In a parliamentary address addressing growing public frustration over delayed pledged back pay for civil servants, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has pushed back against widespread claims that a lack of government funding is to blame for the outstanding payments, which the administration has committed to fully settling by the end of 2025. Instead, Browne pointed to a cascade of administrative and documentation issues as the core root of the ongoing delays, clarifying that only a tiny fraction of legitimate claims remain unprocessed.\n\nBrowne outlined multiple key problems that have slowed disbursement of the promised funds to public sector workers. Incomplete record-keeping across government ministries and departments, he explained, has led to major gaps in the payment rosters submitted to the national Treasury. Among the most high-profile omissions, the prime minister confirmed that dozens of active police officers were accidentally left off submitted lists, barring them from receiving the pay they are owed. Beyond accidental omissions, Browne added, widespread administrative errors and a flood of ineligible claims have further bogged down the processing system.\n\nThe prime minister specified exactly which groups do not qualify for the current round of back pay, including any individuals who left public sector employment before 2018, newly hired workers who have only recently joined the civil service, and people working on fixed-term government contracts. Contrary to public narratives that claim thousands of eligible workers are still waiting for payment, Browne emphasized that as of the day prior to his parliamentary address, the number of unresolved legitimate claims remained very small.\n\nBeyond processing issues, Browne publicly acknowledged long-running complaints about poor customer treatment from Treasury staff working on the back pay claims. Confirming reports that frontline Treasury employees have been dismissive or rude to claimants seeking updates on their payments, the prime minister said he has directly instructed the Financial Secretary to organize mandatory customer service training for all relevant staff to resolve this cultural issue.\n\nLooking ahead, Browne said the government is on track to clear all remaining outstanding claims within the next few months, and pushed back against critics who have attacked the administration’s handling of the back pay process. He stressed that his government is the first administration since Antigua and Barbuda gained independence to commit to bringing all public sector back pay completely up to date, reaffirming that the government has already set aside the full funding required to settle all eligible claims. “It’s not a matter of not having the monies to pay the back pay,” he reiterated. “We’re the first administration, certainly since independence, that would have brought back pay fully up to date.”
分类： politics
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Work Continues at Information Commissioner’s Office, Parliament Told
In a recent parliamentary update, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has confirmed that final construction work is still progressing at the new permanent location for the Office of the Information Commissioner. The announcement came as Browne responded to two separate parliamentary questions regarding the office’s current location and expected completion date for its new facility.
According to Browne, he received a progress report from the Member of Parliament representing St. John’s City South, which confirmed that the new purpose-built facility is not yet fully finished. “I’m told that there’s still some work to be done on the building,” the prime minister told lawmakers during the session.
For the time being, the Office of the Information Commissioner will continue its operations out of its temporary accommodation at the Francis Trading building located on High Street in St. John’s. Browne did not share specific details about what work remains unfinished at the new site, nor did he outline an exact breakdown of construction costs or the scope of the remaining tasks.
When pressed by legislators on a clear timeline for when the new office will be ready for the Information Commissioner to fully occupy, Browne shared that the Attorney General has advised the office will be prepared within a six-month window. This six-month timeline aligns with his earlier confirmation that work is still ongoing at the current site, bringing clarity to lawmakers who have sought updates on the establishment of the long-awaited government office. No firm specific completion date was announced alongside the six-month target, leaving room for potential adjustments as construction progresses.
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Gov’t workers to receive mandatory training in AI
At the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference held this week at Montego Bay’s St James Convention Centre, a major government digital modernization initiative was unveiled that will require all public sector employees from senior leadership to frontline staff to complete mandatory artificial intelligence training. The program, designed to upgrade Jamaica’s public service and streamline service delivery for citizens both at home and abroad, was announced by Trevor Forrest, senior advisor to Science, Technology and Special Projects Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley in the Office of the Prime Minister, during a plenary session focused on leveraging diaspora expertise to build Jamaica’s digital and AI-enabled future.
Forrest explained that the core goal of the mandatory training scheme is to equip every government worker with a foundational understanding of artificial intelligence, its practical use cases across public administration, and the ethical frameworks that govern responsible AI deployment. A key barrier the initiative aims to address is the widespread apprehension many public sector employees hold toward emerging technologies: a common concern among workers is that AI will displace existing roles, leading to reluctance to adopt new tools that could otherwise improve operational performance.
“Even as cutting-edge technological tools become more accessible to government institutions, their actual ability to drive improvement depends entirely on the people who use them daily,” Forrest noted during his address. “Many workers in the public system remain wary of these innovations, under the assumption that AI will take over their jobs. That misconception holds back progress across all ministries, departments, and agencies.”
By centering training on both the practical benefits of AI and its ethical guidelines, the Jamaican government aims to build buy-in across the public workforce, encouraging smoother adoption of AI tools that cut red tape, reduce processing times, and make public services more accessible. Forrest emphasized that boosting internal government efficiency does not only benefit administrative operations — the gains will ultimately flow through to all Jamaicans, including members of the diaspora who engage with government institutions from overseas.
The mandatory AI training program is just one component of Jamaica’s broader national strategy to prepare its workforce and public institutions for a rapidly evolving digital global economy. Government leaders have framed the initiative as a critical step toward modernizing the public sector, ensuring that AI is deployed responsibly across all government functions, and positioning Jamaica as a forward-looking leader in Caribbean digital transformation.
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Opposition raises questions over potential conflict of interest in Paymaster acquisition
Jamaica’s main opposition party, the People’s National Party (PNP), is calling for full public clarity after Cabinet Minister Audrey Marks recently reclaimed a controlling stake in Paymaster, a major digital payments firm that operates directly within the sector her portfolio oversees. The PNP argues that the overlap between Marks’ government responsibilities and her private business interest creates legitimate, unaddressed questions about conflict of interest management and the integrity of government decision-making.
Marks currently serves as Jamaica’s Minister of Efficiency, Innovation and Digital Transformation, a role that gives her direct oversight over policy shaping the country’s digital services, national payment systems, and fast-growing fintech ecosystem. As the PNP outlined in an official media statement, Paymaster is a core player in this exact space, delivering widespread digital transaction and payment processing services to public and private clients across Jamaica. The firm’s operations also intersect with Jamaica’s broader digital and telecommunications regulatory landscape, where private regulated providers operate under government-designed policy and rules, deepening the potential for overlapping interests.
“This situation inherently underscores the urgent need for full clarity and transparency around how any potential conflicts are being managed,” the PNP’s statement reads. The opposition has outlined four key pieces of information the public is entitled to receive to resolve growing concerns. First, it wants confirmation on whether Marks applied for and received formal approval or an exemption from the Parliamentary Ethics Committee for her controlling ownership stake in Paymaster while holding a Cabinet position. Second, it is calling for verification that all required financial and business interest disclosures have been submitted and reviewed in line with established parliamentary rules for sitting legislators with private commercial holdings.
Third, the PNP is demanding details on what formal recusal protocols and conflict management frameworks have been put in place to ensure Marks does not participate in any Cabinet or policy discussions that could directly or indirectly benefit Paymaster or alter its competitive position in the market. Fourth, it wants public confirmation of what safeguards exist to guarantee that government policy on digital transformation, digital payments, fintech, and related sectors remains fully independent of any actual or perceived private interest tied to the minister’s holdings.
The PNP emphasized that the call for transparency is not an accusation of wrongdoing, but a necessary step to protect public trust in government. “For a Cabinet minister to hold ownership in a company operating within a sector directly connected to her ministerial responsibilities inevitably raises questions that must be transparently addressed,” the party stated. “The issue is not whether any wrongdoing has occurred. The issue is whether sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest arising from this overlap. Clarity in this matter is not optional, it is essential.”
Marks founded Paymaster originally back in 1998. The company built a nationwide network of locations across Jamaica to offer bill payment, transaction processing and other financial services to individual consumers, private businesses and government agencies. A Paymaster spokesperson confirmed that the deal to transfer back controlling ownership to Marks finalized negotiations that were first launched in 2024, before Marks was appointed to her current Cabinet post and elected as Member of Parliament for Manchester North Eastern.
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Moxey touts GB rebound but skips resort details
During Monday’s sitting of the Bahamas House of Assembly, Ginger Moxey, the Cabinet minister responsible for Grand Bahama, delivered an optimistic assessment of the island’s post-recession and post-hurricane economic rebound to lawmakers, though she declined to offer new clarity on the two largest and most hotly debated infrastructure projects pending on the island: the stalled Grand Lucayan resort development and the planned redevelopment of Grand Bahama International Airport.
Moxey framed Grand Bahama’s current trajectory as a three-part story of full recovery, widespread reconstruction, and systemic transformation, pointing to a cumulative pipeline of active and completed investments totaling more than $3.5 billion that she says are reshaping the island’s economic foundation.
Despite the upbeat overview, Moxey’s budget address left unaddressed the core questions that opposition lawmakers have repeatedly pressed the ruling Davis administration to answer regarding the two high-stakes unfinished projects. Kwasi Thompson, the Member of Parliament for East Grand Bahama, specifically pressed Moxey to disclose the current status of the Grand Lucayan development and share a timeline for settling outstanding wage payments owed to former workers connected to the project.
In her response, Moxey reaffirmed that the Grand Lucayan property remains a central pillar of the government’s broader tourism redevelopment strategy, critical to expanding Freeport’s available hotel room inventory and supporting the local economy. She offered no concrete details, however, on immediate next steps for the site.
On the topic of Grand Bahama International Airport, Moxey similarly acknowledged that the facility is a linchpin for the island’s tourism, transportation network, and ability to attract outside investment. She confirmed that redevelopment planning remains on schedule, but did not share a formal completion timeline or any specific details about the scope of upcoming work. This lack of transparency comes less than a week after Frazette Gibson, MP for Central Grand Bahama, publicly accused the administration of keeping the Bahamian public in the dark about the future of the Grand Lucayan.
Speaking during her own budget address the previous week, Gibson argued: “The country still does not know what the government intends to do on the Grand Lucayan. The matter is still shrouded in confusion and secrecy.” Gibson also joined opposition calls for clarity on when outstanding wages and benefits will be disbursed to former employees of Lucayan Renewal Holdings, the state-owned entity previously tasked with overseeing the Grand Lucayan project. Additionally, she pushed for updates on the government’s search for a private development partner to lead the airport’s redevelopment and asked when U.S. border preclearance services, a critical draw for international travelers, will be restored at the facility.
Moxey used her address to shine a spotlight on the multiple major development projects that are already advancing across the island. These include the $600 million Celebration Key cruise destination, which has officially opened to visitors and is now moving into its second phase of construction. She also noted that the $450 million MSC Cruise Port development is progressing on schedule, and the $348 million Royal Caribbean resort project at Xanadu Beach continues to move forward.
Beyond tourism, Moxey highlighted ongoing progress across key public and private sector projects: the new Freeport Health Campus is under active construction, and the expanded Doctors Hospital facility is nearing completion. A new dry dock has been delivered to the Grand Bahama Shipyard, with additional units on the way to expand the island’s growing maritime industry. Construction is ongoing for the Innovate 242 business incubator, and energy firm Liwathon has completed its acquisition of the South Riding Point terminal and is pouring new reinvestment into the property.
Visible revitalization efforts are also underway in downtown Freeport, Moxey said, while Island Impressions, a new cultural attraction based at the Grand Bahama Arts and Crafts Centre, is on track for its official launch. Construction on the Fishing Hole Cultural Village is set to begin in the near future, preliminary prep work has started for the rehabilitation and reopening of West Sunrise Highway, and the acquisition of the International Bazaar and Royal Oasis property is in the final stages of completion. The Afro-Caribbean Marketplace and Logistics Centre remains in the pre-construction planning phase.
At the University of The Bahamas North campus, Moxey confirmed that Phase One of the expansion project is fully complete, and Phase Two is on track to be fully operational for the fall 2026 academic semester. In a final exchange during the debate, Gibson questioned Moxey about a reported $60,000 government allocation for a youth club initiative. Moxey had previously told lawmakers that Agritech cadets are halfway through their year-long training program, and the Young Innovators Club will launch an engagement tour of schools and youth organizations across the island this coming September. In response to Gibson’s question, Moxey said she had no knowledge of the specific $60,000 allocation Gibson referenced.
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EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to visit Dominican Republic
The Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic is gearing up to make regional diplomatic history this June, as it prepares to welcome high-level trade and political delegates for the fifth ministerial meeting of the EU-CARIFORUM Joint Council. Running from June 18 to 20, this landmark gathering marks the first time the Dominican Republic has hosted the high-profile diplomatic dialogue between the European Union and CARIFORUM’s 15 member states.
Heading the European delegation to the talks is Maroš Šefčovič, the European Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security. Šefčovič will share co-chairing responsibilities for the meeting with two senior representatives from CARIFORUM: Theodora Constantinidou and Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, the Dominican Republic’s own lead for the partnership.
At the core of the three-day discussions will be two key strategic priorities: deepening the full implementation of the longstanding Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the blocs, and unlocking new, mutually beneficial trade and investment channels between the Caribbean region and the 27-nation European bloc. Beyond formal plenary talks, Šefčovič has a packed schedule of bilateral engagements, including planned meetings with Dominican President Luis Abinader and co-chair Eduardo Sanz Lovatón to discuss bilateral and regional priorities.
A highlight of the visit will be the 8th edition of the EPA Awards, an annual ceremony that Šefčovič will preside over. The awards shine a spotlight on both Dominican and European companies that have turned the trade agreement into a springboard for successful global expansion, growing their cross-border market share and demonstrating the tangible benefits of the partnership.
First signed back in 2008, the EU-CARIFORUM EPA has served as the foundational legal and strategic framework governing all economic cooperation and bilateral trade relations between the two regions for more than 15 years. This first-time hosting by the Dominican Republic signals the country’s growing role as a key hub for Caribbean-European engagement.
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Dominican Republic to host World Governments Summit Regional Dialogue again in 2026
Santo Domingo — The Dominican Republic has been selected to host the Latin America and Caribbean regional edition of the World Governments Summit (WGS) for the second consecutive time, with the high-profile gathering set to kick off at Cap Cana’s The St. Regis Cap Cana Resort on November 20 and 21, 2026. This landmark event marks only the second occasion in the summit’s history that it will be held outside its permanent home in Dubai, a distinction that underscores the Caribbean nation’s growing regional influence.
President Luis Abinader made the official announcement, revealing that organizers project the 2026 summit will draw nearly 400 high-level attendees. The participant list is expected to include sitting heads of state, cabinet-level ministers, senior leadership from leading global intergovernmental organizations, and top C-suite executives from major international businesses. Beyond facilitating cross-sector dialogue, Abinader emphasized that the summit will solidify the Dominican Republic’s standing as the primary regional hub for cutting-edge innovation and public sector modernization.
Víctor “Ito” Bisonó, the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, shared that preliminary planning is already well underway. Event organizers have begun extending invitations to government leaders across Latin America and the Caribbean, with a packed agenda centered on pressing shared priorities. Key discussion themes will range from forward-thinking governance models and emerging technology adoption to inclusive economic growth, sustainable tourism development, climate action, and expanding impactful public-private partnerships across the region.
Mohamed Al Sharhan, Managing Director of the World Governments Summit Organization, explained the decision to reaward the hosting rights to the Dominican Republic. He cited the nation’s consistent, unwavering commitment to advancing innovation and driving transformative change within its public institutions as a core factor in the selection. Al Sharhan added that the 2026 summit will do more than advance regional dialogue: it will deepen the longstanding strategic ties between the Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates, while further positioning the Caribbean country as the primary gateway for cross-regional cooperation and global knowledge exchange in the Latin America and Caribbean space.
Attendees will take part in a structured program of activities, including opening plenary sessions, closed-door ministerial roundtables, and interactive strategic workshops focused on addressing the future of governance and pressing shared global challenges.
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St Mary councillors urge JCF return to full council meetings amid security concerns
In the parish of St Mary, Jamaica, a growing demand for improved police engagement in local governance has emerged, as two sitting councillors are calling on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to reverse its recent policy of limiting its municipal participation to Disaster Committee gatherings. Daedre Moulton, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor representing the Retreat Division, has spearheaded this call, highlighting a noticeable drop in consistent police representation since the JCF adjusted its attendance framework.
Before the policy shift, Moulton explained, the JCF regularly sent a senior official — most often the parish’s superintendent themselves — to every full sitting of the St Mary Municipal Corporation. These in-person appearances allowed uniformed police representatives to deliver detailed, up-to-date briefings on crime trends, public safety challenges, and ongoing policing initiatives across every community in St Mary, giving elected councillors the context they needed to address constituent concerns directly.
Since the JCF moved to only attend Disaster Committee meetings, however, both the quality of information shared and the reliability of police representation have declined significantly, Moulton argued. Too often, the sporadic representatives that do attend other meetings arrive late, or come unprepared without the specific community security data that councillors need to resolve problems raised by local residents. With St Mary communities facing a steady stream of unaddressed public safety questions, Moulton emphasized that consistent, full participation at every regular council sitting is non-negotiable for effective local governance.
Moulton’s call has received backing from fellow councillor Mitzy Hudson-Hicks, who represents the Hampstead Division, signaling cross-division support for greater police accountability to the municipal governing body.
Fitzroy Wilson, chairman of the St Mary Municipal Corporation, confirmed that local leadership has already opened discussions on the issue with St Mary’s top police official, Superintendent Anthony Wallace. During those talks, Wallace attributed the low attendance to a logistical barrier: meeting notices are frequently not received or spotted by JCF representatives in time to plan for attendance. To resolve the impasse, Wallace has requested that the municipal corporation send earlier meeting reminders to the JCF to clear the way for more consistent participation going forward.
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Golding to raise deportee issue on Motion of Adjournment
A growing political controversy has emerged in Jamaica surrounding a proposed bilateral agreement with the United States that would see the Caribbean nation accept Third-Country Nationals (TCNs) deported from US territory, with opposition leaders set to challenge the administration over the negotiations during this week’s parliamentary session.
Mark Golding, leader of Jamaica’s parliamentary opposition, has formally notified House Speaker Juliet Holness of his plan to bring the unresolved agreement issue to the floor during Wednesday’s adjournment motion. Citing Standing Orders 11(1) and 11(2) of Jamaica’s parliamentary rules, Golding framed the matter as one of “definite urgent national importance” that demands immediate public discussion and government accountability.
The controversy erupted after unconfirmed reports circulated claiming Jamaican officials had agreed to accept as many as 10,000 deportees from the United States under the emerging deal. In an official statement published Wednesday by the *Jamaica Observer*, National Security and Peace Minister Dr. Horace Chang, who also serves as the country’s deputy prime minister, pushed back firmly against those claims, labeling them completely false.
Dr. Chang confirmed that preliminary negotiations for a TCN agreement are indeed ongoing between Kingston and Washington, but stressed that the scope of the arrangement has been wildly exaggerated in initial reporting. According to the minister, the deal will cap the total number of TCNs held in Jamaica at no more than 25 at any given time, with fewer than 50 new arrivals expected every two weeks. Chang added that the framework for the program has been developed in close coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency that specializes in migrant processing and resettlement. All TCNs accepted into the program will be rapidly transferred to their countries of origin, rather than being resettled permanently in Jamaica, he clarified.
Despite the government’s attempts to downplay the scope of the agreement, Golding has insisted that the public has a right to full transparency about the terms of the bilateral deal, prompting his push for an immediate parliamentary debate. The upcoming discussion during Wednesday’s adjournment motion is set to bring the simmering political dispute over migration policy into the public spotlight, as the opposition presses for greater clarity on the government’s negotiating position.
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Roberto Álvarez: document fraud still obstacle to Schengen visa exemption
SANTO DOMINGO – The Dominican Republic continues to make steady progress in its campaign to secure short-term visa-free entry to the Schengen Area, but persistent challenges linked to document fraud still stand as a major barrier to reaching the goal, according to the nation’s top diplomat.
In a recent interview on the Gepiano Podcast, Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez outlined the steps the Caribbean country has already taken to satisfy the European Union’s strict criteria for visa exemption. The rollout of biometric passports, a security upgrade that aligns Dominican travel documents with global standards, stands as one of the most critical milestones achieved to date, Álvarez noted.
However, gaining visa-free access to the 27-nation Schengen Zone is not contingent on a single reform. European regulators weigh a broad set of factors when evaluating candidate countries, including the robustness of overall document security frameworks, the reliability of national identity verification protocols, and the effectiveness of border and migration management systems. Álvarez acknowledged that in one key area, the Dominican Republic still falls short of EU expectations.
The rate of fraudulent travel and identification documents detected during immigration and consular processing remains above the maximum threshold that European authorities have established as acceptable for visa exemption, the foreign minister confirmed. To address this gap, Dominican government agencies have launched coordinated cross-institutional efforts to strengthen document verification infrastructure, overhaul national identification procedures, and crack down on rampant document forgery networks operating within the country.
Despite the current challenges, Álvarez struck an optimistic tone about the long-term outcome of the country’s efforts. He expressed confidence that the Dominican Republic will ultimately meet all requirements and unlock visa-free short-term travel for its citizens, a change that would deliver far-reaching benefits for Dominicans traveling to Europe for tourism, business ventures, academic study, and cross-cultural exchanges. Beyond direct benefits for individual travelers, Álvarez added that the push for Schengen visa exemption is a core component of the government’s broader strategy to boost the Dominican Republic’s global standing and expand safe, accessible mobility opportunities for all of its citizens.