Carib Scope

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  • JPAC Exposes Decade of Mismanagement, Calls for Sweeping Reform

    JPAC Exposes Decade of Mismanagement, Calls for Sweeping Reform

    Ten years of unaddressed dysfunction in Belize’s public financial governance has been laid bare in a scathing new report from the country’s Joint Public Accounts Committee (JPAC), which details widespread non-compliance, obsolete regulation, and institutional weaknesses that have left public spending largely unaccountable for years. Chaired by United Democratic Party Area Representative Lee Mark Chang of Mesopotamia, the committee tabled its findings in the national legislature in November 2025, following a review of the long-delayed Auditor General’s report for the 2015–2016 fiscal year – a document that sat unprocessed for nearly a full decade before it was referred to the oversight body.

    Among the most alarming revelations in the 2025 JPAC report is the near-total refusal of government entities to cooperate with national auditors. Out of every ministry, department, and public agency across Belize’s government, only the Ministry of Health responded to the Auditor General’s 2015–2016 findings and formal recommendations. All other institutions failed to engage, a direct violation of Section 8(42) of the nation’s Finance and Audit (Reform) Act, which legally mandates that relevant public personnel respond to audit inquiries. This mass non-compliance created a critical “scope of limitation” that prevented auditors from gathering sufficient evidence to complete their work properly, effectively blocking accountability for public funds.

    To address this gap, the committee has put forward two key initial reforms: first, that all current chief executive officers, financial officers, and cabinet ministers be required to submit formal written responses confirming whether the 2015–2016 audit recommendations were ever implemented. Second, it is calling on the Ministry of Finance to update and strengthen existing regulations to legally compel all government entities to respond to Auditor General requests in a timely manner.

    The document also confirms that the 2015–2016 audit ended with a formal disclaimer of opinion – the most severe qualification an auditor can issue – because core supporting financial documents were either unavailable or completely missing. This problem extends far beyond the 2015–2016 fiscal year, the committee found: multiple annual audits remain incomplete because the Accountant General has failed to submit required financial statements to the Auditor General, as mandated under Section 15(1) of the Finance and Audit Reform Act. Without submitted statements, no audit can proceed, and without audits, there can be no accountability for public spending.

    JPAC is calling on the Financial Secretary to immediately convene a high-level meeting with the Accountant General to map the full scope of the backlog, confirm which fiscal years have intact source documents, and estimate how many more audits will require a disclaimer of opinion. The committee also emphasized that where existing reports identify legal grounds to fine or discipline non-compliant public officers, responsible authorities must act and update the Financial Secretary on progress throughout the process.

    A core structural flaw undermining all audit work in Belize is the complete lack of meaningful independence for the Office of the Auditor General, the report confirms. Currently, the Auditor General cannot independently publish audit reports or release them directly to the public, and the office operates without a standalone budget. This leaves the government body tasked with overseeing public spending fully dependent on the same government it audits for funding and operational authority.

    Testifying under oath at the committee’s October 24, 2025 public hearing, Auditor General Maria Rodriguez shared that a January 2025 review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office specifically recommended sweeping changes: granting her office independent authority to publish reports, securing budgetary independence via direct budget submission to the National Assembly, and giving the Auditor General control over internal human resources management. JPAC has called on the Financial Secretary to release a formal position statement on these requested reforms, and if approved, the Ministry of Finance will seek legal guidance to draft the required legislative changes.

    The report also highlights that the foundational rulebook for public financial management in Belize has not been updated in more than 60 years. While the Finance and Audit (Reform) Act was passed in 2011 to modernize governance, the core Financial Orders that guide daily public financial management were written in the 1960s and have never been revised to align with the newer legislation. During a November 17 committee meeting, Senator Kevin Herrera noted that this mismatch creates widespread legal confusion: public officers often do not know which set of rules applies, and this uncertainty has become a cover for intentional or accidental non-compliance. The 2015–2016 audit already documented widespread “unfamiliarity” with the outdated Financial Orders among financial compliance staff, and the committee has moved quickly to authorize hiring an independent consultant to review and update both Financial and Store Orders to align with current law.

    Poor record management across government has further exacerbated accountability gaps, the report finds. Government records, files, and financial documents are regularly mishandled, stored improperly, or lost, in violation of national law requiring all public records to be preserved for 20 years. Public hearings heard descriptions of decades-old physical records in decaying condition, scattered across unsecure storage sites, and in some cases, destroyed without the legally required notification to JPAC. The committee has called for a national audit of government storage capacity, plus formal circulars reminding all public personnel of their legal records management obligations, specifically requiring JPAC notification before any records are destroyed.

    The committee also uncovered a persistent pattern that disrupts ongoing audit work: key staff at both the Auditor General’s Office and the Treasury Department are regularly transferred or approved for vacation leave while audits are active. While the committee did not confirm whether these disruptions were intentional or coincidental, it noted that the Auditor General and Accountant General have almost no control over their own staffing decisions, which are fully managed by the Ministry of Public Service. Accountant General Teresita Miranda confirmed that her department faces 30% annual staff attrition, with 90% of departures resulting from transfers approved by the public service ministry. JPAC has recommended a cross-ministerial meeting between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Service, Auditor General, and Accountant General to explore reforms that give audit offices meaningful input into hiring, retention, compensation, and leave decisions for their staff. The committee also supports a legislative change to permanently ban anyone convicted of fraud or public fund mismanagement from any government-compensated employment, a reform that would require joint action from the Public Services Commission, Belize Police Department, and Ministry of Public Service.

    The scale of the current audit backlog means Belize will not have up-to-date public financial audits until 2029 at the earliest, even if all reforms are implemented immediately. The Auditor General testified that under current rules that only allow audits of one fiscal year at a time, and assuming all future financial statements are submitted without delay, full catch-up will take another four years. While the 2019–2020 financial statements have been submitted, limited source documentation from line ministries means future disclaimers of opinion are highly likely. Under the current framework, financial statements for the 2025–2026 current fiscal year will not even be ready for submission until January 2028. Notably, the Accountant General added that restructuring her department to separate financial statement preparation and verification duties would cost less than $100,000 annually, requiring only two to three additional full-time staff.

    Most damning of all, the committee notes, is that these same problems were formally flagged in a 2018 JPAC minority report covering the 2012–2013 fiscal year, and no meaningful action was taken to address them. The 2018 report warned that public financial mismanagement was growing annually regardless of which political party held power, estimating Belize lost tens of millions of dollars each year to incompetence, corruption, dishonesty, and administrative omission. For the 2012–2013 period alone, the Ministry of Works lost more than $1.18 million due to non-compliance with store management rules. Despite the 2018 report calling for immediate action, estimating full implementation of reforms would cost less than $2 million annually, the same issues remain unaddressed seven years later.

    Moving forward, the United Nations Development Programme has offered a forensic accounting consultant to support JPAC’s work on its backlog of pending reviews, which include unreviewed 2014–2015 audits and two special reports on the Belize Sports Council and Julian Cho Technical High School. JPAC is also seeking a dedicated standalone budget from the Ministry of Finance to cover legal support, research assistance, and public hearing media outreach, recognizing that without independent resources, the committee cannot fulfill its constitutional oversight mandate.

    In his foreword to the report, Chang emphasized that public financial accountability is a shared national responsibility. The report’s 11 core findings and more than 20 reform recommendations will now go to the full House of Representatives for adoption. Whether this round of findings will lead to meaningful change after a decade of inaction remains to be seen.

  • Hoefdraad verweert zich schriftelijk via raadslieden tegenover hoorcommissie in DNA

    Hoefdraad verweert zich schriftelijk via raadslieden tegenover hoorcommissie in DNA

    On Thursday, a parliamentary hearing committee in Suriname received a formal defense submission from fugitive former minister Gillmore Hoefdraad, filed in response to an impeachment motion brought by Prosecutor General Garcia Paragsingh. The 60-page defense document and accompanying legal arguments were presented to the committee by Hoefdraad’s legal team, led by attorneys Murwin Dubois and Milton Castelen, who represented the former minister in his absence.

    According to Dubois, the legal arrangement allowing Hoefdraad’s defense to proceed without his physical presence is explicitly permitted under Article 8 of the Law on Impeachment for Political and Former Political Officeholders (WIPA). Dubois explained to local outlet Starnieuws that the statute grants sitting and former political officials the right to determine how they exercise their legal defense rights, justifying the team’s representation of Hoefdraad in his absence. This procedural move triggered immediate pushback, however: all members and observers from the opposition VHP party walked out of the hearing in protest. Only VHP committee member Mahinder Jogi remained briefly to pose one question to the defense team before departing, citing urgent prior commitments.

    In a written statement included in the defense submission, Hoefdraad pushed back against assertions that his absence shows disrespect for Suriname’s parliament, the country’s highest constitutional body. “My absence cannot under any circumstances be interpreted as a lack of respect for this highest constitutional organ of our republic. On the contrary, it is precisely out of respect for the institutions of the rule of law that I feel obliged to state openly that I politically condemn policy decisions that the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and judiciary have labeled as criminal in a politically charged process,” he wrote.

    The former minister made clear he has no confidence that he will receive an objective and impartial hearing from the judiciary that oversees the Public Prosecution Service. Beyond concerns about procedural fairness, Hoefdraad also said he fears for his personal safety and freedom, claiming the OM operates outside legal and ethical constraints. He further argued that Prosecutor General Paragsingh is acting on ad-hoc legislation that lacks any constitutional foundation, and that the proceedings are being carried out on the instructions of the late former president Chan Santokhi.

    Hoefdraad’s defense filing goes into granular detail addressing the specific allegations leveled against him by the OM, while also laying out his account of what he calls a systematic political campaign targeted against him. The document is structured in two main sections, one of which dedicates particular attention to the international dimension of the case, after the OM requested assistance from Interpol to locate and extradite Hoefdraad back to Suriname.

    Hoefdraad emphasized that Interpol has formally taken the position that his prosecution is politically motivated, riddled with falsehoods, and inconsistent with Interpol’s own governing regulations. To date, every extradition request submitted by the OM through Interpol has been rejected by the international policing body.

  • Workers Union Says Draft SARA Legislation Is “Deficient”

    Workers Union Says Draft SARA Legislation Is “Deficient”

    Belize’s national cabinet has given formal approval to a phased plan to restructure the country’s existing Tax Services Department into a new Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority (SARA), a proposal framed by government officials as a critical step to modernize the nation’s revenue collection systems. The overhaul, which will be overseen by the Ministry of Finance, will touch every core part of the department’s operations, including its governance structure, staffing model, and daily service delivery. But what the government frames as a progressive upgrade has sparked sustained pushback from the Belize Public Service Union (PSU), the body representing public sector workers across the country.

    PSU president Dean Flowers has sharply criticized the Ministry of Finance for what he calls a fundamentally flawed and non-transparent development process for the reform. Speaking after the steering committee overseeing the SARA project released the first full draft of the enabling legislation, Flowers argued that the government failed to meaningfully include the union and affected workers in early planning stages. He described the Ministry of Finance’s outreach as completely inadequate, saying, “The Ministry of Finance had done a horrible job in engaging and disclosing and being transparent with what they wanted to do with one of the largest revenue-generating departments of government.”

    Flowers’ primary criticism centers on the draft legislation itself, which he labels “deficient” in its protections for public sector workers. The draft, he says, fails to adequately safeguard existing worker benefits and guarantee long-term job security for current employees of the Tax Services Department, raising alarm that the restructuring could erode core worker rights. While the government has allocated a 30-day public comment period for stakeholders to submit feedback on the draft, Flowers says the union has yet to receive the underlying data and analytical studies that the government cites to justify the shift to a semi-autonomous structure.

    The government has pointed to recommendations from the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), a regional body that supports public financial management reform across the Caribbean, as evidence that the transition will benefit Belize. But Flowers pushed back on that third-party endorsement, noting that external advisors do not face the same personal and professional risks that frontline public workers face if the reform goes wrong. “CARTAC is not feeling the pain and experiencing what Belizeans are feeling. CARTAC is providing recommendation from a third-party standpoint of view,” he said. The union has confirmed it will conduct a full line-by-line review of the draft legislation over the 30-day comment window, and will submit formal, detailed input to the steering committee outlining its demands for major revisions to protect worker interests.

  • Mobile AI system to track, intercept traffic ticket evaders

    Mobile AI system to track, intercept traffic ticket evaders

    On Friday, May 22, 2026, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali announced a sweeping transformation of the country’s law enforcement and traffic management infrastructure, centered on cutting-edge artificial intelligence integration, during a public press briefing. The ambitious initiative kicks off with an AI-enabled vehicle tracking system designed to automatically identify and intercept motorists with outstanding unpaid traffic tickets, a tool that already delivered tangible results in an early pilot held earlier this week.

    During the pilot deployment, President Ali explained, mobile AI-powered scanning units detected 250 vehicles carrying unaddressed traffic penalties, all of which were subsequently detained. Unlike traditional manual traffic enforcement, which relies on officer discretion and manual checks, the new system is engineered to be fully tamper-resistant, with built-in protocols to flag any attempts at technological manipulation. “No human can interfere with the system,” Ali emphasized, underscoring the government’s goal of eliminating bias and corruption in routine traffic enforcement.

    The AI policing rollout extends far beyond traffic ticket enforcement, with plans to expand the technology to public safety monitoring for pedestrian areas and large public gatherings. The system will be capable of analyzing crowd movement patterns and identifying potentially high-risk behavior to preempt public safety incidents. To support this expanded capability, the government will add at least 25,000 new CCTV cameras across the country, creating a fully interconnected national monitoring network.

    Mobile scanning units can be positioned at any fixed or moving location, delivering 360-degree panoramic coverage of surrounding traffic to flag a wide range of moving violations in real time. President Ali noted that this deployment places Guyana at the forefront of adopting modern law enforcement technology in the Caribbean region.

    As part of the broader smart infrastructure upgrade, the existing national CCTV network will be fully integrated with the new intelligent traffic system, augmented by sensor-enabled road infrastructure. These sensors will power adaptive traffic light management that automatically adjusts signal timings based on real-time vehicle volume, a feature scheduled to be fully installed across the country by the end of 2026. The upgrade is expected to cut chronic traffic congestion in urban centers and cut down on commute times for local residents.

    The government also plans to digitize front-end police services, replacing in-person front desk operations at police stations with a multilingual digital application. The app will allow residents to file crime reports online, track the progress of their reports electronically, and generate official case documents. For residents without reliable internet access, self-service kiosks will be installed at stations to process applications for police clearance certificates and other official law enforcement documents, streamlining what has historically been a time-consuming, in-person process.

    To ensure the initiative delivers on its efficiency and security goals, President Ali confirmed that Guyana will partner with international security and technology stakeholders, including INTERPOL, the Regional Security System, and United States technological partners. These collaborations will bring technical expertise and additional resources to refine the system and align it with global best practices for modern, rights-respecting law enforcement technology.

    The announcement marks one of the most significant overhauls of Guyana’s public security and traffic management systems in recent decades, as the government pushes to modernize infrastructure to keep pace with the country’s rapid economic growth in recent years.

  • LETTER: Young People Feel Used After Election Promises Go Quiet

    LETTER: Young People Feel Used After Election Promises Go Quiet

    For countless residents of Antigua and Barbuda, the promise of responsive, equitable governance has curdled into deep frustration, as widespread accounts of official misconduct, systemic neglect, and lack of accountability have eroded public trust in elected leadership and state institutions. What should be a straightforward process for citizens seeking support from their elected representatives has turned into a demoralizing experience for many: constituents who reach out in moments of crisis report being met with inappropriate flirtatious advances instead of the genuine assistance they need, while others who follow guidance to submit job applications to government-linked organizations are left waiting indefinitely for replies – even as those same positions are filled by new hires connected to existing officials.

    Beyond these individual disappointments, a broader crisis of accountability has taken root. After winning office on the backing of local voters, many elected officials have cut off consistent communication with the communities that put them in power, leaving constituents feeling disenfranchised. Widespread fear of victimization and retaliation for speaking out has silenced many residents, creating a culture of silence that allows unaddressed problems to fester.

    The most damaging gaps are visible within the country’s own government entities, where long-standing mismanagement has left qualified young workers locked out of opportunity while unqualified incumbents cling to posts. Multiple reports confirm that existing public employees regularly leave their assigned shifts midday to run personal side businesses, despite a large population of capable, hardworking young Antiguans and Barbudans who remain unemployed and actively seeking stable public sector work. Insiders confirm that hiring and promotion in many government offices is driven not by merit, professionalism, or competence, but by favoritism, personal connections, and partisan loyalty. In the most extreme cases, individuals with only a primary school education – and in some cases, no functional literacy or writing skills – hold critical public positions that require far greater qualifications.

    Basic public infrastructure also continues to fail residents, with road conditions emerging as a particularly persistent grievance. Across the country, road repair projects are often only partial, shoddily completed, and quick to deteriorate, leaving taxpayers frustrated by the lack of quality and long-term sustainability of public works projects that their tax dollars fund.

    Crucially, the nation’s youth demographic – the future of Antigua and Barbuda’s political landscape – are not ignoring these failures. Young voters are carefully tracking every broken campaign promise, every unfair hiring decision, and every instance of official neglect, and their growing frustration is set to reshape the country’s next electoral cycle. Political analysts and local observers agree that the upcoming election will be a direct reflection of the widespread discontent that has built up among voters who have been failed by the current system of governance.

  • DPSU president raises concerns over delayed negotiations and college board authority

    DPSU president raises concerns over delayed negotiations and college board authority

    At the 13th Biennial Delegates Conference hosted this week at the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) headquarters in Roseau, union president Steve Joseph has issued an urgent call for the immediate settlement of a slew of unresolved grievances affecting staff at the Dominica State College (DSC), warning that lingering gridlock on these matters threatens the institution’s ability to deliver quality education to students.

    Joseph outlined that the outstanding disputes date back years, ranging from a long-delayed job reclassification process for college staff to incomplete structural repairs on key sections of the campus building and un-finalized infrastructure development projects. Most critically, he noted, talks to sign a binding collective agreement between the union and the institution have dragged on without closure, creating persistent uncertainty for DSC employees.

    “When our staff are preoccupied with these unaddressed concerns, how can we expect them to bring clear, focused focus to supporting our student body?” Joseph told conference delegates. “These problems demand swift resolution, and we must work to bring all ongoing negotiations to a definitive conclusion without further delay.”

    Beyond operational and staffing issues, a core point of contention raised by Joseph centers on the legal authority of the DSC Board of Governors. While the board is formally designated as DSC’s “supreme executive body” and all members are appointed by the Ministry of Education, Joseph argues the government retains undue veto power over key institutional decisions, stripping the governing board of its ability to act independently on operational matters.

    To fix this structural imbalance, Joseph laid out two clear policy options: either amend the existing State College Act to grant the board full, unfettered autonomy to govern the college without government interference, or reverse the institutional split and bring DSC staff back under the direct umbrella of the public service. “If you are going to create an independent governing board, empower it to actually make independent decisions,” he explained. “If the central government is going to hold onto veto power over every major decision that impacts how the college runs, then we need to change the law and re-integrate DSC staff into the public service framework.”

    Joseph closed by emphasizing that the issue is too consequential to ignore, and he hopes all relevant stakeholders will come to the table for open, constructive dialogue to reach a mutually acceptable resolution.

  • Somohardjo ontkent misstanden tijdens openbare hoorzitting in DNA

    Somohardjo ontkent misstanden tijdens openbare hoorzitting in DNA

    On May 22, a high-stakes public hearing was held for former Surinamese Minister of Internal Affairs Bronto Somohardjo, convened by the parliamentary committee tasked with examining allegations against sitting and former political officeholders. The hearing was called after the country’s Prosecutor General submitted a formal request under the existing law that governs the prosecution of political officials.

    Prosecutors have put forward two core allegations against Somohardjo from his time leading the interior ministry. First, they claim that ministry staff, equipment and budget resources were improperly diverted for partisan political purposes. Second, they argue that a construction company tied to the former minister received unfair preferential treatment during the bidding and payment processes for public contracts.

    During the hearing, Somohardjo forcefully rejected every accusation, framing himself as only politically responsible for the broad policy direction of the ministry while routine administrative and operational decisions were managed by the department’s civil service leadership. “I never gave any order to act outside the bounds of the law,” Somohardjo told the committee.

    The former minister went on to note that he had never been questioned by police or the Public Prosecution Service over the claims, stating that the only official inquiry conducted into the case was completed by the Central National Audit Service (CLAD). He claimed that CLAD’s own investigation cleared him of any embezzlement or misconduct.

    Committee members and sitting members of the National Assembly put a series of detailed questions to Somohardjo, covering everything from public tender procedures to protocols governing overtime payments and the deployment of ministry staff outside of regular working hours. In response, the former minister explained that overtime hours are first reviewed and approved by department heads and senior management before he signs off on the final documentation, and he denied ever approving or signing the so-called collective summary documents cited in the allegations.

    The hearing also touched on conflicting claims over who initiated the CLAD investigation. Somohardjo asserted that former President Chan Santokhi ordered the inquiry, while politician Ronnie Brunswijk countered that Somohardjo himself requested the probe. The former minister declined to engage further in the dispute during the session.

    Multiple committee members have emphasized that the panel’s role is not to determine guilt or innocence, but only to assess whether to uphold the Prosecutor General’s request for formal prosecution. Committee member Dew Sharman warned the National Assembly against stepping onto “slippery ground” by making substantive judgments on the case’s facts, noting that it is ultimately the role of the courts to determine where the truth lies.

    In a key exchange, lawmaker Krishna Mathoera asked Somohardjo if he would be willing to let the courts adjudicate the case to clear his name. The former minister responded that he has confidence in the parliamentary committee and will leave the final decision on next steps to the full National Assembly.

    The public hearing was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ashwin Adhin after committee chair Rabin Parmessar transferred the leadership role for the session. The proceedings were not without friction, including a debate over the right of attending assembly members who are not on the committee to ask questions of the witness.

    The committee now faces a final decision on whether to approve the Prosecutor General’s request and open the door to formal prosecution against Somohardjo. This same process is already underway for two other former Surinamese ministers, Riad Nurmohamed and Gillmore Hoefdraad, whose own hearings were held behind closed doors.

  • ‘Buju’ blowback

    ‘Buju’ blowback

    A controversial police-involved killing that sparked widespread public anger across Jamaica has prompted Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to call for urgent systemic changes to how the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) handles injured and deceased individuals at crime scenes. The incident, which took place on Sunday, May 17, saw 36-year-old Latoya ‘Buju’ Bulgin shot dead by a JCF officer in Granville, St James, with graphic closed-circuit television footage of her body being roughly loaded into the bed of a police pickup truck fueling national outrage.

    According to local reports, Bulgin had been transporting passengers to a protest against the recent fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Tjey Edwards in the same area when she was stopped by officers in the community’s central square. CCTV footage shows the officer opened fire on Bulgin while she remained seated behind the steering wheel of her Toyota Voxy. A post-shooting police statement claims Bulgin had threatened to drive over the officer who fired the fatal shots. What ignited the strongest public backlash, however, was footage showing the injured woman dragged from her vehicle legs-first, left on the ground, then unceremoniously hauled into the back of a police pickup by two officers, who struggled to close the vehicle’s tailgate after loading her.

    By the following day, furious residents of Granville responded by blocking key intersections with fallen trees, discarded appliances and other debris, and setting open fires in public areas to protest the treatment of Bulgin. As public condemnation of the incident grew across the island, the JCF high command acted swiftly to place the involved officer on administrative interdiction, with independent probes launched by both the Independent Commission of Investigations and the Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau. It was against this heated backdrop that Holness announced his directive for reform during an address to graduating recruits of the JCF’s 91st Staff & Junior Command Courses at the National Police College of Jamaica in Twickenham Park, St Catherine on Friday.

    Opening his remarks, Holness extended formal condolences to Bulgin’s family, friends, and community, acknowledging the profound pain, anger, and concern the incident has sparked across the nation. He praised the JCF high command for its quick action to suspend the involved officer pending investigation, while emphasizing that the core issue at hand centers on basic human dignity. Addressing the call for procedural change, Holness noted that while Jamaica’s limited immediate access to emergency medical services creates operational complexities, the gaps in current protocols demand urgent, careful review. The prime minister confirmed that the proposed reforms would be brought before the National Security Council for formal discussion, with the goal of establishing clear, mandatory government policy for handling injured people and deceased remains at crime scenes.

    Holness framed the reform push as a critical component of the JCF’s ongoing organizational transformation, arguing that a society’s treatment of its most vulnerable members and the deceased reflects the values of its civilization. ‘We are trying to build an economy and a society, but more importantly we are building a civilisation,’ Holness told the graduating officers. ‘How we treat our injured, most vulnerable, weakest amongst us, how we treat the remains of the deceased, tells us a lot about the kind of civilisation we are. And so, if the JCF is transforming, then that must be part of the transformation.’

    The prime minister acknowledged that modern policing in Jamaica often requires split-second decision-making in high-stress, dangerous environments, noting that hyper-vigilance can be a critical survival tool for officers on patrol. But he stressed that this reality does not excuse misconduct, unlawful action, or lack of discipline, and that the difficult operating environment makes strong training, clear oversight, institutional accountability, and sound command culture even more necessary. Holness also reminded officers that their core statutory mandate above all else is the preservation and protection of human life.

    In his address, Holness highlighted significant progress the JCF has made in reducing violent crime across the island, noting that as of May 19 this year, the national murder count stood at 204, down 24 percent from 268 recorded over the same period in 2024. He credited this reduction in large part to the growing trust and cooperation between local communities and law enforcement, and warned that any violation of public trust could jeopardize these hard-won gains. ‘As we become more effective in dispatching criminals, we must always remember that our actions require the support of the public,’ Holness said. ‘It is the dignity and the integrity, the compassion that you exercise your duty that distinguishes you and gives value to the uniform that you wear.’

  • Fiscal council re-established to strengthen public purse oversight

    Fiscal council re-established to strengthen public purse oversight

    Against a backdrop of escalating global economic volatility and years of ongoing fiscal reform after a major debt restructuring, the Government of Barbados has formally re-established an independent Fiscal Council, a move designed to embed greater transparency and accountability into the country’s long-term debt reduction strategy, the Ministry of Finance announced Thursday.

    The newly reconstituted five-member body, which draws together cross-sector expertise from economics, finance, banking, and organized labor both within Barbados and across the international community, carries a clear, public-focused mandate: to verify the credibility of the economic and financial projections that form the foundation of the national budget, assess whether the government is meeting its legally and politically binding fiscal responsibility commitments, and track emerging long-term fiscal risks ranging from underperformance at state-owned enterprises to unplanned contingent liabilities and climate-related financial exposures. To keep the public fully informed, the council will publish independent annual evaluations of four key government documents: the national Fiscal Framework, the Mid-Year fiscal review, the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update, and the annual national budget. All reports will be made freely accessible to any Barbadian citizen who wishes to review them, the ministry confirmed.

    “The council’s only job is to examine the evidence and report its findings transparently to the people of Barbados,” the ministry stated in its official announcement.

    Leadership of the new council includes Ismail Momoniat, former acting director general of South Africa’s National Treasury, who will serve as chairman, and Winston Moore, a professor of economics and deputy principal at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, who takes on the role of deputy chairman. The remaining council members are Nlandu Mamingi, emeritus professor of economics; Donna Wellington, chief country management officer at CIBC Caribbean; and Cedric Murrell OBE, a veteran labor relations consultant and former president of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB). The council has already convened its first meeting, formalized its operating mandate, and begun its core work, according to the government statement.

    The Fiscal Council was first launched in May 2023 as a core component of Barbados’ International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed economic reform program, which was launched after the country completed a sweeping debt restructuring process to pull its public finances back from unsustainable levels. This reconstitution comes as the Mia Mottley administration works to sustain investor confidence and fiscal stability while navigating persistent global economic headwinds and working toward long-term debt reduction targets set under the ongoing reform initiative.

    Barbados entered the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility program in October 2018, when its public debt had surged to roughly 160% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). By June 2024, concerted reform efforts had cut that ratio to 117% of GDP, with projections showing the downward trend continuing and a long-term target of reducing debt to 60% of GDP by 2035.

    A defining feature of the new council is its full operational independence from government, the finance ministry emphasized: the body is non-statutory, not controlled by any executive branch ministry, and does not answer to political leaders. This autonomy is critical to its ability to deliver unbiased assessments, officials noted.

    Finance Minister Ryan Straughn framed the reconstituted council as a critical accountability mechanism at a moment of ongoing global economic instability. “Good governance is not just about making the right decisions, it is about being willing to be held accountable for them,” Straughn said. “No government gets everything right. Governing a small island nation in the middle of a turbulent global economy is serious work. What matters is that there are credible, independent people watching, ready to say so when we fall short and to confirm it when we do not. When they say we have fallen short, we listen, we adjust, and we act. That is how good governance actually works in practice.”

    Straughn also paid tribute to former council chairman Alejandro Werner, the former head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, who led the body during its initial setup phase. “Alejandro never treated this as a ceremonial role,” Straughn said. “He asked hard questions, he pushed for rigour, and he left the council in better shape than he found it.”

    The work of the Fiscal Council aligns with broader international recognition of Barbados’ commitment to sound fiscal management. A 2024 report from the United States Department of the Treasury, which evaluated IMF lending programs to Barbados and Suriname, noted the council was established to “further demonstrate commitment to sound fiscal management” and added that the body will hold the government accountable for transparent implementation of a fiscal strategy focused on cutting public expenditure, reforming state-owned enterprises, and embedding the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy into permanent institutional practice.

    With the reconstitution complete, the Fiscal Council of Barbados is now fully operational, the government confirmed.

  • DNA-voorzitter opent commissievergadering met nadruk op transparantie en openbaarheid

    DNA-voorzitter opent commissievergadering met nadruk op transparantie en openbaarheid

    At the opening of a key parliamentary committee session on May 22, Ashwin Adhin, president of Suriname’s National Assembly (DNA), laid out clear foundational principles for parliamentary proceedings, emphasizing the non-negotiable importance of public access, transparency, and institutional integrity across all legislative work.

    Adhin’s opening address systematically clarified the legal and procedural frameworks that govern the nature of the ongoing committee hearings, which are scheduled to question several former ministers facing investigations. The first closed-door committee session is set to hear testimony from ex-minister Riad Nurmohamed, while a third session has been scheduled to question fugitive former minister Gillmore Hoefdraad. A second hearing, scheduled for 11 a.m. the same day, will be open to the public at the request of former minister Bronto Somohardjo, who is set to testify at that session. Somohardjo has stated that the public has a right to full transparency in his case, and that he has no information to hide from Suriname’s society.

    Adhin explained that Article 82 of Suriname’s Constitution establishes the default rule that all National Assembly meetings must be open to the public, and closed-door sessions can only be held if the Assembly explicitly votes to hold proceedings behind closed doors. This structure means that confidentiality is not a default policy choice, but rather a strictly limited exception that requires formal official approval to go into effect.

    He further detailed how the National Assembly’s Rules of Order (RvO) regulate committee operations, specifically pointing to Chapter III, which states that preliminary investigations conducted by parliamentary committees are in principle open to the public, unless confidentiality is formally mandated by the full Assembly or the national cabinet. Adhin also stressed that the confidentiality rules that apply to plenary Assembly sessions do not automatically extend to committee proceedings.

    The Assembly president also addressed the special procedural framework that applies to current and former public officials facing criminal allegations, as laid out in Article 140 of the Constitution and the country’s Act on the Status of Impeachment and Prosecution of Political Officeholders (WIPA). Under this framework, a special investigative committee carries out the inquiry process, sets its own working procedures, and may close specific segments of its work to the public when deemed necessary.

    Adhin also clarified rules on committee leadership: while most standing and ad hoc committees elect their own independent chairs, the president of the National Assembly automatically serves as chair for four specific committees, including the investigative committee formed under Article 8 of the WIPA.

    Adhin confirmed that the committee had formally approved the day’s hearing schedule: the first and third testimony sessions will be held behind closed doors, while the second session will proceed as an open hearing, following a formal request from the witness and a vote among committee members approving the public session.

    Through his opening address, Adhin set a clear tone for the entire inquiry process, stressing that the country’s highest legislative body must lead by example in upholding integrity, transparency, and orderly democratic debate. Following the opening remarks, the session continued under the leadership of committee chair Rabin Parmessar.