on August 15. Per CWI’s official programming framework, the camp is a core component of the organization’s structured strategy to identify, nurture and prepare the next generation of West Indies female cricketers to compete at the highest levels of international competition.
Selections for the camp were made after a comprehensive evaluation across multiple key criteria, including on-field performance throughout the regional Rising Stars Championship, technical skill assessments, 2027 World Cup eligibility, tactical game awareness, on-pitch temperament, competitive drive, physical fitness, and overall squad composition balance. The two-week program is designed to advance players across four critical domains of development: technical skill, tactical understanding, physical conditioning, and mental resilience. It also introduces participants to the rigorous performance standards and expectations that define elite international cricket.
This announcement was released as an official press release from the St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister’s Office and shared by local media outlet SKNVibes.com, with the outlet noting that the content was published unedited as received.
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Taiwan pledges grant for SVG’s dev’t bank, boosts funding for social programmes
Following an official working visit to Taipei last week, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Prime Minister Godwin Friday has announced that Taiwan has committed a minimum of $2 million in grant funding to capitalize the newly proposed National Development Bank (NDB), a flagship infrastructure project of the island nation’s ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) administration. In remarks to local media in Kingstown this Tuesday, Friday also confirmed an expanded package of annual support for community-focused social programs targeting marginalized groups across SVG’s constituencies.
In a press briefing held during his trip to Taiwan, Friday confirmed that the NDB initiative is “very much a go”, noting that preliminary discussions between SVG and Taiwanese officials had been finalized before the delegation’s arrival, leaving Taipei fully briefed on the Caribbean nation’s development plans. Beyond the $2 million seed grant, Taiwan has also offered SVG access to additional concessional financing to support the bank’s launch. The prime minister emphasized that the NDB is designed to resolve a decades-long gap in affordable capital access for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ordinary Vincentians, who have long been locked out of traditional lending systems.
While welcoming the grant support, Friday struck a cautious tone regarding the proposed soft-loan financing package, stressing that his administration must carefully balance the benefits of low-cost credit against the risks of expanding SVG’s already strained public debt. “Those [soft loans], of course, I am less excited about,” he told reporters. “But we have to balance the benefit of that with the advantage or the good that it will do in the economy, and to see whether it makes sense to borrow at 3.5% and lend on. These are things that we are studying here with our team, and we’ll decide how we go on.”
Work on the NDB’s legal and regulatory framework is already underway, with Attorney General Louise Mitchell leading preparatory work and legal expert Jason Haynes tasked with drafting the founding legislation, following a series of nationwide public consultations that included outreach to communities in the Grenadines. Friday clarified that while the NDB will prioritize SME support, it will operate on sound commercial principles rather than acting as a charitable distribution program. “What I’m saying to people, those persons, again, who are anxiously and eagerly awaiting the coming of the bank: it’s a bank; it’s not a charity,” he said. “So, it’s a situation where we are going to manage it on business principles, but it will be much more supportive to small businesses. There will be an environment of encouragement, of support, of mentorship, and so on to help these businesses, small businesses, to succeed.”
Success of the institution, Friday added, will be measured by its broader impact on inclusive economic growth rather than dividend returns to the government. The NDB’s design has also incorporated governance guidance from the International Monetary Fund, which had previously raised concerns about debt risk and institutional transparency for new state-backed development banks.
Taiwan’s support for the NDB aligns with the NDP administration’s overarching economic strategy, which centers on private-sector-led growth and attracting foreign direct investment. During Friday’s visit, SVG hosted an investment forum in Taiwan where the delegation pitched the island nation’s untapped investment potential to local business leaders. Taiwanese investors expressed particular interest in SVG’s solar energy, tourism and hospitality development, and marine and shipyard sectors, according to the prime minister.
Beyond the NDB, the bilateral development partnership between Taiwan and SVG extends to education and skills training, where Friday pushed for a transformative overhaul of SVG’s current technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system, which he described as inadequate to meet the country’s economic needs. SVG currently faces the paradox of high youth unemployment alongside labor shortages that force major construction projects to import skilled foreign workers. Taiwanese officials responded positively to SVG’s proposal, including a plan to deploy young Taiwanese skilled professionals to SVG to provide on-the-ground training. The SVG administration is also exploring short-term technical internship placements for Vincentian youth in Taiwan’s specialized industries such as shipbuilding, to build domestic skills through knowledge transfer.
Taiwan is also set to expand support for SVG’s agricultural sector, with a focus on scaling up modern technology-driven initiatives to make farming profitable and attractive for young people. Friday highlighted the existing smart agriculture and tissue culture lab project at Orange Hill as a successful model that has gained recognition beyond SVG’s borders. “The project is a model to attract youth into an agriculture that is driven by modern technology and is much more productive, much more profitable,” he said, adding that Taiwan has expressed strong enthusiasm for expanding such initiatives to revive the agricultural sector to the central economic role it held during SVG’s banana production era.
To advance community-level development, Taiwan has also committed $1.5 million in annual grant funding to support a portfolio of social and community empowerment programs, with a portion earmarked to launch the long-proposed constituency development fund, an initiative first raised by SVG Deputy Prime Minister St. Clair Leacock in earlier talks with Taiwanese officials. Funding will be targeted specifically at advancing economic opportunities for women and youth, and Friday framed the support as a way to create productive opportunity rather than foster dependency. “This is all, you know, very, very good opportunity for us to be able to, as we say, put money into people’s pockets by making them productive. So that if we invest $100, they can make $200 from it. That’s the way you do it,” he said.
The prime minister concluded that the visit has opened multiple new development pathways for SVG, with some projects expected to deliver results faster than others as the administration works toward its core goal of delivering tangible, inclusive economic benefits to all communities across the country. “My campaign, my strategy, is to deal with people. We don’t just build [things] because they’re big and they look pretty,” he said. “The point is that what we’re trying to do is put money in people’s pockets in very real ways… What you want is people earning, people finding ways in which they can make a decent living as they used to, and providing for themselves and their families. And we are looking for every opportunity to do that.”
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Leisure : Did you know ? #51
In its latest twice-weekly “Did You Know?” knowledge feature published on August 19, 2026, Haitian digital media outlet HaitiLibre has unveiled new interesting trivia for quiz enthusiasts, alongside a major update to its popular online quiz platform that has grown its collection to more than 200 interactive games.
This 51st installment of the series centered on a trivia question tied to the outlet’s World Martial Arts Quiz 1.1: What southern Chinese close-quarters striking martial art was famously taught to legend Bruce Lee by grandmaster Ip Man? The answer, revealed in the feature, is Wing Chun, a disciplined fighting style with a centuries-old history and unique core principles.
Rooted in southern China, Wing Chun was developed as a practical combat system that does not rely on extraordinary physical strength to defeat opponents. Unlike many martial arts that prioritize large, sweeping movements or raw power, Wing Chun centers on economical motion, lightning-fast strikes, and efficient redirection of incoming attacks. Folklore traces the style’s origins to a Buddhist nun, who designed it to let a smaller woman defend herself effectively against a larger, stronger attacker.
Two of Wing Chun’s most defining characteristics are its use of direct attack trajectories and the iconic Chi Sao, or sticky hands, training method. This technique teaches practitioners to feel and read an opponent’s pressure and movements through constant physical contact, building instinctive reaction times. The style gained global recognition in the 20th century largely thanks to Ip Man, one of its most revered grandmasters, and his star student Bruce Lee — the legendary martial artist and Hollywood actor who would go on to popularize Chinese martial arts around the world.
Today, Wing Chun remains one of the most widely practiced martial arts globally, valued as a pragmatic self-defense system that focuses on immediate reaction and proper bodily alignment rather than flashy techniques.
Beyond sharing this martial arts trivia, HaitiLibre used the feature to announce a key milestone for its free online quiz hub. As part of the platform’s regular monthly content update, 30 brand-new quiz games were added to the roster on August 1, 2026. This expansion brings the total number of available quizzes to 210, with new games added to the platform every single month to keep content fresh for returning users.
The HaitiLibre quiz platform is designed to be accessible for knowledge seekers of all ages and skill levels. Every quiz on the site is offered completely free of charge, requires no user registration to access, and is available in both French and English. Each topic also offers three distinct difficulty tiers — easy, intermediate, and hard — so casual learners and expert trivia fans alike can find content suited to their knowledge base.
The outlet invites users of all backgrounds to visit its quiz portal at https://quiz.haitilibre.com/en to explore a wide range of topics covering Haiti, global affairs, and dozens of other general knowledge categories. Visitors are also encouraged to share the platform with family and friends, and leave feedback via the comment form available at the end of every quiz to help the outlet improve its offering.
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Gouddossier 10: Overzicht NH telt 272 registraties van mijnbouwrechten
A newly released government dataset of mining concessions submitted to Suriname’s National Assembly (DNA) has revealed key details about the distribution and scale of mineral extraction rights across the country, after independent fact-checking and data cleaning by local outlet Starnieuws corrected duplicate entries in the original document.
When first published, the 14-page dataset logged 272 separate entries for mining concessions. But when Starnieuws cross-referenced each entry by its unique GMD identification number, the outlet found 23 GMD numbers repeated across overlapping lists, resulting in 26 duplicate entries. After cleaning, the final count stands at 246 fully unique, active and expired mining concessions covering a wide range of mineral and raw material activities across Suriname. The full dataset includes core details for each concession: the name of the rights holder, GMD identification number, type of mining right, total concession area, and in most cases, the issuance and expiration dates of the permit.
Gold extraction dominates the list of concessions, with operations spanning the full spectrum from large-scale exploration and commercial mining to small-scale artisanal gold mining. The scale of these gold concessions varies dramatically: most small-scale gold permits cover roughly 200 hectares, while large exploration concessions held by major operators can span thousands of hectares, with some exceeding 10,000 hectares in total area.
The dataset also enables new analysis of how mining rights are concentrated. Beyond counting the total number of concessions, it allows researchers and regulators to track how many rights are held by individual operators and the total area they control — a key metric, given that one large exploration concession can cover more territory than dozens of small-scale permits combined.
The region surrounding Pikin Saron emerges as a major hub of mining activity in the dataset. Multiple gold exploration and extraction concessions, both active and expired, are held by major mining firms operating in the area, including Rosebel Gold Mines N.V., Grassalco N.V., Consolidated Gold Resources N.V., Capital Gold Eagle Mining N.V., Suku Passie N.V. and Agnesia Mijnbouwonderneming N.V. The size of these large-scale concessions is striking: Rosebel Gold Mines holds a 10,768-hectare exploration permit, Grassalco holds 10,450 hectares, Consolidated Gold Resources holds 13,761 hectares, and Capital Gold Eagle Mining holds 2,570 hectares. The records confirm that the Pikin Saron region has hosted far more large-scale mining activity than the small-scale operations that are most visible to the public.
Beyond gold, the dataset lists 29 unique concessions for construction raw materials in Pikin Saron alone, primarily for savanna sand, laterite, and fill sand, with one concession covering combined sand, gravel and laterite extraction. This confirms multiple types of resource extraction operate side-by-side across the region.
The release of this detailed concession data takes on new urgency following a major mass fish mortality event earlier this year in the Moeroe Creek and along the Saramacca River, which sparked widespread public concern that mining activity and the use of toxic chemicals had caused toxic contamination. The extensive footprint of active and expired mining rights in the region raises pressing questions about the effectiveness of environmental regulatory oversight: with multiple types of gold exploration, extraction and construction material mining operating in proximity, regulators need clear data on which operators are active, what environmental rules apply to each concession, and how compliance with those rules is enforced.
Importantly, the dataset itself does not draw a causal link between any listed concession holder and the fish mortality event. The document only records the existence of mining rights and their holders, and does not assign blame or legal liability for the environmental incident. Analysts emphasize this distinction must be made clear: the dataset does not prove any operator caused the mortality event, but it does highlight why rigorous, targeted investigation of activity in the region is necessary. A list of concession rights only shows who holds permission to extract resources, not which operators are actively working at a given time, or whether unauthorized extraction is occurring outside permitted concession boundaries.
With the release of the full concession dataset, the next critical step for analysis is mapping how rights are distributed across holders. Multiple individuals and companies appear repeatedly across the dataset, and analysts plan to sort the 246 unique concessions by rights holder, as well as by commodity, to determine how many rights each entity holds, what total area they control, how many of those rights remain active, and the extent to which Suriname’s mining rights are concentrated among a small group of actors.
Far from being just a list of names and numbers, the government’s submission to DNA provides a foundational public resource to map who has access to Suriname’s vast mineral wealth, how much territory has been allocated for extraction, and how those rights have been distributed over decades of mining development. Starnieuws announced it will continue its in-depth analysis of the concession data as part of its ongoing *Gold dossier* investigative series focused on reform and transparency in Suriname’s mining sector.