Carib Scope

分类： society

  • PHOTOS: Their Excellencies Sir Rodney and Lady Williams highlight successful London visit

    PHOTOS: Their Excellencies Sir Rodney and Lady Williams highlight successful London visit

    In June 2026, the Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda, His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Rodney Williams, and his wife Her Excellency Sandra, Lady Williams — President of the Halo Foundation and the nation’s Goodwill Emissary — traveled from the twin Caribbean islands to London for an intensive multi-purpose schedule of charitable, diplomatic and cultural engagements headlined by the 10th anniversary Halo fundraising Ball.

    Hosted this year at the luxury Chancery Rosewood venue in London’s exclusive Mayfair district, the 2026 Halo Ball marked a decade of fundraising for the foundation’s community-focused initiatives. Previous iterations of the event have been hosted by leading London hospitality brands including the Peninsula, the Dorchester, the Royal Lancaster, Rosewood High Holborn and the Waldorf Hilton. This year’s gathering drew more than 400 high-profile guests, including visiting delegates ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda. Funds were raised through a combination of live and silent auction lots, featuring distinctive local Antiguan products such as craft-made gin that blended the event’s philanthropic mission with a celebration of Caribbean cultural heritage.

    The 2026 ball drew meaningful support from a roster of prominent international and regional benefactors, including the Calvin Ayre Foundation, Barbuda-based PLH, and Moongate — an upcoming boutique luxury resort set to open at Half Moon Bay in Antigua and Barbuda. The evening’s entertainment was curated to highlight Caribbean musical talent: local group The Strays, featuring Hani Hechme, Tony Mayers, Adam Kirby, Jashan Hughes and Rey Wowor Graham, headlined the lineup, alongside a critically acclaimed acoustic set by artist Annie. Full audiovisual production for the event was delivered by Antigua and Barbuda’s own Visual Echo, and the London Community Gospel Choir was contributed by London-based supporter Karl Williams to cap the evening’s performances. Among other high-profile musical guests connected to the foundation, Halo Goodwill Ambassador Kathy Sledge — the legendary lead vocalist of Sister Sledge, famed for global hits including *We Are Family* — has contributed her expertise and time to elevate the foundation’s musical programming for years, a standout example of world-class artists donating their time for public good rather than personal profit.

    The event also drew connections to another globally celebrated family of Antiguan-Sierra Leonean heritage, the Kanneh-Masons — a multi-talented musical household of seven children often compared to the iconic Von Trapp family from *The Sound of Music* — whose rise to international prominence has transformed global representation for Black classical musicians. The UK’s world-famous Kingdom Choir, which rose to global acclaim for its performance at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has also previously partnered with Halo’s Wings of Charity initiative.

    One of the foundation’s most beloved and consistent supporters is Antigua and Barbuda’s only living National Hero, legendary cricketer Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Alexander Richards — universally known by his adoring fans as G-BOAT, the greatest batsman of all time in Test match cricket. Known for his understated, no-fuss generosity, Sir Vivian has repeatedly donated rare autographed memorabilia for Halo’s auctions, giving freely from his personal collection to lift vulnerable communities out of hardship.

    Proceeds from the 10th anniversary Halo Ball will fund five targeted charitable initiatives scheduled for 2026, aligned directly with Antigua and Barbuda’s national development priorities and delivered in partnership with organizations across the Commonwealth network. The funding commitment underscores the small island nation’s longstanding dedication to local, regional and global collective good.

    Beyond the Halo Ball, the June tour included a packed schedule of engagements designed to strengthen diplomatic ties, expand cultural exchange and advance global heritage preservation efforts. At Royal Ascot, Sir Rodney and Lady Williams joined the event’s prestigious Royal Enclosure, which welcomed a total crowd of nearly 80,000 attendees over the course of the race meeting. Lady Williams was honored to present the award for the race’s best turned-out horse, awarding a cash prize to the winning stable.

    “I’m a stickler for underdogs, I’m rather happy that the horse which caught my eye originated from a small stable,” Lady Williams shared. “I’m hoping it meant something special to the groomsmen and stable hands.” Sir Rodney presented additional trophies to winning teams, highlighting the growing collaboration between sport, philanthropy and public governance across the Commonwealth.

    The tour also included a series of high-level diplomatic engagements: the delegation was invited to an annual dinner at St James’s Palace hosted by the Royal Drawing School, strengthening an ongoing partnership between Antigua and Barbuda and the venerable British arts institution. The day following the Halo Foundation’s Wings of Charity reception, the delegation held constructive bilateral talks with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Starmer at 10 Downing Street, before joining the couple as invited guests at the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

    Antigua and Barbuda’s London-based Tourist Office, led by director Cherrie Osborne, earned widespread praise for its work supporting the Halo Ball, curating custom gift bags for high-profile guests that featured products from Antiguan and global charities. Osborne’s team also expanded the event’s reach by inviting leading international travel wholesalers, travel writers and tourism retailers to attend, drawing coverage from senior editors of major UK broadsheet and tabloid media outlets. Lady Williams also curated original on-the-ground content for features on Antigua and Barbuda in *International Kreole Magazine* as part of the tour’s cultural outreach.

    Throughout the visit, Sir Rodney emphasized Antigua and Barbuda’s growing role as an active, influential member of the global community, noting that the tour’s core mission was to elevate the nation’s international profile, strengthen its global standing and highlight the country’s readiness to host the upcoming CHOGM. As Patron of the Commonwealth Heritage Forum and President of the West India Committee, Sir Rodney led a series of working meetings and planning sessions during the visit. As President of the Antigua and Barbuda Branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society — of which Sir Rodney serves as Patron — Lady Williams also used the visit to advance detailed planning for the branch’s 2026–2027 program of activities.

    The delegation publicly commended Antigua and Barbuda’s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Karen-Mae Hill, for her discreet, effective leadership and the tireless work of her mission team, which was instrumental in coordinating the full schedule of engagements and advancing the nation’s shared diplomatic and philanthropic goals. Joint working sessions during the visit further aligned the delegation’s priorities with those of Commonwealth institutions and UK-based cultural organizations.

    “A truly memorable moment meeting Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland and Honourable Richard Evans at Wings of Charity,” Lady Williams shared. “Grateful for the opportunity to spend time with such inspiring individuals whose dedication to community and service continues to make a difference.” The Commonwealth Secretariat was represented at the senior leadership level, though the current Secretary-General, the Honourable Shirley Botchwey — the first woman and first African national to hold the post — was unable to attend due to a previously scheduled overseas official visit; Botchwey joined the 2025 Halo event in person.

    Senior representatives from the British royal household also attended the Wings of Charity reception, including personal communications executives for King Charles III and Queen Camilla, multiple senior private secretaries, and the King’s official biographer and his spouse. The opening drinks reception was attended by His Honour the Duke of Gloucester, first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife Her Grace Brigitte, who held meetings with Antiguan charity leaders and European business executives to highlight cross-border collaboration for development.

    Event organizers noted that strict capacity management to preserve the quality of the evening meant that approximately 15% of guest requests ultimately had to be declined, a necessary tradeoff to maintain the event’s intimate, focused atmosphere.

    Organizers emphasized that none of the tour’s or the ball’s successes would have been possible without the dedication, hard work and generosity of the Halo Foundation’s volunteer team, highlighting the abundance of intellectual and technical talent that exists within Antigua and Barbuda’s local community.

    The full June program of activities advanced ongoing partnerships with Commonwealth and regional institutions to advance heritage preservation, philanthropy and community development across the Caribbean. Cultural diplomacy remained a core pillar of the tour, strengthening ties between Antigua and Barbuda, the United Kingdom, and the broader Commonwealth family. Delegates reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing collaboration with museum leaders, non-profit funding partners, vulnerable community groups, and young Antiguans and Barbudans residing in the UK.

  • OPINION: Modern-day slavery in migrant labour markets

    OPINION: Modern-day slavery in migrant labour markets

    Migrant labour is one of the most pressing cross-cutting issues of our interconnected global economy, with every region across the world experiencing large-scale movement of workers seeking better economic and social opportunities. By standard definition, a migrant worker is an individual who leaves their home country to seek employment abroad, a categorization that clearly excludes the enslaved African people forcibly trafficked to Caribbean sugarcane plantations during the 17th century – a historical atrocity inflicted through coerced capture and trade, not voluntary movement for work.

    Today, a troubling paradox haunts the global system of migrant recruitment: many employers disguise exploitative practices behind the veneer of formal contract work, routinely offering migrant workers lower wages than their local peers and forcing them into deplorable working conditions. Credible reports have documented widespread abuses: overcrowded, unsanitary living quarters, illegal confiscation of workers’ passports to restrict movement, and mandatory overtime without the additional compensation required by law.

    Under international human rights norms, national governments bear ultimate responsibility for addressing these abuses. Through robust legislation, proactive monitoring, and strict enforcement of existing protections, states must guarantee that the fundamental human and labor rights of all workers – migrant and native-born alike – are not violated or eroded. The inherent dignity of migrant workers demands consistent respect, and can never be dismissed or trampled for the sake of corporate profit.

    Migrant workers are inherently entitled to equal treatment to that extended to native-born workers. Any employer that withholds this right acts unconscionably and dishonestly. Bad actors that operate underground to exploit vulnerable migrant labor must be publicly exposed and held fully accountable under the law. These discriminatory, exploitative practices have no place in a fair global economy, and it remains unacceptable that they continue to occur with widespread impunity across multiple regions.

    In fact, this systemic exploitation of contracted migrant workers is increasingly recognized as a modern form of slavery, impacting large workforces recruited from China, India, Latin America and the Caribbean. While these workers typically receive nominal wages and, outside of cases of explicit human trafficking, are not violently forced to migrate, deceptive recruitment practices are still rampant. As defined by anti-slavery advocates, modern slavery describes any situation where exploitation is enabled by coercion, intimidation, deception, or abuse of power, leaving victims with no ability to escape their circumstances. This includes forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and debt bondage. Unlike the chattel slavery of previous centuries, modern slavery thrives in the legal and social gray areas of globalization, hidden behind the facade of legitimate, formal business operations.

    According to Wiam Milles of the Elizabeth Heyrick Society, citing data from the International Labour Organization, more than 50 million people globally are currently trapped in situations of modern slavery. Wherever the core principles of decent work are breached, the global employment system stands guilty of systemic injustice. It is fundamentally unfair and wrong to deny migrant workers equal pay, restrict their freedom of movement, fail to provide safe working conditions, and block their right to organize and bargain collectively through trade union representation. This analysis was contributed by Dennis De Peiza, a labor and employment relations consultant at Regional Management Services Inc. (Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official editorial position of the publication.)

  • Onderwijsminister onderzoekt betere begeleiding voor jeugdigen in detentie

    Onderwijsminister onderzoekt betere begeleiding voor jeugdigen in detentie

    In the wake of a high-profile AI-fueled image scandal involving four secondary school students in Suriname, the nation’s Minister of Education, Science and Culture Dirk Currie is advancing a cross-ministerial initiative to revamp support systems for young people who have come into contact with the justice system, aiming to give them a second chance to rebuild their lives.

    The scandal that prompted this new push dates back to June 24, when four students from Suriname’s Arthur A. Hoogendoorn Atheneum (AAHA) were taken into custody. Authorities alleged the group used artificial intelligence to generate and distribute non-consensual pornographic deepfake images of their fellow classmates. While the four young people have since been released from detention, the incident has sparked sustained policy focus from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, Currie already called for a sweeping, multi-pronged approach to boost youth awareness of responsible AI use, and held direct talks with AAHA’s school leadership.

    This week, Currie carried out an exploratory visit to the Opa Doeli Youth Transition Center, a facility that supports young people entering the justice system, to flesh out his policy goal of offering future prospects to youth who have made harmful mistakes. During the visit, the minister held in-depth discussions with the center’s leadership, he confirmed in comments shared by Suriname’s Communication Service.

    Currie has already coordinated on the initiative with Harish Monorath, his counterpart at the Ministry of Justice and Police. In the coming weeks, a joint working meeting is set to convene between education experts and Opa Doeli’s leadership to map out concrete improvements. The core agenda for this meeting: identifying structural changes to allow detained young people to continue their formal education uninterrupted, and better align existing resocialization programs with available education offerings.

    Currie emphasized that sustained, accessible education is a foundational pillar for successful reintegration of young offenders into broader society. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that when young people complete their sentences, they are welcomed and supported to rejoin community life in a meaningful way,” he said. Turning back to the AAHA incident, the minister added that school leadership is currently working through a careful process to map a safe, supportive return to classes for the four students involved. “We cannot condemn young people to a lifetime of punishment for one mistake,” Currie stressed. “The core of our work is to give every young person the chance to course-correct and build a positive future.”

  • Woningbouwfonds krijgt nieuwe leiding; eerste leningen binnen 2 weken verwacht

    Woningbouwfonds krijgt nieuwe leiding; eerste leningen binnen 2 weken verwacht

    Suriname’s long-planned National Housing Construction Fund has officially moved into its active implementation phase, with a new leadership team formally installed on Friday to advance the government’s goal of easing the country’s persistent housing shortage.

    During the inauguration ceremony held Friday, fund president Jennifer Simons swore in Anushka Ramdjielal as the new chief executive director, with Madhavi Bholasing taking up the post of deputy director. Completing the new governing structure is Siegmund Proeve, who was recently installed as chair of the fund’s supervisory board.

    For Ramdjielal, stepping into the director role is both a significant honor and a pressing challenge. In comments shared via the Communication Service of Suriname, the new chief executive framed universal access to stable housing as a non-negotiable basic need, outlining that her core priority is to turn the fund into a tangible solution for Suriname’s widespread housing crisis. She emphasized that steady, incremental progress will guide the fund’s work in its early stages, noting: “We have to start somewhere to build from. Even if we only deliver 10 homes in our first round, that does not matter – what matters is that we get moving.”

    Deputy director Bholasing echoed Ramdjielal’s commitment, adding that transparent, rule-based allocation will be central to the fund’s operations. She confirmed that all housing financing applications will be assessed strictly against pre-established eligibility and income criteria, ensuring the fund’s limited resources reach exactly the low- and middle-income groups the program was designed to support.

    Proeve, chair of the supervisory board, clarified that the National Housing Construction Fund is not a newly launched initiative – its enabling legislation was first passed back in 2019, created to streamline access to affordable housing loans for citizens through partnerships with local commercial banks. Right now, the fund holds total capital of between 300 million and 350 million Surinamese dollars, and offers loans with interest rates between 3% and 5%, a far more affordable rate than many conventional lending products for low- and middle-income borrowers looking to buy or build a home.

    The fund carries three core strategic goals, Proeve explained. Beyond its primary mission of cutting housing insecurity, the initiative is designed to stimulate Suriname’s stagnant construction sector by boosting new residential development, and it also aims to deepen the country’s domestic capital market by allowing pension funds and other private investors to participate in the program on a tax-free basis.

    In a positive update for prospective homebuyers, Proeve confirmed that the first batch of housing financing approvals and disbursements are on track to be issued within 14 days. With the capital currently on hand, the fund is projected to deliver between 300 and 400 completed homes by the end of December this year, marking a meaningful first step toward addressing the country’s housing gap.

  • MY HEART STILL HURTS

    MY HEART STILL HURTS

    For Nicole Richards, a matriarch from Beetham Gardens, four years have passed without the justice she has grieved and fought for. On a recent evening, she gathered roughly 20 supporters near the Republic Bank at the intersection of Chacon Street and Independence Square, where her 21-year-old son Fabien Richards was killed by Trinidad and Tobago police on July 2, 2022. Attendees lit white candles in memory of Fabien and his two companions, 24-year-old Isaiah Roberts and 17-year-old Leonardo Williams, who also lost their lives in the shooting.

    The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of that July Saturday, when Western Division police officers responded to a report of stolen motor vehicle and attempted to stop a white Toyota Aqua carrying six young people in Port of Spain. A high-speed chase ensued, ending when the vehicle crashed into an exterior wall of the Republic Bank on Independence Square. According to official police accounts, officers from the Guard and Emergency Branch who had joined the pursuit claimed they came under gunfire from people inside the vehicle, and returned fire at the car. Three of the occupants — Fabien, Roberts, and Williams — were killed instantly. A fourth teen was rushed to Port of Spain General Hospital for treatment of injuries, while the remaining two passengers were detained unhurt. Investigators later said they recovered a Smith & Wesson pistol from the crashed vehicle. The three detained passengers were eventually released pending further inquiry, and lead investigator Senior Superintendent Neil Brandon-John recorded statements from all three before his passing, which left the investigation stalled.

    For the Richards family, the pain of their loss remains as raw as the day they received the news of the shooting. In an interview with the *Sunday Express*, Nicole Richards, a mother of four, shared that the investigation went cold immediately after Brandon-John died, and authorities have not provided any updates to the family in the years since. “It’s painful because we are not getting the justice we want,” she said. “We will not stop until we get justice for all three boys. I want justice for my son Fabien.”

    Fabien never got the chance to hold or meet his own daughter, Soria John, who is now three years old. That unfulfilled future haunts Nicole every day. “His baby is three. A little sweetheart. She knows her daddy died, that he’s in heaven,” Nicole said. “When I look at her, I keep pleading for justice.”

    This is not the first devastating loss Nicole has endured: her son Garth Richards was killed after being hit by a bus in 2014. She says she draws her strength to keep fighting from her two daughters, Nicola and Isoma, and her faith in God. Remembering Fabien, she painted a picture of a playful, loving young man who would sneak up behind her, cling to her calf, and pretend to be a dog chasing her to make her laugh. He loved corned beef served over rice or pasta, and enjoyed making YouTube videos in his free time.

    Fabien had been on his way home with his friends from a farewell party held in Diego Martin when the shooting happened, Nicole explained. Today, he would have turned 25. Refuting the police’s claim that the young men were armed, Nicole described her son’s death as an execution: he was shot ten times in the head. “The children were on their way home. Fabien was talking to his cousin on the way home,” she said. “We want justice. They need to get rid of the corrupt ones who hold high office. It’s not right. It can’t be right in the eyes of God and man.”

    Amid a rising tide of violent crime and police-involved deaths across the country, Nicole is calling for sweeping leadership changes. She is demanding the immediate resignation of Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, as well as Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander and Defence Minister Wayne Sturge. “A state of emergency is not stopping crime,” she said. “I don’t dabble in politics. But it’s almost every day you are hearing an innocent person died. When I hear somebody died at the hands of the police, I wonder who is next.”

    Nicole Richards, Fabien’s older sister, echoed her mother’s call for justice, saying she has mourned her younger brother like he was her own son. Fabien lived with Nicola at her El Socorro home from primary school onward, growing up alongside her son Nicholai. “My heart still hurts. The pain is still fresh,” she told the *Sunday Express*. “Every day you hear horror stories: people being killed, children murdered, teenagers missing. You see his scenario being replayed in your head over and over. It’s not easy.”

    She cherishes the memory of her last birthday with Fabien, in November 2021, when the family held a lively games night. The two of them were the final pair left standing in a game of musical chairs, sharing a moment of joy that she still holds close. Today, the family shares their love with Fabien’s daughter Soria, who spends every weekend with them and is described by Nicola as “a darling.”

    “Only God can give justice because he sees and knows everything,” Nicola said. “He would have seen what unfolded in the car. He would have heard their cries.”

    The vigil drew solidarity from other families who have also lost loved ones to police-involved violence and been left without answers. Among the attendees was Alyssa Phillip, who has organized multiple protests demanding clarity for her friend Kaia Sealy. Sealy is currently facing charges connected to the January police shooting death of her husband Joshua Samaroo, and Phillip and the Richards family say their shared grief has forged a bond of mutual support in the fight for accountability.

  • Parris Charged in Connection with Nevis Business Break-ins

    Parris Charged in Connection with Nevis Business Break-ins

    CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — Law enforcement authorities on the Caribbean island of Nevis have secured formal charges against two local men in connection with two distinct criminal incidents that unfolded across the territory over the past month.

    The first case stems from a string of targeted break-ins at a local commercial premises, which led to the arrest and charging of 36-year-old Unique Parris, a resident of Marion Avenue on Nevis. Acting on First Instance arrest warrants, police took Parris into custody on July 3, 2026, filing four separate criminal counts against him: housebreaking and larceny, housebreaking with intent to commit a crime, and two counts of malicious damage to property.

    Official records confirm the alleged offenses took place across two separate dates, June 8 and June 29, 2026, at Business Solutions Plus, a local business located on Jew Street in central Nevis. The formal charging process was completed at the Cotton Ground Police Station, according to a statement from the Nevis Police Division shared with local media.

    In a separate case processed on the same day, law enforcement in nearby Cayon charged a second man linked to a non-fatal wounding incident. Damian Burroughs, a resident of Cunningham Village in Lower Cayon, was arrested and formally charged at the Cayon Police Station on July 3, also acting on a First Instance warrant. The charge stems from a June 27, 2026 incident that left local resident Luciano Abbott, also of Cunningham Village, with reported injuries.

    As of Sunday July 5, police have not released additional details about potential motives for either incident, bail status for the two accused, or upcoming court hearing dates. Local law enforcement has not indicated whether additional suspects are being sought in connection with either case.

  • Derde sabotage in vier dagen: Telesur ziet schade aan glasvezelnetwerk oplopen

    Derde sabotage in vier dagen: Telesur ziet schade aan glasvezelnetwerk oplopen

    Suriname’s national telecommunications provider Telesur is facing an escalating crisis of infrastructure sabotage, with its national fiber optic network targeted for deliberate vandalism for the third time in just four days.

    In the most recent attack, perpetrators intentionally sliced through critical fiber optic cables running along the Indira Gandhiweg highway. The damage has triggered widespread disruptions to mobile and internet services for hundreds of residential and commercial customers across multiple districts, including the surrounding Indira Gandhiweg area, Sitalweg, and Livorno-Beekhuizen. Company officials have labeled the string of attacks a deeply worrying development and issued an urgent appeal to the public to report any suspicious activity near key telecom infrastructure immediately.

    According to data released by Telesur, every vandalized fiber cable costs a minimum of $3,000 in emergency repair and replacement work, a financial burden that accumulates rapidly after repeated attacks. Beyond the direct monetary costs, the damage leaves hundreds of customers completely cut off from essential communication services for hours or even days, disrupting work, education, emergency access, and daily life.

    To address the growing threat, Telesur has reported every incident to local police and other relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies. Working alongside these authorities, the provider has developed a formal action plan focused on three core goals: tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators, stopping new attacks before they occur, and strengthening physical security for the country’s sprawling telecom network.

    Even with these new safeguards in place, Telesur warns the situation remains deeply concerning. The company has invested consistently in upgrading security measures, expanding surveillance of key routes, and speeding up repair response times, but executives acknowledge that full-time, constant monitoring of a fiber network spanning hundreds of kilometers across the country is logistically and financially impossible.

    “Our team is doing everything within our power to contain this problem, but we cannot solve it alone without support from the public and our law enforcement partners,” said Doric Ramlakhan, Telesur’s chief executive officer. “Sometimes, it feels like mopping the floor with the tap still running – as soon as we finish repairing damage in one location, another attack pops up somewhere else on the network.”

    Ramlakhan emphasized that Telesur invests millions of dollars every year to expand and modernize Suriname’s fiber optic network, with the goal of delivering fast, reliable telecommunications services to communities across the country, supporting national economic and social development. “Every cut cable doesn’t just add thousands of dollars in unexpected repair costs – it creates major inconvenience for our customers and slows the progress of our entire nation,” he explained. “This infrastructure isn’t just an investment by Telesur – it’s a public good that benefits every single person in Suriname. We’re asking the public to protect what we have all built together. This network belongs to all of us.”

    In closing, the company reiterated its call for all citizens to stay vigilant for any unusual or suspicious activity near telecommunications sites or cable routes. Anyone who observes potential suspicious behavior is urged to contact local police or other competent authorities immediately. “Only by working together can we stop repeated attacks on this vital national infrastructure,” Ramlakhan said. “We’re asking every person in Suriname to help us guard what belongs to all of us.”

  • Man found dead 9 days after going missing from hospital

    Man found dead 9 days after going missing from hospital

    A troubling case of a missing elderly hospital patient has concluded with the discovery of his body in a bushy roadside area of Ebinboro, Saint Vincent, drawing new scrutiny over the search effort launched after he disappeared from the island’s main public hospital.

    Sixty-one-year-old Selwyn Joseph, a resident of Hamilton on the island of Bequia who was widely known by his nickname Millie, was found dead shortly after midday on Saturday, exactly 10 days after he went missing while receiving inpatient care at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Local youth making their way through the wooded corridor in the West Kingstown community stumbled across his remains, according to details obtained by iWitness News.

    Sources close to the investigation have confirmed that foul play is not currently suspected in Joseph’s death. One individual who viewed the body told reporters that minimal decomposition suggests Joseph likely died only shortly before his remains were located, rather than in the immediate days after he disappeared from the hospital.

    The sequence of events that led to Joseph’s disappearance began on the night of June 25, when the disoriented patient was redirected by a nursing staff member after he accidentally headed to the wrong hospital room within the emergency department, where Joseph had been assigned a bed. The nurse reportedly escorted Joseph back to his assigned space, but roughly 60 minutes later, local police received an anonymous tip that a man matching Joseph’s description, with an IV line still attached to his hand, was walking toward the Edinboro area.

    When hospital staff checked his room, Joseph was nowhere to be found. A nurse and an ambulance crew were immediately dispatched to search the nearby Kingstown and Ottley Hall regions, but the first search operation turned up no sign of the missing patient. Formal notification was then made to police, who issued a public missing person bulletin to aid in the search.

    The following day, June 26, the Ministry of Health made a public appeal for assistance via its official Facebook page, asking community members to keep watch for Joseph and help bring him back to safety. The post noted that Joseph was a disoriented emergency department patient who had left the facility, and that he may have become lost in a neighborhood close to the hospital. It added that hospital teams, family members, and police were already conducting active searches, and thanked the public in advance for any cooperation or information they could provide.

    As of the confirmation of Joseph’s death, neither law enforcement nor public health officials have released an official statement on the case or responded to growing questions about the scope and intensity of the search effort conducted over the 10 days Joseph was missing.

  • Staatsolie Foundation geeft Anne Bakkerschool nieuw aanzien

    Staatsolie Foundation geeft Anne Bakkerschool nieuw aanzien

    After more than 20 years of operating in aging, outdated facilities, the Anne Bakkerschool, located on Helena Christinaweg, has officially reopened the doors to its fully renovated school campus, marking a major milestone for local primary education in the region.

    The comprehensive renovation project, made entirely possible through grant funding from the Stichting Staatsolie Foundation for Community Development Fund, has upgraded 20 existing classrooms and completely replaced the campus’s outdated sanitation infrastructure. The upgrades have transformed the learning environment for the school’s nearly 550 enrolled students, who now learn in a space that is both safer and aligned with modern educational standards.

    The scope of work extended far beyond surface-level improvements, combining critical structural maintenance with full modernization of the entire complex. Construction crews from local firm 3J’S Mac Aannemingsbedrijf repainted every interior and exterior surface of the campus, replaced aging infrastructure including damaged ceilings, wire mesh, roof gutters, and aging entry doors. Two entirely new restroom facilities were constructed—one for male students and a separate dedicated facility for teaching and administrative staff—while all remaining existing sanitation systems were fully gutted and renovated. Even the school’s historic main building, a landmark in the local community, received a deep structural cleaning to preserve its integrity for future generations of students.

    For school principal Angela Rangoe, the completed project is far more than just an upgraded building—it is an investment in the future of every child that walks through the school’s doors. “A school is so much more than brick and mortar,” Rangoe explained in a statement following the project’s completion. “It is the space where children grow, build skills, and prepare for whatever future they choose to pursue. This investment has given our students a safe, well-maintained, and inspiring place to learn, and it has created a far more comfortable working environment for all of our staff as well.”

    Rangoe also extended special recognition to Clyde Cairo, the project coordinator assigned to the renovation by the Stichting Staatsolie Foundation for Community Development Fund, praising his consistent on-site guidance and support that kept the project on track from start to finish. School leadership emphasized that without the foundation’s financial and logistical backing, the long-awaited renovation would not have been possible, highlighting the critical role of community-focused development funding in improving public education access and quality.

  • The Power of Service: Why Volunteerism Matters More Than Ever

    The Power of Service: Why Volunteerism Matters More Than Ever

    In an era where busy personal schedules and professional obligations increasingly consume daily life, the transformative power of volunteer work is too often pushed to the margins of public consciousness. But the true strength of a nation cannot be measured by GDP or economic output alone; it is reflected in the willingness of ordinary citizens to show up for one another. Volunteerism is the invisible glue that holds communities together, building greater resilience, fostering empathy, and creating lasting, positive change from the ground up.

    For more than 100 years, the global Lions Clubs network has proven that collective action by everyday people can deliver extraordinary impact. The movement was founded in 1917 in Chicago, Illinois by Melvin Jones, who put forward a simple yet revolutionary idea: business and community leaders should leverage their skills and influence not just for personal gain, but to lift up vulnerable neighbors. Today, that small initiative has grown into the world’s largest service organization, boasting more than 1.4 million members across over 200 countries and territories. Lions clubs tackle a wide range of pressing global and local challenges, from public health access and food insecurity to youth development, environmental sustainability, and disaster response.

    The Lions Club of Antigua, which received its official charter in 1968, has carried forward this people-first mission for more than five decades. For 55 years, the chapter has centered its work on solving the most urgent social and health needs facing residents of Antigua and Barbuda, with all efforts powered by volunteers who freely give their time, expertise, and personal resources out of a shared belief that service to others is one of life’s highest callings.

    Today, the Antigua chapter ranks among the nation’s most trusted service organizations, having improved the lives of thousands of people through programming centered on three core pillars: health, dignity, and hope. One of its most beloved flagship efforts is the Weekly Hot Meals Programme, which delivers nutritious, warm meals to individuals and families grappling with food insecurity. While a single meal may seem like a small gesture, for recipients it carries far deeper meaning: it is a tangible reminder that their community sees them, values them, and will not leave them behind.

    Public health outreach is another foundational focus of the club’s work. Its long-running Annual Prostate Screening Programme, now marking its 18th year, has grown into one of the largest men’s health initiatives in Antigua and Barbuda. Hundreds of men access free or low-cost screenings through the program every year, gaining access to early detection of prostate cancer and critical education about the disease. Because early diagnosis drastically improves survival rates, the program has directly contributed to better health outcomes for countless men across the country.

    Beyond scheduled initiatives, the Lions Club of Antigua responds to hundreds of individual medical assistance requests annually. Whether supporting access to life-saving specialized treatment, funding mobility devices for people with disabilities, covering costs for urgent surgeries, or meeting other unmet specialized healthcare needs, the club works quietly behind the scenes to step in where gaps exist, restoring hope for families navigating overwhelming medical and financial hardship.