Carib Scope

作者： admin

  • Established math formula determines membership of parliamentary committees, as FGM’s Walton-Desir cries “hypocrisy”

    Established math formula determines membership of parliamentary committees, as FGM’s Walton-Desir cries “hypocrisy”

    On June 18, 2026, a heated political controversy over parliamentary committee representation has emerged in Guyana, centered on a decades-old mathematical seat allocation formula that has left the tiny Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) locked out of all legislative committees. The dispute comes after FGM leader Amanza Walton-Desir, the party’s sole elected representative in the 65-seat National Assembly, was formally deemed ineligible to claim a committee seat, prompting her to accuse the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of blatant hypocrisy in applying parliamentary rules.

    Shortly after Walton-Desir raised public concerns about the process, National Assembly Clerk Sherlock Isaacs released the full text of the long-used formula to both the government and opposition chief whips, confirming the outcome that excludes FGM. Isaacs emphasized in an official statement that the proportional allocation method is not a new policy crafted for this situation, but a framework that has guided committee composition for decades. The system, he explained, allocates committee seats proportionally based on each political party’s total share of seats in the full National Assembly, a requirement explicitly backed by two sections of the National Assembly’s Standing Orders. Standing Order 94(1) mandates that every select committee be constituted to reflect the overall party balance of the full legislature as closely as possible, while Standing Order 94(2) grants the Committee of Selection authority to set the size of each committee unless the assembly votes otherwise. Isaacs also clarified that the committee selection process follows a separate set of rules from the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, which are held via floor vote in a full sitting of the assembly regardless of party size.

    The released calculation results confirm that FGM, which holds just 1.54% of assembly seats, does not meet the threshold for a committee seat. But Walton-Desir, a lawyer and former Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, has pushed back hard against the decision, arguing that the governing PPP/C and its Chief Whip Gail Teixeira are selectively applying the formula to shut out opposition voices. She frames the dispute not as a personal bid for a position, but as a matter of democratic accountability for the Guyanese people.

    In her critique, Walton-Desir points to two recent precedents that she says expose the inconsistency of the government’s approach. In 2020, Teixeira nominated Lennox Shuman for Deputy Speaker, despite Shuman’s Liberty and Justice Party only winning 2,657 votes in that year’s general election. The PPP/C used its parliamentary majority to push through Shuman’s election without any reference to a vote-count eligibility threshold. Similarly, in 2023, Teixeira nominated Dr. Asha Kissoon of The New Movement – a small party that won just 244 votes in the 2020 election – for the same Deputy Speaker position, and again the PPP/C majority secured her election without any debate over vote share eligibility. By contrast, Walton-Desir notes that FGM won 4,585 votes in the September 2025 general election, more than both of the previous small-party nominees, yet the same government and same chief whip are now invoking a formal formula to block her from a committee seat. “The hypocrisy is glaring,” she said.

    Walton-Desir added that she has already reached out to Foreign Relations Sectoral Committee Chair Primus, offering to lend her expertise to support the committee’s work and any other legislative panel that could benefit from her input. She also pushed back against what she described as the PPP/C’s attempts to consolidate control over the opposition through obstruction, misinformation spread via social media, and abuse of public communication channels. “The work continues, and it will continue in spite of PPP’s attempts to control the opposition,” she emphasized.

  • Minister Michael Joseph Receives Youth Consultation Findings to Inform Mental Health Reform

    Minister Michael Joseph Receives Youth Consultation Findings to Inform Mental Health Reform

    On June 15, 2026, Antigua and Barbuda’s senior health official took a landmark step toward youth-centered mental health reform, accepting finalized consultation findings that will guide the drafting of new national mental health legislation focused on children and adolescents.

    Honourable Michael Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs, formally received two complementary reports documenting outcomes from months of inclusive national engagement with young people across the country. The documents — *National Youth Consultation on the Mental Health Care Bill 2026: Findings and Recommendations Report* and *Youth Voices: A Mental Health Care Bill Survey Report* — were presented by Jameel Lee, a representative of the local Zenith Centre.

    The consultation initiative is the product of cross-sector and international collaboration, bringing together the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Zenith Centre, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). It grew out of the Antigua and Barbuda government’s long-standing commitment to building a modern, rights-aligned mental health framework, with a deliberate focus on centering the perspectives of the population most affected by new youth-focused rules.

    To gather robust, representative input, organizers reached more than 1,300 young people across the nation: approximately 1,000 participants completed written surveys, while an additional 300 contributors joined 10 targeted focus group discussions. Participants were drawn from a diverse cross-section of youth, including students from primary and secondary schools, as well as learners at the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies (ABCAS), ensuring input reflected a wide range of experiences and needs.

    The recommendations and insights outlined in the final reports are designed to advance four core goals: boosting public awareness of youth mental health challenges, expanding equitable access to critical care services, reducing harmful social stigma around mental illness, and ensuring the upcoming legislative framework directly addresses the unique priorities of children and adolescents.

    In his remarks after accepting the reports, Minister Joseph praised the meaningful contribution of Antigua and Barbuda’s young people to the policy process, emphasizing that inclusive, data-driven policymaking is the only path to effective reform. “The perspectives of our children and young people matter,” he said. “Meaningful reform requires that those who will live with the outcomes of our decisions have an opportunity to contribute to them.”

    Joseph added that the consultation findings will be integral to ensuring both the new Mental Health Care Bill and the broader national mental health system adapt to the actual needs and lived realities of young people across the twin-island nation.

    The minister also extended recognition to all partner organizations that supported the initiative, noting that durable, meaningful mental health reform depends on cross-sector cooperation and ongoing, open engagement with local communities. “This work would not have been possible without the shared commitment of every group that brought their expertise and resources to the table,” he noted.

    Moving forward, the government of Antigua and Barbuda reaffirmed its long-term commitment to strengthening national mental health services and advancing legislation that upholds human dignity, protects fundamental rights, and reflects the evolving needs and aspirations of all the people it serves.

  • interCaribbean Airways dedicates aircraft Spirit of Turks and Caicos Islands

    interCaribbean Airways dedicates aircraft Spirit of Turks and Caicos Islands

    In a landmark celebration of local heritage and corporate growth, interCaribbean Airways has debuted its uniquely customized Embraer E170 jet, registered as VQ-TCI, at the airline’s primary base in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. The aircraft bears the official name “Spirit of Turks and Caicos Islands” emblazoned across its nose, while the iconic coat of arms of the island nation adorns its tail, turning the commercial jet into a flying symbol of national identity for the carrier that calls the archipelago its founding home.

    The special dedication ceremony drew key senior leadership from both the public and private sectors. Attendees included Turks and Caicos Islands Premier Charles Washington Misick, the full cabinet of the local government, interCaribbean Chairman Lyndon Gardiner, and Chief Executive Officer Trevor Sadler. In a traditional warm welcome for new aircraft, the Turks and Caicos Airport Authority (TCIAA) greeted the jet with a ceremonial water cannon salute as it taxied into position in front of the gathered crowd of government officials, tourism industry leaders, and aviation stakeholders.

    For Chairman Gardiner, the rollout of the airline’s first ERJ170 marked a deeply meaningful milestone in the company’s ongoing fleet expansion. “We have named aircraft for individual destinations across our entire network for years, but this one carries the flag of the islands where interCaribbean was born and still calls home,” Gardiner explained during the ceremony. “Every time it takes off, it will carry the pride of these islands and our promise to connect the Turks and Caicos to the wider Caribbean through its culture, community and cuisine.”

    The event doubled as a tribute to interCaribbean’s decades-long roots in the Turks and Caicos, highlighting the airline’s central role in linking the archipelago to neighboring Caribbean markets and communities. The newly unveiled jet will operate across interCaribbean’s full route network, serving as a roaming ambassador for the Turks and Caicos Islands and its residents. This aircraft is the latest addition to the airline’s collection of custom “Spirit of” branded jets, which already honor other Caribbean nations including Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, and Barbados, each representing the airline’s deep ties to communities across the region.

    Founded and headquartered in the Turks and Caicos Islands, interCaribbean is a privately owned and operated regional carrier registered under the United Kingdom flag. Its modern mixed fleet includes Embraer E170 jets, 50-seat Embraer ERJ145 regional jets, 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft, and a range of turboprop planes: 68-seat ATR72s, 48-seat ATR42s, 30-seat EMB120s, and 19-seat Twin Otters. Today, the airline’s network spans 28 cities across 17 Caribbean nations, reaching from Georgetown, Guyana in the south to Barbados in the east, Havana, Cuba in the west, and Nassau, Bahamas in the north. Travelers can find more information or book flights directly through the airline’s official website, interCaribbean.com.

  • World Cup’s New Hydration Breaks Spark Global Debate

    World Cup’s New Hydration Breaks Spark Global Debate

    As the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfolds across North America, it has already delivered no shortage of breathtaking goals, tense on-pitch drama, and iconic moments that have captured the attention of football fans worldwide. Yet far from the action of penalty shootouts and last-minute winning goals, one unexpected off-pitch issue has become the tournament’s most divisive talking point barely a week into the competition.

    The source of the heated debate is FIFA’s new mandatory hydration break policy, rolled out as a flagship player welfare initiative for this summer’s tournament. The rule requires play to stop for three minutes at the midpoint of each half of every match, giving players a scheduled window to replenish fluids and lower their core body temperatures amid the typically hot and humid summer conditions common across host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

    FIFA has defended the policy as a evidence-based measure to protect athlete health. The initiative has also received public backing from leading sports medicine and health experts, who have long warned of the risks of heat exhaustion and heat-related illness for elite footballers competing in high temperatures.

    But critics have quickly pushed back against the universal application of the rule, pointing out that the mandatory breaks are enforced for every fixture regardless of actual on-site weather conditions. Critics highlight recent matches played in far more moderate conditions, including a Toronto game where temperatures hovered around a comfortable 19 degrees Celsius. Even matches held in fully enclosed, climate-controlled stadiums are required to take the three-minute breaks, a quirk of the policy that has led many observers to question whether player welfare is the only driving force behind the new rule.

    A key point of contention is the structural impact of the breaks on match flow: the mid-half stoppages effectively split the traditional 45-minute halves into two distinct segments, turning the standard 90-minute match into four implicit quarters. This restructuring creates extra natural stoppages that television broadcasters can leverage for additional commercial advertising, and major network partners—particularly those in the large U.S. broadcast market—have already moved to capitalize on the extra airtime.

    This has fueled widespread speculation and concern that commercial revenue interests, rather than just athlete safety, have shaped the new policy. Despite the growing backlash from players, coaches, fans, and pundits alike, FIFA has given no public signal that it plans to review or adjust the rule for the remainder of the 2026 tournament.

  • President bij bevordering 150 militairen: Hogere rang, grotere verantwoordelijkheid

    President bij bevordering 150 militairen: Hogere rang, grotere verantwoordelijkheid

    On June 18, a major milestone ceremony was held for the National Army of Suriname, where more than 150 active-duty service members received promotions to the next higher rank in their military careers.

    Leading the ceremony, President Jennifer Simons, who also holds the position of Supreme Commander of the Surinamese Armed Forces, opened her remarks by framing the promotions as a formal state recognition of the consistent dedication, unwavering discipline, loyal service, courage and proven competence that these soldiers have demonstrated while serving the nation and its people.

    According to official statements released by the Suriname Communication Service, Simons emphasized that a military promotion carries far more meaning than simply wearing an upgraded rank insignia. “You have carried the core values of discipline, loyalty and courage with dignity throughout your service in the National Army,” she told the promoted service members. “Today, you advance to a new rank, and I congratulate you on this well-earned step forward in your careers.”

    The president also highlighted that the promotions reflect not only the professional growth of the individual soldiers, but also the constant personal sacrifices that service members and their families make on a daily basis to support national security. “When we see the men and women in green uniform, we do not always stop to acknowledge the person and the waiting family behind the uniform,” she added.

    Simons went on to stress that higher rank brings with it expanded responsibilities for the military personnel. “With your new rank, your authority increases, but so does the weight of accountability placed on your shoulders,” she said. “Higher expectations are placed on you now in terms of leadership and decisive decision-making. A higher rank also means a higher standard of duty to the nation.”

    She also publicly acknowledged the challenging working conditions that Surinamese soldiers face in their day-to-day service. “We know you operate under difficult circumstances, with limited resources at your disposal. Many of you are stationed deep in the country’s interior, far away from your loved ones for long stretches. The government is fully aware of these hardships, and we will never leave you or Suriname behind,” she assured the assembled service members.

    Per Simons, the Surinamese government has made a formal commitment to strengthening the country’s security institutions across both personnel and material infrastructure. A key part of this ongoing effort is improving the legal and employment status of active-duty military personnel. “Legal job security is the foundation for service stability, unity and motivation among our ranks,” she explained. “Our goal is clear: sustainable institutional strengthening and long-term capacity building for our armed forces.”

    Defense Minister Uraiqit Ramsaran echoed the president’s remarks, adding that the current round of promotions is part of a deliberate, step-by-step strategy to address long-standing backlogs in military career advancement. “This is not an isolated, one-off process,” Ramsaran noted. “It is a deliberate approach to deliver justice to our personnel, and to address existing backlogs one step at a time — not just with empty words, but with tangible, visible results that service members can see.”

    Closing the event, the minister called on all newly promoted soldiers to continue their dedicated service to advance the development of a strong, forward-looking defense organization that remains fully committed to serving Suriname and its population.

  • Neil Corbin leads BRC Driver’s Championship after mid-season shake-up

    Neil Corbin leads BRC Driver’s Championship after mid-season shake-up

    The Barbados Rally Club’s 202X Driver’s Championship has seen a dramatic reshuffling of the leaderboard following the completion of rounds four through six of its nine-round series, catapulting two-time former champion Neil Corbin into the sole top spot. The two back-to-back May events – the First Citizens King of the Hill on May 24 and the three-day BCIC RB26 rally held May 29 to 31 – proved to be a turning point for the season, where mechanical unreliability and sudden component failures altered the competitive landscape more than any driver could have predicted.

    Heading into this critical stretch of the racing calendar, Neil Corbin was locked in a three-way tie for first place, sharing the summit with fellow Barbadian driver Edward Corbin and Antiguan contender Stewart Gordon. What looked set to be a tight three-way battle for the lead quickly unraveled for his co-leaders, however. Edward Corbin was sidelined by a catastrophic engine blow partway through the BCIC RB26, while Gordon saw his title challenge fall apart after a string of unrelated mechanical and on-track setbacks. Both former top contenders, along with multiple other high-ranking drivers, slipped completely out of the overall top 10 in the updated standings.

    Now, Corbin holds a comfortable 13-point advantage over his nearest challenger, having notched a perfect 101 points from six rounds. The driver has secured a clean sweep of Modified 2 class victories in his Toyota GT86 CS-R3, holding a 100% win rate in the class so far this season. Climbing from ninth place to second overall after strong performances across the two May events is Kyle Gill. Gill has also secured a perfect record of wins in the Clubman 1 class driving his Mitsubishi Colt, though his point total has been constrained by the fact that only two drivers have entered the class in each round, resulting in reduced championship points for victories.

    The tight competition for positions below Corbin underscores the defending champion’s strong lead: only 15 points separate second-place Gill from the 10th-place driver, setting the stage for intense battles through the final three rounds of the series. Sitting just one point behind Gill in third place is rising young talent David-Anthony Balgobin, who climbed five spots from eighth place after strong results. Competing in his first full season of four-wheel-drive racing, Balgobin currently leads the Modified 4 class in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, marking his third turn leading the class standings this season.

    The only driver to retain their position in the top 10 through the recent reshuffle is Josh Read, who holds steady in fourth place overall. Piloting his Ford Fiesta Rally2, Read is currently the highest-scoring competitor in the FIA R5 class this season, with 73 total points. He holds a three-point lead over SuperModified 2 class leader Barry Mayers, who drives a Fiesta and is the highest-ranked of five new entrants to the overall top 10. Jamaican driver Kyle Gregg, who also pilots a Fiesta Rally2, dropped one position from fifth to sixth with 69 points.

    Rounding out the new top 10 are four drivers who climbed into the top ranking after the May rounds: Sean Corbin sits seventh with 68 points in his BMW 318ti Compact, currently second in the Modified 2 class behind Neil Corbin. Rally2 competitors Adam Mallalieu (Fiesta) and Stuart Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS) are tied for eighth place on 64 points each, while Jermin Pope completes the top 10 in 10th with 62 points, driving his Modified 2-class Honda Civic. With just three rounds remaining in the series, all eyes are on Corbin as he looks to defend his lead and secure a third championship title.

  • STATEMENT: Message from NCCU Chief Operations Officer (COO) on Ethics and Speak Up Culture Day – Risk & Compliance Week 2026

    STATEMENT: Message from NCCU Chief Operations Officer (COO) on Ethics and Speak Up Culture Day – Risk & Compliance Week 2026

    As the global financial cooperative community marks Compliance Week, leadership at NCCU Credit Union has delivered a message centered on elevating integrity as the foundational pillar of its member-focused mission. In an audio address released to the credit union’s membership, organizational leaders framed common conversations around integrity as more than just a box-ticking exercise for regulatory rules and compliance protocols.

    At its core, the address argues, integrity is inextricably tied to the trust that forms the backbone of every successful member-owned financial institution. Every single day, NCCU’s thousands of members place immense faith in the cooperative: they entrust the institution with their hard-earned savings, sensitive personal financial data, and long-term goals that range from homeownership to retirement planning. This entrustment, NCCU leadership emphasizes, carries a non-negotiable responsibility that sits at the top of the institution’s priorities. Upholding that responsibility ensures members can always feel secure knowing their credit union acts first and foremost to advance their individual and collective financial well-being.

    Importantly, the address frames integrity as a shared commitment rather than an obligation placed solely on institutional leadership. For the credit union itself, upholding this value means maintaining strict confidentiality around member data, full transparency around fees, policies and operations, and unwavering accountability to the membership that owns the cooperative. For individual members, upholding shared integrity means submitting accurate personal information when accessing services, proactively safeguarding their account credentials against fraud, and using the cooperative’s financial products responsibly to protect the entire community’s financial health.

    As the credit union observes this year’s Compliance Week, NCCU called on both leadership and members to reaffirm their commitment to this core value. Rather than positioning integrity as a mandatory regulatory requirement to satisfy, the message reminds all stakeholders that it is a living value that protects members from harm, strengthens the cooperative’s long-term stability, and ensures NCCU remains an institution that every stakeholder can be proud to be part of.

    Closing the address, leadership thanked the NCCU membership for their ongoing trust and collaborative partnership, noting that collective commitment to integrity will remain the driving force behind building a stronger, more resilient credit union for years to come.

  • Study Finds HPV Vaccine Can Nearly Eliminate Cervical Cancer Deaths

    Study Finds HPV Vaccine Can Nearly Eliminate Cervical Cancer Deaths

    A groundbreaking long-term study conducted by public health researchers in the United Kingdom has delivered transformative evidence that vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) given to 12 to 13-year-old girls cuts the risk of death from cervical cancer before age 30 to nearly zero. This research, the first of its scope to measure real-world population-level outcomes of national HPV vaccination programs, documents a historic public health milestone: between 2020 and 2024, there were zero recorded deaths from cervical cancer among women aged 20 to 24 in England, marking the first five-year period without any fatalities from the disease in this age group.

    Study projections indicate that without the national rollout of HPV vaccination that launched in 2008, roughly 23 deaths from cervical cancer would have occurred in this demographic over the five-year window. Cumulatively, researchers estimate that the program has already saved approximately 200 lives across England in the 18 years since school-based vaccination began. Lead researcher Professor Peter Sasieni of Queen Mary University of London called the results extraordinary, noting that it is rare for a single preventive intervention to come so close to eradicating a major form of cancer.

    Medical science has long confirmed that HPV, a common virus spread through close skin-to-skin intimate contact, is responsible for 99% of all cervical cancer cases. While most HPV infections resolve on their own without medical intervention, persistent infections can trigger abnormal cellular changes that develop into invasive cancer decades after the initial exposure, making early vaccination before sexual activity begins particularly effective for long-term protection.

    The landmark findings come amid ongoing debates over HPV vaccine access in other regions, including Belize. Since 2016, Belize’s Ministry of Health has administered the HPV vaccine to more than 46,000 fourth-grade students across the country. However, the program has faced pushback from some leaders in the Catholic Church, who have blocked vaccine administration in church-run schools over unsubstantiated claims that the vaccine encourages early sexual promiscuity. Earlier this year, Belizean Health Minister Kevin Bernard issued a public appeal to church leadership to reverse their opposition, emphasizing the vaccine’s proven life-saving potential and rejecting the misinformation driving their resistance.

  • Will Minister Mira Be Suspended?

    Will Minister Mira Be Suspended?

    In the wake of growing public scrutiny over hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable state payments to enterprises connected to the family of Belizean Minister Oscar Mira, Prime Minister John Briceño has announced the launch of a fully independent review to investigate the controversial transactions.

    During an exclusive interview with CTV3 News held in Orange Walk Town, Briceño outlined that his administration will formally ask the Financial Secretary to formally request the Auditor General carry out a comprehensive audit of the time period at the center of the controversy. The core objectives of this probe are to verify whether all required public procurement protocols were strictly followed throughout the process, and to confirm that the government received fair value for every dollar disbursed through these payments. Briceño emphasized that he will not pre-judge the outcome of the independent investigation, stressing that any future administrative or disciplinary action, including the potential suspension of Minister Mira, will be determined exclusively by the audit’s final findings.

    The controversy gained new momentum after leaked internal records from government services provider Smart Stream, obtained by local outlet News Five, revealed that MP Farms — a company owned by Brian Mira, Oscar Mira’s younger brother — received 44 separate payments on September 25, 2025, adding up to a total of $389,796.85. Each individual payment was registered below the $10,000 threshold that triggers mandatory formal procurement oversight, a pattern that has sparked widespread allegations that official procurement safeguards were intentionally bypassed to avoid scrutiny.

    This latest disclosure is not an isolated incident. It follows previous public concerns over separate state payments made to Jenny Mira, Oscar Mira’s sister, as well as unconfirmed reports of a major public contract awarded to another brother, Stanley Mira. Against this backdrop, Defence Minister Florencio Marin Jr. has clarified that routine payment processing falls under the remit of career finance officers and independent procurement professionals, rather than political appointees. Marin Jr. also confirmed that the Ministry of National Defence is currently holding active discussions with the Ministry of Finance to conduct a full review of existing procurement procedures, with the goal of closing any existing loopholes that could enable abuse.

    For his part, Minister Mira has issued a categorical denial of any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly stated that he never intervened in the contract award process or attempted to influence any payment approval decisions, noting that all public tenders are openly advertised and award decisions are the sole responsibility of independent procurement committees, not sitting cabinet ministers.

    Beyond the audit into the questionable payments, Prime Minister Briceño also announced plans to dissolve and reconstitute the full board of the Reconstruction and Development Corporation Limited (ReconDev), the state-owned development entity at the heart of the contracting allegations. The move comes amid persistent claims that members of the Mira family hold undue influence over decision-making within the organization.

  • We are trying to reach the following persons as a matter of urgency. Are you listed below? Do you have information as to their whereabouts or how to contact these persons?Then contact 464-1977/ 464-1238

    We are trying to reach the following persons as a matter of urgency. Are you listed below? Do you have information as to their whereabouts or how to contact these persons?Then contact 464-1977/ 464-1238

    A pressing public call has been issued by authorities or organizers seeking to urgently locate a group of people that have not been named in the initial announcement. The appeal directly asks two critical questions of anyone reading or hearing the notice: first, whether the individual seeing the message is among the group being sought, and second, whether any member of the public holds details about the current location or accessible contact information for the people the organizers are trying to reach.

    No additional context about why these individuals are being sought, how many people are on the list, or what the nature of the matter requiring contact is has been released alongside the urgent appeal. The notice emphasizes that establishing connection with these people is a time-sensitive matter, meaning a prompt response from anyone with relevant information is requested. It remains unclear whether the search is related to a legal matter, a public safety issue, a family notification, or another type of urgent inquiry, as the originating body has only released the basic appeal for information to date.