分类： politics

KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a landmark update to the Caribbean nation’s fisheries governance, Jamaica has rolled out new regulations that permit licensed industry participants to legally hold, sell, process, and export legally caught Caribbean spiny lobster during the annual closed season — a long-awaited reform meant to fix critical flaws in the old management framework.

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Floyd Green announced the formal entry into force of the New Spiny Lobster Regulations 2026 during an address to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, noting the policy delivers on the government’s promise to modernize the fisheries sector while protecting one of the country’s most valuable marine assets.

“I am pleased to advise this honourable House that the Fisheries (Spiny Lobster) Regulations, 2026 were promulgated on March 20, 2026, and are now in full force and effect,” Green told lawmakers.

For decades, Green explained, Jamaica’s existing spiny lobster rules created a confusing, counterproductive contradiction for local fishers and fishing communities. Lobster harvesters could legally catch the species during the open fishing season, investing significant time, fuel, and labor into a legitimate catch — but once the closed season began, their lawfully harvested product became commercially trapped, with no legal path to move it through the supply chain.

“Fishers who did everything right found themselves unable to sell, store, process or export what they had lawfully caught. The system did not distinguish between illegal harvesting and legitimate stock that was already in circulation,” Green said.

Far from advancing conservation goals, the old framework produced widespread waste, significant economic losses, and constant uncertainty across the entire lobster value chain. It also left a critical supply gap during the closed season, leaving businesses that rely on lobster sales with few legal options to source inventory.

That market gap, Green noted, created systemic pressure that in some cases incentivized the illegal poaching that regulations are meant to eliminate — an outcome that undermined both conservation and economic outcomes for licensed industry members.

The new 2026 regulations are designed to correct this long-standing deficiency through a structured, tightly controlled regulatory framework. Under the updated rules, lawfully harvested lobster caught during open season can be officially declared, logged into a centralized tracking system, and handled through regulated channels during the closed season. All activities including storage, processing, domestic sale, and export remain under strict ongoing oversight from Jamaica’s National Fisheries Authority to prevent abuse.

Green was clear to emphasize that the reform does not weaken protections against illegal fishing during the closed season. The core prohibition on capturing new spiny lobster during the closed period remains fully in place, with no changes to that long-standing conservation rule. What has shifted, he said, is the intelligence of how the sector is managed.

“What has changed is that we are now managing the system more intelligently. We are protecting the resource while allowing legitimate economic activity to continue in a way that is transparent, traceable and enforceable. This ensures balance, so that our conservation objectives are met while our fishers, vendors, processors and exporters are not penalised for operating within the law,” Green stated.

The reform also brings greater transparency and organizational structure to the entire sector. Mandatory declaration requirements, clear notification thresholds, and strengthened record-keeping rules now allow regulators to track lobster movement through the supply chain during the closed season in a way that was impossible under the old system.

“This is what modern fisheries management looks like. It is deliberate, it is data-driven and it is designed to protect both the resource and the people who depend on it,” Green added.

Core conservation rules remain intact under the new regulations. The capture, possession, or sale of undersized lobster or egg-bearing female lobster continues to be prohibited during both open and closed seasons, and any accidentally caught protected individuals must be returned to the water immediately. These rules remain central to protecting Jamaica’s breeding lobster stock, allowing juvenile lobsters to reach maturity and maintain a healthy, sustainable wild population for future generations.

Reporting by Lynford Simpson

A high-stakes fraud lawsuit filed in Canada has unveiled explosive allegations: a former senior finance executive at an Indigenous-led non-profit illegally siphoned more than CA$6 million in federal public funds earmarked for Indigenous conservation programs, with hundreds of thousands of dollars ending up in the hands of a Jamaican dancehall artist. Court filings paint a detailed picture of how the former executive exploited a gap in organizational oversight to funnel public money through multiple channels, prompting the Canadian federal government to seize control of remaining program funds and roil communities that rely on the initiative for conservation work and local employment.

According to reporting from Canadian public broadcaster CBC News, the March 20 lawsuit names Melanie Desjarlais, former financial director of the First Nations National Guardians Network (FNNGN), as the sole perpetrator of the alleged fraud. The FNNGN is a federally funded non-profit founded in 2022, based in the cross-border Mohawk community of Akwesasne spanning Ontario, Quebec, and New York. The organization was tapped in 2024 to independently administer CA$27.6 million in federal funding for 80 separate Indigenous Guardians programs across Canada, which train and employ Indigenous community members to carry out critical conservation and ecological research on their traditional territories.

Court documents outline that when the FNNGN executive director took medical leave in August 2025, Desjarlais became the only staff member with full day-to-day control over the non-profit’s finances. Over the following seven months, through August 2025 to March 2026, she is accused of making more than CA$6.3 million in unauthorized charges on the organization’s corporate credit cards. These charges were diverted to personal spending, including multiple vacations, tickets to professional hockey games, and systematic transfers to the Jamaican artist, the suit alleges.

The court filings detail a multi-step alleged money laundering scheme. Desjarlais is accused of spending nearly US$2.78 million of the non-profit’s funds to purchase TikTok coins, the platform’s virtual currency that users can gift to content creators during live streams. Gifted coins convert to diamonds, which creators can cash out for real funds, and court documents note that this system can be exploited as a vehicle for illicit money movement. In addition to the TikTok coin transfers, direct PayPal records show more than US$750,000 was sent directly from Desjarlais to the dancehall artist. Some of these transfers included personal messages such as “Happy early birthday!” and one CA$5,000 transfer was labeled: “This is the last payment, the other one was an error. Love you and I’m sorry for everything.” Court documents also note court filings indicate Desjarlais and the artist may have had a romantic relationship. The Jamaican artist’s name is being withheld at this time by media outlets covering the case.

Further records show Desjarlais traveled to Jamaica twice on the non-profit’s dime, once in October 2025 and again in January 2026. By late November 2025, the non-profit had depleted so much funds that scheduled payments to local Indigenous Guardians programs across the country halted due to insufficient balances, according to court filings.

To date, none of the allegations against Desjarlais have been tested or proven in court. Desjarlais has declined to comment on the allegations through her legal representation.

The revelation of the alleged fraud has already triggered major administrative and regulatory changes. The Canadian federal government, through Environment and Climate Change Canada, which originally provided the program funding, has stepped in to take over all future distribution of Indigenous Guardians funds allocated to FNNGN. A government spokesperson confirmed Ottawa was notified of the unauthorized transactions and is expanding a routine audit of the non-profit’s financial practices.

The FNNGN’s legal counsel, Matthew Sammon, told reporters the organization is actively and aggressively working to recover the misappropriated public funds. Sammon emphasized that the alleged financial misconduct stems from the actions of a single individual and does not reflect the core mission or values of the network.

Canadian courts have already taken emergency action to protect potential recovery of the funds: an injunction freezing all of Desjarlais’s global assets was granted last month and extended by the court on April 2. The lawsuit itself seeks CA$10 million in combined damages and restitution on charges of deceit, conversion, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment.

For Indigenous communities that rely on the program for funding and employment, the allegations have sparked acute concern. Elder David Scott, who trains young Guardians at Manitoba’s Swan Lake First Nation, told CBC the funding is critical to the success of local conservation work, leaving the program’s future in his community uncertain as the case moves forward.

In a series of interconnected developments shaking the Middle East on Monday, multiple key actors have laid out stark new positions that deepen ongoing conflict and complicate diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis.

First, in Beirut, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem delivered a televised address urging Lebanese officials to scrap a scheduled Tuesday meeting between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. set to take place in Washington. The Iran-backed militant group, which has been engaged in open conflict with Israel since March 2, has long rejected direct negotiations with the Israeli state. Qassem called on Lebanon to take a “historic and heroic stance” by canceling the planned talks entirely.

Meanwhile, global energy markets are bracing for growing strain as the conflict disrupts critical supply chains, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned Monday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund gathering in Washington, Birol noted that March energy shipments were largely filled with cargo loaded before the current Middle Eastern crisis erupted. But April will bring a far tighter market, he stressed, explaining that “during the month of April, nothing has been loaded.” Birol added that the severity of the global energy shortage will grow in lockstep with how long the current supply disruption persists.

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a series of conflicting and uncorroborated claims along with sharp new threats against Iran amid the escalating standoff. On Truth Social, Trump claimed that 34 commercial vessels have successfully traversed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, calling this the highest number recorded since what he labeled a “foolish closure” of the strait began. The figure could not be independently verified by outlets as of Monday.

Trump also doubled down on criticism of Pope Leo XIV, who recently called for an immediate end to Middle East hostilities, saying he had “nothing to apologise for” for his earlier remarks. The president argued the Pope had gotten his position wrong, claiming the pontiff opposed Trump’s hardline policy on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and lambasted the U.S-born Pope as “very weak on crime and other things.” The criticism drew a swift rebuke from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called Trump’s remarks about the head of the Catholic Church “unacceptable.”

Despite the heightened tensions, Trump claimed Monday that Iranian officials have reached out to the U.S. seeking to negotiate a peace agreement, just days after weekend talks hosted by Pakistan ended without a breakthrough. Speaking to reporters outside the Oval Office, Trump said “I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side. They’d like to make a deal. Very badly, very badly,” though he declined to name which Iranian officials had initiated contact.

Alongside announcing a new U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports that took effect Monday, Trump issued a blunt warning that American forces would destroy any Iranian fast attack craft that approached the blockade line. “Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED,” he wrote on Truth Social, claiming that the rest of Iran’s navy had already been “completely obliterated.” Trump added that U.S. forces would use the same airstrike tactics employed against suspected drug trafficking vessels off the Venezuelan coast to target the Iranian craft.

Even after the failed Pakistan-hosted talks over the weekend, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed in brief televised remarks to his cabinet that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire remains in place. “The ceasefire is still holding and, as I speak, full efforts are underway to resolve the outstanding issues,” Sharif said, confirming that diplomatic negotiations are still ongoing to reach a lasting peace deal.

Jamaica’s parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has launched a deeper investigation into operational irregularities at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), moving to summon three key current and former leaders of the institution to answer for red flags raised in a critical Auditor General performance audit.

The decision to call in the witnesses was formalized at the opening of the PAC’s weekly sitting on Tuesday, as committee members continued their review of the audit, which focused on three high-stakes areas of UHWI operations: procurement practices, institutional governance, and financial management.

PAC Chairman Julian Robinson told fellow committee members that ongoing inquiry had already made one fact clear: the UHWI’s current sitting management team does not have the ability to provide satisfactory responses to a host of critical questions outlined in the Auditor General’s December 2025 report.

“From our first meeting two weeks ago, it has been apparent to me that the current management of the university hospital is not positioned to answer many of our questions related to the facility’s day-to-day and strategic operations,” Robinson explained in remarks to the committee. “I am seeking this body’s approval to summon current CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell—who is currently on leave—former CEO Kevin Allen, and ex-board chairman Wayne Chai Chong, so we can get clear answers to the outstanding questions we have about this institution.”

Mitchell, the UHWI’s sitting chief executive, has already been on approved leave since the public scrutiny of the hospital’s operations began. Allen led the facility’s operations in his tenure as the top executive, while Chai Chong oversaw the UHWI’s board and held ultimate governance and oversight responsibility during his time as chairman.

The committee unanimously backed Robinson’s proposal, and parliamentary staff have already been instructed to draft and deliver formal summons letters to all three individuals ahead of the next scheduled PAC probe session.

The damning Auditor General report, which was formally tabled in Jamaica’s parliament in December 2025, outlined a series of severe deficiencies across UHWI’s operational framework. Among the most pressing concerns highlighted in the audit are dysfunctional and high-risk procurement systems, gaping weaknesses in internal financial controls, missing or incomplete documentation for major transactions, and repeated, documented breaches of the government’s established public institutional operating procedures.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — In the wake of public controversy over a misrepresented grant amount at an official ceremony, Jamaica’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) has issued a formal explanation of how funding is allocated under the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS), a major post-hurricane housing recovery initiative.

The public confusion emerged after photos circulated showing beneficiary Angela Allen holding a ceremonial cheque for JMD $500,000 at a February 25 handover event in Hanover, but Allen ultimately only received a disbursement of $200,000. The discrepancy sparked widespread discussion online and prompted criticism from opposition members of parliament, who have raised accusations of potential unfair targeting of beneficiaries under the programme.

In a detailed media statement released Tuesday, the ministry pushed back against the criticism and laid out the full context of the Hanover ceremony incident. Officials explained that Allen was not among the pre-selected beneficiaries scheduled to be highlighted during the public event. Before she took the stage, MLSS representatives explicitly notified her that the oversized ceremonial cheque used for photo opportunities would not reflect her actual approved grant amount. Immediately after the ceremony concluded, Allen received an official text notification confirming her $200,000 award, and she relayed receipt of that notification to on-site ministry staff at the time. Ministry representatives reaffirmed to Allen then that the value displayed on the ceremonial cheque did not match her eligibility tier.

The MLSS emphasized that all actual grant disbursements under the ROOFS programme follow a strict tiered structure, with award amounts determined exclusively by the verified classification of damage to a beneficiary’s home. Damage is categorized into three tiers: minor, major, and severe structural impact, with corresponding grant amounts aligned to each level.

Official disbursement only moves forward after a formal damage assessment is completed, verified, and approved. Beneficiaries receive formal notification of their approved grant amount through official digital channels, including text messages that include a unique voucher code and a scannable QR code link to access further details.

Addressing ongoing concerns about the programme’s implementation, Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr. defended the initiative’s structure, noting that ROOFS integrates innovative digital systems and strengthened accountability mechanisms designed to streamline post-hurricane housing recovery for Jamaican households. To date, the ministry has completed damage assessments for approximately 113,000 households across the island and is continuing to scale up operations to address unmet demand. As of the latest update, the programme has disbursed a total of $9.5 billion in grant funding to all fully verified and approved beneficiaries.

In a significant step toward warming bilateral relations with oil-rich Venezuela following the removal of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro, the United States announced a rollback of sanctions against the South American nation’s central bank on Tuesday, marking the Trump administration’s latest pivot toward deeper engagement with the new interim government.

The U.S. Treasury Department rolled out a new general license that clears the way for U.S. and international commercial entities to establish formal financial ties with the Venezuelan central bank, as well as three additional major domestic financial institutions: Banco Universal, Banco Digital de los Trabajadores, and Banco del Tesoro.

This regulatory adjustment unlocks a range of critical financial activities that had been blocked for years under U.S. restrictive measures. Venezuelan financial institutions will now be permitted to carry out cross-border wire transfers, offer fully functional credit and debit card processing services, and conduct a host of other routine financial operations that had been off-limits to most global partners.

Tuesday’s policy shift comes exactly two weeks after the Trump administration lifted punitive sanctions against interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed the country’s top executive role after a U.S.-backed military operation removed Maduro from power in January.

Diplomatic relations between Washington and Caracas have warmed steadily since Maduro’s ouster, with Rodriguez’s interim government moving quickly to meet core demands laid out by U.S. President Donald Trump. Most notably, the new administration has opened Venezuela’s massive energy sector to expanded investment and operations by American oil and gas companies.

This latest sanctions rollback builds on a series of reciprocal moves over recent months. The United States has already relaxed a seven-year-wide full oil embargo on Venezuela, issuing targeted licenses that permit a small group of major multinational energy corporations to resume operations in the country, provided they adhere to specified transparency and regulatory conditions. Completing the normalization of diplomatic presence, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas resumed full formal operations last month, nearly seven years after it was ordered closed amid rising tensions with the Maduro government.