Carib Scope

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  • PM Calls Chamber’s Fuel Tax Request “Embarrassing”

    PM Calls Chamber’s Fuel Tax Request “Embarrassing”

    A public dispute over fuel taxation has emerged between Belize’s top government official and the nation’s leading business advocacy group, after Prime Minister John Briceno publicly dismissed a call for fuel tax reductions from the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) as “embarrassing” in comments made to local outlet News 5.

    The confrontation stems from a formal letter BCCI delivered to the government on May 27, 2026, where the industry group praised the administration’s recent decision to resume public disclosure of detailed fuel price breakdowns, but argued that greater transparency alone cannot address the burden of persistently high fuel costs for consumers and businesses across Belize.

    In its letter, BCCI pointed out that while the proportional share of taxes included in retail fuel prices has dipped marginally in recent months, the total nominal tax amount charged per gallon has remained largely static. Even as global crude oil prices have trended downward, this taxation structure has prevented those international savings from reaching consumers at local fuel pumps, the chamber noted. BCCI explained that excise duties, one of the core components of fuel taxation, have stayed within a narrow consistent range regardless of swings in global commodity prices, creating a bottleneck that blocks price relief for end users.

    High fuel prices have cascading effects across Belize’s entire economy, the business group warned, pushing up costs for passenger and freight transportation, raising overhead for small and large businesses alike, and driving up the price of everyday consumer goods that most households rely on. To remedy the issue, BCCI called on the Briceno administration to implement short-term targeted measures, starting with a temporary cut to fuel excise taxes. The organization closed its letter by emphasizing its willingness to collaborate with the government to craft solutions that strike a balance between the nation’s critical revenue requirements and the need for broad economic stability.

    However, Briceno rejected the chamber’s proposal outright in his response, dismissing the core of the group’s argument as fundamentally flawed. The prime minister contended that reshuffling tax burdens across different tax categories – whether environmental levies, goods and services tax (GST), excise duties, or import taxes – does not reduce the government’s total overall tax take from fuel sales. “If you collect $100 in taxes… it doesn’t matter where you take it from. You could take it off environmental tax or the import tax or the excise tax. It’s still removing money from the whole amount,” Briceno explained. He went further to say that “it’s embarrassing sometimes to read such proclamations from the Chamber,” drawing a sharp line between the government’s fiscal position and the business community’s lobbying efforts.

  • ‘Despicable’ or Satire? PM Briceño Calls Alberto August’s Post ‘Disgusting’

    ‘Despicable’ or Satire? PM Briceño Calls Alberto August’s Post ‘Disgusting’

    A fresh political controversy has erupted in Belize, centered on a cyberbullying complaint filed by sitting Home Affairs Minister Oscar Mira against former United Democratic Party (UDP) Chairman Alberto August, and Prime Minister John Briceño has publicly weighed in to defend Mira’s actions amid rising concerns over political free speech.

    Speaking to reporters on June 3, 2026, Briceño made clear that he stands fully behind Mira’s choice to pursue the legal complaint, even as he acknowledged that he would not personally take the same step against his own political critics. The core of Briceño’s argument centers on framing Mira’s action as an assertion of individual constitutional rights, rather than an official government attack on political opposition. Briceño emphasized that Mira retains the same rights as any private citizen in the country: if he believes he has been the target of defamation and harmful slander, he is fully within his legal and constitutional rights to file an official report with authorities.

    Critics of the complaint have raised alarms that the arrest linked to the case sets a dangerous precedent that could stifle legitimate political criticism and erode protections for free speech in the country. Briceño outright rejected these concerns, pushing back against claims that August’s controversial social media post qualifies as protected political satire. In blunt terms, Briceño dismissed the satire framing, calling August’s conduct “disgusting” and accusing the former UDP chair of exploiting the tragedy of a grieving family to score political points.

    The pushback against Mira did not end with free speech arguments: on Monday, August’s attorney, Michael Peyrefitte, labeled the home affairs minister “thin-skinned” and publicly called on Prime Minister Briceño to remove Mira from his cabinet post. Briceño refused this demand, noting that all public figures have different thresholds for offensive speech and that Mira was justified in taking a formal stance against what he saw as harmful defamation. In a surprising turn, Briceño even joked that he himself might consider filing similar legal action against August, though he quickly downplayed the prospect.

    When asked if August’s frequent critical social media posts about Briceño personally have ever tempted him to pursue similar cyberbullying charges, the prime minister was dismissive. Briceño made clear that he does not consider August worth the time or effort of legal action, noting that the former UDP chairman can say whatever he wants about Briceño without causing any personal offense.

  • Williams happy with team’s performance in Grenada

    Williams happy with team’s performance in Grenada

    The Whitsuntide Games, one of the Caribbean’s most anticipated regional track and field competitions, recently wrapped up in Grenada, and a delegation from neighboring Barbados left the event with an impressive haul of accolades — none more notable than the historic performance of 17-year-old sprint prodigy Jalino Hamlet. As a member of Barbados’ Extreme Velocity Track and Field Club, Hamlet walked away with the Games’ highest individual honor: Most Outstanding Athlete, after shattering six competition records across multiple events.

    In a post-meet interview with local media outlet Barbados TODAY, Extreme Velocity head coach Glen Williams expressed nothing short of complete satisfaction with his team’s results across the four-day competition, which drew roughly 1,100 competing athletes from across the Caribbean region. Williams noted that the 2024 iteration of the Whitsuntide Games was the largest in the event’s history, making his squad’s achievements all the more meaningful.

    Williams highlighted that the majority of his athletes showed clear, measurable improvements from their previous outings, with particularly standout results coming from the club’s junior division. Many regional track and field programs consistently struggle with inconsistent performance from junior competitors, but Williams emphasized that his young athletes defied expectations, delivering dramatic personal bests and top finishes against tough competition.

    Hamlet, a student at Barbados’ prestigious St Leonard’s Boys’ School, has been on a rapid upward trajectory this season, following a strong debut performance at the CARIFTA Games — another elite Caribbean track and field event also held in Grenada earlier this year. At the Whitsuntide Games, his record-breaking run spanned every round of competition he entered: he set new event records in both the heats and final of the 200-meter sprint, repeated that feat in both the preliminary rounds and final of the 400-meter sprint, and rounded out his historic performance as a member of the Under-17 Boys’ 4x100m relay team, which also set new records in both its prelim and final race.

    “Six total new records at one meet — that’s why he earned the Most Outstanding Athlete trophy,” Williams explained, adding that the entire club is proud of both Hamlet’s achievements and the hard work the whole team put in to prepare for the Games. With the Whitsuntide Games now behind them, the young Barbadian athletes are set to carry this momentum into upcoming regional competitions later this year.

  • Friday urges CDB to move ‘swiftly’ from plans to delivery

    Friday urges CDB to move ‘swiftly’ from plans to delivery

    At the 56th Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Board of Governors held in Nassau, Bahamas, Godwin Friday, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, delivered an urgent address on behalf of the bank’s borrowing member countries (BMCs), calling for faster, more decisive institutional reform and expanded investment in climate-resilient development amid cascading economic and environmental threats across the Caribbean region.

    Friday warned that small open Caribbean economies are facing mounting systemic pressures that threaten long-term development prospects. The region carries legacy structural vulnerabilities it did not create, he noted, and these gaps have been widened by ongoing global economic turbulence. Most critically, central government debt across the region remains chronically high: nine of the CDB’s borrowing member countries hold debt-to-GDP ratios above the 60% prudential threshold, with St. Vincent and the Grenadines itself carrying a ratio exceeding 113%. This massive debt overhang, Friday emphasized, severely constrains governments’ ability to fund growth-driving infrastructure and social programs while protecting vulnerable populations, forcing regional states to achieve more development outcomes with limited fiscal resources.

    Beyond high debt levels, the region is grappling with shrinking access to affordable financing. Tightening global supply chains, spiking shipping and fuel costs, and soaring cost of living have stretched public budgets, with underlying fragility predating recent conflicts in the Middle East that have amplified these pressures. At the same time, official development assistance from traditional global partners has seen a sharp decline, creating a critical financing gap for climate action. Friday noted that the Caribbean requires an estimated US$14 billion annually to implement comprehensive climate adaptation and mitigation measures, but currently mobilizes less than 10% of that target. “It is therefore imperative that our development partners become more adaptive, more responsive, and willing to provide highly concessional financing and dedicated resources for loss and damage that will not worsen a bad debt situation,” Friday said.

    Framing the CDB as an indispensable institution for Caribbean development and regional integration, Friday argued that the bank holds a unique responsibility to lead targeted solutions for the region’s vulnerable small economies. As the only multilateral development bank owned and governed primarily by Caribbean stakeholders, the CDB carries unmatched legitimacy built on decades of on-the-ground experience, deep local knowledge, and specialized talent across the region. “Regional economic integration is sustainable only if partners all derive benefit from it, and economic disparities among member countries do not grow too wide. The bank is uniquely positioned to promote that end,” Friday noted.

    To illustrate the impact of strategic CDB investment, Friday highlighted projects in his own country that have boosted national resilience after years of repeated climate shocks. Major bank-supported initiatives including the modernization of Kingstown’s port, school infrastructure upgrades, rural development programs, and road network improvements have shifted St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ long-term resilience trajectory, he said, adding that this model of targeted, comprehensive partnership should guide the CDB’s work across all borrowing member countries.

    With the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season already underway and fresh memories of the devastating damage caused by 2024’s Hurricane Beryl and 2025’s Hurricane Melissa, Friday stressed that delays in climate action carry enormous economic and human costs. He called for a new regional climate strategy centered on adaptation and resilience, with priority investment in climate-resilient economic assets, upgraded coastal protection infrastructure, and expanded early warning systems for extreme weather. In particular, he highlighted the CDB’s Climate Change Project Preparation Fund as a critical tool for removing bottlenecks that block timely investment in climate action.

    Turning to broader economic resilience, Friday called for support to help Caribbean states diversify their narrow, historically vulnerable economic bases while maintaining inclusive growth. He identified key priority areas for investment: digitalization of public services, transition to renewable energy—particularly large-scale solar development—to reduce fossil fuel import dependence, sustainable management of marine resources to grow the blue economy, and expanded value-added agro-processing to strengthen domestic food security, cut costly food import bills, and boost export earnings. Friday also emphasized that growth models that leave low-income and vulnerable populations behind are inherently “misguided and unsustainable.”

    Resilience must ultimately be people-centered, Friday added, calling for strengthened investment in social resilience through expanded social protection, improved access to basic services, and targeted community development. He specifically highlighted the CDB’s flagship Basic Needs Trust Fund as a critical program that must be preserved and expanded to advance equitable development across the region.

    Friday offered full endorsement of the CDB’s ongoing institutional reform agenda, known as CDB Forward, framing it as a necessary response to a long-standing implementation deficit in regional development. He stressed that borrowing member countries have issued a clear mandate for the bank to move beyond designing reforms and deliver tangible, accelerated implementation. “The bank must make its development impact felt with greater speed and with far more reach. The borrowing member countries have delivered a clear mandate. We must move swiftly to implement the transformative reforms to eliminate friction and drive our institution forward. The need is urgent, and therefore the time to act is now,” Friday said. He outlined key immediate priorities: faster project delivery, targeted efforts to reduce large undisbursed loan balances, and modernization of the bank’s procurement framework. He also encouraged the CDB to pursue expanded strategic partnerships with other multilateral development banks and bilateral donors to mobilize additional private capital and scale up co-financing opportunities.

    In a direct appeal to CDB shareholders and non-regional partner states, Friday called for robust financial backing for the bank’s upcoming 10-year strategic plan covering 2026–2035, as well as the 11th iteration of the Special Development Fund (SDF 11), which provides concessional financing to the region’s most vulnerable member states. This support, he said, is essential to ensure Caribbean development is shaped by intentional policy and regional solidarity, rather than ongoing systemic vulnerability.

    Closing his address, Friday drew on the legacy of Sir Arthur Lewis, the CDB’s founding president and a pioneer of Caribbean development thought, to frame the region’s path forward. He noted that while resistance, adaptation, and an unconquerable spirit have long defined the Caribbean people’s experience, the region must move beyond framing itself through vulnerability and claim agency over its own development. “Resistance, adaptation, and an unconquerable spirit define the historical experience of the Caribbean people. Despite our limitations, we continue to deliver better lives for our people,” Friday said. “However, the region’s development path must not be defined or be limited by our vulnerability. It must be shaped by our deliberate choices, our capable institutions, and by regional solidarity.” Echoing Lewis’ iconic words, he reminded delegates that “The Caribbean people can solve their own problems, but first they must find the secret that will put hope, initiative, direction, and an unconquerable will into the management of their affairs.” Friday closed by urging all governors to enter the meeting’s closed sessions with a clear commitment to advancing governance reforms, sustainable development pathways, and building a stable, inclusive, and thriving Caribbean for future generations.

  • Local schools and college to receive copies of new Caribbean World War II book

    Local schools and college to receive copies of new Caribbean World War II book

    A landmark initiative centered on expanding access to regionally focused historical literature is set to roll out in Dominica next week, as 10 local secondary schools and the Dominica State College prepare to receive donated copies of a newly released work by Dominican author Clement Richards. Titled *Sea Wolves in Warm Waters: The U-Boat Battle in the Caribbean*, the book is Richards’ second published title, coming just one year after his 2025 debut *Indian Warner: Son of Two Worlds*, according to an official press statement from Dominica Bookshelf.

    Unlike many mainstream historical accounts of World War II that marginalize the Caribbean theater, Richards’ latest work dives deep into a largely unexamined chapter of regional history: the active operations of German U-boats in Caribbean waters and the far-reaching impact that the transatlantic conflict had on local communities. For Richards, filling this gap in public knowledge is a critical academic and educational mission. “This is a very important segment of recent Caribbean history that is generally overlooked or forgotten,” the author explained. “The book is an attempt to inform and educate readers in the region and beyond about its importance and significance.”

    The cross-border donation project is a collaborative effort between the Maryland-based U.S. law firm Law Offices of Gabriel J. Christian & Associates LLC and the non-profit Rebuild Dominica Organization. Beyond just distributing books, the initiative was designed to advance core educational goals across Dominica: boost public awareness of underrepresented Caribbean history, and encourage young learners to engage with literary and historical work created by local and regional Caribbean authors.

    The formal handover ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 5, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Archives Unit on Kennedy Avenue in Roseau, the capital of Dominica. The event will feature a full program of speakers and activities: opening and introductory remarks from author Clement Richards, a pre-recorded video presentation from lead donor Gabriel Christian, and a keynote address from Prince St Jean, Officer-in-Charge of the Dominica Library and Information Service. To bring the book’s content to life during the ceremony, a student from St. Martin Secondary School will deliver a featured reading of an excerpt from *Sea Wolves in Warm Waters*, and a representative from Pierre Charles Secondary School will offer acceptance remarks on behalf of all receiving educational institutions.

    Looking ahead, event organizers have outlined ambitious long-term hopes for the donation. Beyond expanding immediate access to historically accurate, locally rooted historical literature that centers Caribbean experiences and perspectives, they expect the initiative to push for broader curricular change across Dominican schools, encouraging greater integration of works by Dominican and Caribbean authors into regular coursework. Ultimately, the project aims to help current generations of Dominican students develop a more nuanced, informed understanding of their nation’s place in both Caribbean regional history and broader global history.

  • Calvin Ayre Foundation Supports Two Urgent Medical Transfers Through Partnership with MBS and CalvinAir

    Calvin Ayre Foundation Supports Two Urgent Medical Transfers Through Partnership with MBS and CalvinAir

    When life-threatening cardiac emergencies strike and local healthcare systems lack the specialized resources to intervene, collaborative partnerships between public and private organizations can mean the difference between life and death. That is exactly the case for two Caribbean residents, Arthur James and Kenneth Edwards, who recently received urgent, life-saving care abroad thanks to a coordinated effort between the Calvin Ayre Foundation (CAF), the Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS), and private aviation provider CalvinAir.

  • Jamaica, Ghana set new course for cooperation after two decades

    Jamaica, Ghana set new course for cooperation after two decades

    After more than two decades of suspended formal collaboration, Jamaica and Ghana have officially restarted their structured bilateral partnership through the reactivation of their Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, a framework designed to drive collective progress across seven key sectors: public health, national defense, bilateral trade, air transportation, cultural exchange, and education. The third plenary session of the revived commission wrapped up in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, capping four days of intensive bilateral talks with the signing of two binding Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) focused explicitly on health and defense cooperation.

    Speaking following the conclusion of the session, Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith emphasized that the reactivated commission lays a durable, structured foundation for deepening ties between the two nations, which share deep historical and cultural connections. “Jamaica and Ghana have returned to this cooperation mechanism with a refreshed, shared purpose,” Johnson Smith noted. “After more than 20 years of inactivity, this commission gives us the formal structure to translate our shared history and mutual goodwill into tangible outcomes that improve the lives of people in both our countries.”

    The two new signed agreements put this renewed commitment into practical action, covering a wide range of specific collaborative priorities. In the health sector, the partnership will open pathways for the recruitment of skilled Ghanaian health professionals to Jamaica and facilitate cross-border knowledge sharing to strengthen health systems in both nations. For defense and security, the agreement outlines cooperation on disaster response coordination, military engineering capacity building, enhanced maritime security, and joint countermeasures to combat transnational criminal threats.

    The signing ceremony was attended by senior official delegates from both governments, including Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton and Ghana’s Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh. Technical working groups from both sides contributed to months of pre-session negotiations, which were co-chaired by Ambassador Symone Betton Nayo of Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyeman of Ghana’s foreign ministry. The session itself closed a 20-year gap in the commission’s formal work, bringing the bilateral partnership back into regular, structured operation.

    Beyond the newly signed MoUs, delegates from both nations reached consensus on a broad forward cooperation agenda spanning health, defense, culture, education, air services, trade and investment. This new phase of engagement will be followed by a Jamaican export and business mission to Ghana scheduled for July 2026, which will deepen economic ties between the two markets. The mission will be led by Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill, and will include private sector delegates from more than 38 Jamaican companies across multiple industries.

    Foreign Minister Johnson Smith and her Ghanaian counterpart Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa have also committed to advancing regular biennial political consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministries to ensure continuous alignment on shared priorities. During her visit to Accra for the session, Johnson Smith was accompanied by a full Jamaican delegation including Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Ghana Lincoln Downer, Honorary Consul Okatakyie Boakye Danquah Ababio, Jo-Anne Archibald (Principal Director of Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport), and technical staff from both Jamaica’s foreign affairs and health ministries.

  • GraceKennedy brings Fraser-Pryce, GK One and Taste of Jamaica to Diaspora Conference

    GraceKennedy brings Fraser-Pryce, GK One and Taste of Jamaica to Diaspora Conference

    One of Jamaica’s most prominent homegrown corporate groups, GraceKennedy (GK), is set to reprise its central role in deepening ties between Jamaica and its global diaspora community as an official Legacy Partner for the upcoming 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference. Scheduled to run from June 14 to 18, 2026, the high-profile gathering will take place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in the parish of St James, drawing hundreds of Jamaican community leaders, investors, and professionals from across the globe.

  • US imposes sanctions on Cuban president, Castro family members

    US imposes sanctions on Cuban president, Castro family members

    HAVANA, CUBA – In a sharp escalation of long-standing tensions between Washington and Havana, the United States announced a new round of sanctions Thursday targeting Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, his immediate family, senior members of the influential Castro political dynasty, and key state entities, marking the latest aggressive move against the island’s communist government.

    The expanded sanctions list includes the son and grandson of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who stepped down from official office years ago but still retains significant behind-the-scenes political influence across the country. Alongside Diaz-Canel, his wife and stepson were also sanctioned, as was Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and multiple other state-linked organizations.

    Cuba has operated under a sweeping US trade embargo for more than six decades, dating back to 1962. But in the final months of his first presidential term, then-President Donald Trump drastically intensified American pressure, slashing the island’s access to critical fuel supplies and openly floating the possibility of seizing control of the territory.

    The Trump administration justified the escalating measures by claiming Cuba’s communist government poses a direct national security threat to the United States. Following the US-backed ousting of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro in January and the rollout of a harsh new pressure campaign against Iran, Trump repeatedly signaled Cuba would be the next target for regime change.

    Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump alluded to this timeline, saying: “We’ll take care of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as soon as that’s done, on our way back, we’ll just make a little brief stop over.” Despite this open threat, he denied the new sanctions – which came shortly after the US issued a murder indictment against Raul Castro and blacklisted a military-controlled conglomerate that dominates much of Cuba’s economy – were designed to force a rapid collapse of the Cuban government.

    Washington had already placed travel bans on Diaz-Canel and his family barring entry to the US the previous year.

    In a post on the social platform X, Diaz-Canel pushed back against the new measures, accusing Trump of seeking to “strengthen the blockade and scenario of conflict between Cuba and the United States.” He vowed that the Cuban people would “resist the imperialist onslaught.” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez echoed this defiance, describing the sanctions as “vile” and affirming they would only be met with “greater unity and determination from our people.”

    Trump framed the US actions as a push for improved conditions for ordinary Cubans, telling reporters at the White House that he simply wants Cuba to become “a nicely run country that can feed its people.” He added, “But the country is starving, and it’s got no energy, it’s got no oil, it’s got no money, it’s got nothing.” Even as he criticized the government, Trump mused about the island’s potential, noting that Cuba is “a beautiful piece of land” and adding, “You could have beautiful resorts.”

    The punitive fuel embargo imposed by the US in January has already sparked a severe humanitarian crisis across Cuba. Without access to diesel for backup generators that prop up the island’s crumbling national power grid, communities face daily blackouts that can stretch up to 22 hours, and widespread tap water shortages have followed. Most public and private transport has ground to a near halt, and critical shortages of food and prescription medication have left the country dependent on emergency aid shipments from allies including Mexico and China.

    On the same day the new sanctions were announced, the United Nations’ top representative on the island warned that the already unfolding humanitarian emergency, combined with the start of the annual Caribbean hurricane season, creates an “explosive cocktail” of risk for vulnerable communities. Much of eastern Cuba is still undergoing reconstruction after Hurricane Melissa caused catastrophic damage across the region in October of the previous year.

  • JFB to launch new emergency communication centre

    JFB to launch new emergency communication centre

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s public fire services are poised to deliver a dramatic upgrade to national emergency response infrastructure, with the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) preparing to launch a purpose-built central emergency communication centre. The new facility is anchored by an automated station alerting system, engineered to slash response wait times for fire and rescue calls across every parish on the island.

    The official announcement was made Wednesday by Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government and Community Development, during his 2026/27 Sectoral Debate address to the country’s House of Representatives. As part of the advance preparations for the new hub, 24 active firefighters completed specialized training in emergency telecommunications operations back in February. These trained personnel will staff the centre, which will initially operate out of the Waterford Fire Station located in the parish of St Catherine.

    McKenzie outlined the core functionality that sets the new system apart from legacy infrastructure: “The defining advantage of this update is that the system sends instant alerts and emergency notifications directly to responding units. If an emergency call is processed within 64 seconds, the critical details are immediately transmitted to the appropriate fire station, and firefighters can be fully dispatched within 60 seconds.”

    When added together, the total end-to-end response time from call receipt to dispatching comes out to just two minutes and four seconds – a benchmark that brings JFB’s operations fully into alignment with global emergency response best practices.

    The transformative infrastructure project will roll out in two sequential phases, prioritizing the highest-need regions first. Phase one will focus on rolling out the system to fire stations across Kingston and St Catherine, two parishes that are home to Jamaica’s most densely populated residential and commercial communities and consequently receive the highest volume of annual emergency calls.

    Phase two of the rollout is scheduled to launch at the start of the next national financial year, when the new communication system will be expanded to all remaining fire stations across the entire island. For the second phase, the main emergency communication hub will be relocated to the York Park Fire Station in central Kingston, the ministry confirmed.