Carib Scope

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  • Family of Abaco man missing two weeks appeal to the public for help

    Family of Abaco man missing two weeks appeal to the public for help

    For nearly a month, the relatives of a missing Abaco native have turned to the local community and social media for answers, after the 60-something truck driver vanished without a trace following a routine workday. Jean Honoret, an experienced truck driver in his early 60s, was last spotted on June 9, when he checked in for his scheduled shift but never made it back to his residence, according to close family members.

    Wilfred Toussaint, Honoret’s cousin who has shared an unusually close bond with him for years, described their daily routine of checking in with one another, multiple times a day in most cases. The pair spoke the day before Honoret disappeared, and Toussaint said nothing seemed off or alarming during their casual conversation, which unfolded just like any other. “We live like brothers,” Toussaint shared in an interview. “Every morning we check in, ask how the other is doing, what’s going on. We even crack a few jokes. By 5:30 every day, one of us always calls the other to make sure everything is okay.”

    It was that broken routine that first raised Toussaint’s alarm: when he did not hear from Honoret at their usual time the next day, he knew something was wrong. Toussaint, who currently resides in New Providence, told reporters he has no clear idea what could have happened to his cousin. “I don’t know if he’s still alive, or if someone hurt him. I really don’t have any answers,” he said, but added that the entire family is still clinging to hope that Honoret will be found safe.

    As the search drags on without official updates, local residents have taken to sharing posts across social media platforms, asking anyone with even small scraps of information about Honoret’s whereabouts to come forward. Toussaint also shared one key detail that has added to the family’s uncertainty: he later learned that a woman who claims Honoret owes her money showed up at his home looking for him shortly after he went missing.

    Toussaint confirmed he is making plans to travel to Abaco in the coming days to join the search for answers personally. When contacted by The Tribune, Chief Superintendent Michael Thurston, the top-ranking police official overseeing Abaco, confirmed that as of the outlet’s latest inquiry, Honoret’s family had not yet filed an official missing person report with local law enforcement.

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    Amid growing public calls for greater transparency around convicted sex offenders in The Bahamas, the leader of the country’s leading anti-violence advocacy organization is pushing back against opening the national Sexual Offenders Register to general public access, warning that such a move in this small island nation would backfire, fuel violent vigilante action, undermine official monitoring efforts, and ultimately fail to deliver on its core goal of protecting children.

    Sandra Dean-Patterson, director of the Crisis Centre – one of the earliest and most vocal supporters of creating the registry – made her position clear in new comments responding to a recent public incident that reignited debate over access rules. The debate flared after an Eyewitness News report featured a local mother who claimed a convicted paedophile was targeting her 10-year-old child. The mother said she had reported her concerns to police, only to be told that officers could not take action because she had not caught the suspect acting illegally.

    Dean-Patterson emphasized that her organization has long advocated for the creation of a formal sexual offenders registry, driven by alarming rises in reported child sexual abuse and exploitation across The Bahamas. The Crisis Centre’s core priority, she said, has always been to gain clear insight into the scope of child victimization and build a structured framework to address the crisis. Established under the 2014 Sexual Offenders Amendment Act and officially brought into force in July 2019, the registry represented a long-sought policy win for the advocacy group. In 2022, the government advanced the system further by digitizing records, launching a dedicated access kiosk at the Wulff Road Police Station, and activating a fully staffed management unit within the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, which has overseen the registry since July 2021. Under current rules, all offenders sentenced after the 2019 enforcement date are required to register their residential address within 72 hours of release, and notify authorities immediately of any changes of address or travel lasting more than seven days.

    Despite the Crisis Centre’s full support for the registry itself, Dean-Patterson said the organization remains firmly opposed to opening the database to the general public. She stressed that The Bahamas’ small population and geographic size sets it apart from larger nations with public registries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where public identification does not always produce the desired protective outcomes. Instead, access should be strictly limited to official agencies with a direct mandate for child protection and offender monitoring: the national police force, social services, and the correctional and prison system.

    Drawing on case studies from larger jurisdictions, Dean-Patterson noted that public access has repeatedly led to unintended harmful consequences. In parts of the U.S. such as Miami, for example, strict residency restrictions barring registered sex offenders from living near schools, parks, and other public spaces have pushed offenders into unregulated, isolated areas that make consistent monitoring far harder for authorities. Dean-Patterson also highlighted that vigilante violence and retaliation against offenders are well-documented outcomes of public registries in other countries, outcomes that she said would disrupt rehabilitation and monitoring work in The Bahamas. National Security Minister Wayne Munroe echoed this risk in 2022, noting that courts in some jurisdictions have removed offenders from registries entirely when public retaliation has been documented, eroding the system’s overall effectiveness.

    Under the current restricted model, Dean-Patterson explained, the burden of monitoring released offenders falls directly to trained, mandated officials, who are tasked with implementing appropriate public safety measures as soon as an offender is released from custody. She acknowledged, however, that this framework relies on one critical factor: public trust in the government agencies tasked with managing the system. Dean-Patterson admitted that public confidence in the ability of authorities to protect children from repeat offenders is not as strong as it needs to be, and that the debate over access rules will need to continue as the country works to address child sexual violence. She ended by reaffirming the Crisis Centre’s unwavering opposition to all forms of child violation, saying the organization will remain vocal and firm in its commitment to ending child abuse across the archipelago.

  • Police disperse ANPA protest with tear gas near National Palace

    Police disperse ANPA protest with tear gas near National Palace

    On Wednesday in Santo Domingo, a peaceful demonstration organized by agricultural workers seeking improved working conditions for the nation’s rural sector ended in chaos when the Dominican National Police deployed tear gas to break up the crowd before it reached the National Palace.

    The mobilization was coordinated by the National Association of Agricultural Professionals (ANPA), which had planned a deliberate, orderly route starting at Independence Park and ending at the seat of government to deliver their demands to national authorities. What was intended as a peaceful expression of long-unmet grievances was cut short when security forces intervened with chemical irritants, scattering the assembled crowd before it could complete its journey.

    ANPA’s members have spent years pushing for three core changes: meaningful salary increases, enhanced pension benefits, and updated labor protections that reflect the critical contribution agricultural professionals make to the Dominican economy. Association leaders say none of these long-standing requests have received a formal, adequate response from the government. During the police intervention, Tito Hernández, the president of ANPA, was directly exposed to tear gas, requiring emergency assistance from fellow demonstrators before being transported to a local medical facility for evaluation and care.

    Protest participants voiced deep anger and alarm over the law enforcement response, noting that a large share of ANPA’s membership consists of veteran professionals, many of whom are over the age of 60 and live with pre-existing chronic health conditions. For this vulnerable group, exposure to tear gas poses far more severe health risks than it would for younger demonstrators. Organizers also emphasized that they had properly notified the Ministry of Interior and Police of the march’s route and peaceful intent ahead of time, maintaining that Dominican law only requires notification rather than formal government permission for public demonstrations.

    Despite the aggressive police response and Wednesday’s disruption, ANPA leaders have made clear their campaign is far from over. The association has warned that protests will resume in the coming days, and could ramp up in intensity if the government continues to ignore their demands. Leaders stressed that they are fully prepared to hold daily mobilizations across the country if that is what it takes to secure long-overdue improvements for agricultural professionals nationwide.

  • Dominican Republic to have more seniors than children by 2050, ONE projects

    Dominican Republic to have more seniors than children by 2050, ONE projects

    New long-term demographic projections released by the Dominican Republic’s National Statistics Office (ONE) paint a clear picture of sweeping population transformation underway in the Caribbean nation, driven by rising life expectancy, plummeting birth rates, and rapid population aging over the coming decades.

    Developed in partnership with the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE), which provided specialized technical support for the analysis, the projections outline dramatic shifts in key demographic indicators through the end of the 21st century. According to the study, average life expectancy at birth is on track to jump from 75.7 years in 2026 to 91.5 years by 2100, a gain of more than 15 years that reflects improvements in public health, medical care, and quality of life across the country.

    At the same time, fertility rates will remain well below the 2.1 replacement level required to sustain a stable population without immigration. The report projects that the average number of children per woman will fall from 1.97 in 2026 to roughly 1.7 in the coming decades, a decline that will reshape the country’s age structure dramatically. The national average age is expected to climb from 32.9 years in 2026 to 51.6 years by 2100, making the Dominican Republic’s population one of the oldest in the Latin American and Caribbean region by the end of the century.

    One of the most notable milestones highlighted in the analysis is set to arrive mid-century: by 2050, the Dominican Republic will record more residents aged 65 and older than people under 15, marking the first time this demographic shift has occurred in the nation’s history. The share of seniors in the total population is projected to triple over the next 77 years, rising from 9% today to 17% in 2050 and hitting 36% by 2100. Meanwhile, the proportion of children and young adolescents will continue a steady decline that has been underway for the past two decades.

    Total population size will follow a different trajectory: growth is expected to continue through the 2070s, when the national population will hit a peak before entering a gradual decline that brings it down to roughly 11.9 million inhabitants by 2100. Beyond the core trends of aging and falling fertility, the projections also point to other positive demographic shifts, including a continued drop in adolescent fertility rates and slowing overall population growth.

    Notably, the analysis identifies an ongoing “demographic window of opportunity” that will remain open through roughly 2065, driven by a relatively low dependency ratio – the proportion of non-working age residents that working-age populations must support. ONE officials emphasized that the new projections are far more than an academic exercise: the data will serve as a critical foundation for shaping long-term public policy across sectors, from healthcare and pension systems to housing and education, as the country prepares to address the far-reaching economic and social impacts of its rapidly aging population.

  • Sagicor webinar explores modern fatherhood, family relationships and financial planning

    Sagicor webinar explores modern fatherhood, family relationships and financial planning

    To mark this year’s Father’s Day, regional financial services group Sagicor organized a timely virtual webinar focused on one of the most discussed yet under-explored topics in Caribbean family life: the shifting landscape of modern fatherhood. Titled “The Dad Blueprint: Building Strong, Present and Purpose-Driven Fathers”, the online convening brought together a diverse cross-regional panel of social advocates, media professionals, influencers and financial experts to unpack the challenges, rewards, and core responsibilities of contemporary fatherhood, drawing from both personal experience and professional insight. The event was moderated by Sherlon Leon, Head of Sales at Sagicor Life (Eastern Caribbean) Inc.’s St. Lucia branch, per an official press release from the company.

    A central thread running through all panel discussions was the rapidly evolving role of fathers in 21st-century family structures. Fabian Sargeant, a Barbados-based social worker and founder/president of the Men Empowerment Network Support (MENS), observed that while a growing number of men today are stepping into active nurturing and caregiving roles long dominated by mothers, outdated societal attitudes have failed to keep up with this cultural shift. “Many of us want to be actively present in our children’s lives, and we are taking on responsibilities that were once seen as exclusively maternal,” Sargeant explained. “But society still struggles to recognize and validate these new approaches to fatherhood, even as more men reimagine what it means to be a dad.”

    Panelists also delved into the profound, long-lasting impact of paternal involvement on children’s long-term development and emotional well-being. Garth Williams, a communications strategist and broadcaster from Jamaica, emphasized that child-centered co-parenting is non-negotiable even when couples separate, pointing to stark data on the outcomes for children growing up without engaged father figures. “Globally, the majority of repeat criminal offenders and individuals struggling with chronic addiction come from homes marked by either absent fathers or abusive paternal presence,” Williams noted. He stressed that whether parents live together or co-parent apart, a stable, loving family foundation is the most critical predictor of whether a child will grow into a well-adjusted, socially responsible adult.

    The conversation also included deeply personal reflections from Trinidad and Tobago social media influencer Anil James, who shared his experience growing up fatherless after his father died by suicide when James was only two years old. James explained that the absence of his own father shaped his intentional approach to raising his son, filling the gaps he experienced in his own childhood. “I grew up watching other boys bond with their dads and wishing I had that chance,” James said. “Fatherhood wasn’t taught to me, but I learned what I needed from that experience of longing. Today, I make sure to give my son everything I ever wanted as a child.”

    Beyond social and emotional dimensions of fatherhood, the webinar also turned to the practical topic of long-term financial planning for children’s futures. Dunovan De Graff, Business Development Manager at Sagicor Investments Trinidad and Tobago Limited, urged parents of all income brackets to start investing for their children as early as possible, pushing back against a common misconception that investing is only for high earners. “Many low- and middle-income parents put off investing because they think they don’t have enough money to get started, or they’re overwhelmed by daily living expenses,” De Graff explained. “But waiting to start is one of the costliest mistakes you can make. Nothing beats the power of early compounding, no matter how small your initial contribution is.”

    Andre Barrow, Assistant Vice President of Innovation and Business Solutions at Sagicor General Insurance Inc., echoed this message, encouraging parents to prioritize consistent, gradual progress over overnight success. He noted that social media’s distorted depiction of instant success often discourages parents from making small, steady investments in their children’s futures. “Social media makes it look like you can go from zero to hero overnight,” Barrow said. “But real progress, whether financial or personal, happens incrementally. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, so any small improvement you can make today is worth making.”

    Sagicor officials noted that the webinar was a core part of the company’s 2026 Father’s Day outreach, designed to highlight the critical importance of active paternal engagement in building strong, resilient families across the Caribbean. Through the day’s open, honest discussions, panelists collectively concluded that modern fatherhood demands intentional presence, clear purpose, adaptive resilience, and an ongoing commitment to personal growth.

  • Clayton Jeffery Pleads Guilty to Scalding Sister with Boiling Water

    Clayton Jeffery Pleads Guilty to Scalding Sister with Boiling Water

    A Bolans resident has entered a guilty plea to a violent assault charge that left his own sibling with life-altering injuries and months of painful recovery. Clayton Jeffery admitted in court on Monday to intentionally wounding his sister in the unprovoked October 29, 2023 attack, which unfolded in public along a residential road in the community.

    Court documents and prosecution accounts detail a chilling sequence of violence: Jeffery armed himself with a kettle full of boiling water, chased his fleeing sister down the street, and caught up to her before pouring the scalding liquid directly across her back. After the woman collapsed to the ground from the burn pain, Jeffery continued his assault, kicking and punching her repeatedly before local bystanders stepped in to stop the attack and call for emergency assistance.

    The victim was rushed immediately to a local hospital for urgent care, where clinicians diagnosed her with third-degree burns across her back, a fractured left leg, and a broken right hand. She required three weeks of inpatient hospital treatment to stabilize her injuries, followed by an additional eight months of forced bed rest at home as she worked to regain her health. What makes the attack even more shocking, court records confirm, is that there was no pre-existing argument or conflict between the two siblings before the violence erupted.

    Jeffery later told investigating officers that he had been tipped off by neighbors to rumors about his personal life, and he incorrectly assumed his sister was the person who had spread the gossip. That misplaced anger was the sole trigger for the brutal attack, according to his statement to police.

    Following Monday’s guilty plea, the High Court has scheduled Jeffery’s sentencing hearing for July 20, where he will face a judge’s determination of the penalty for his violent crime. The case has drawn local attention to the devastating harm that can stem from unchecked anger and unconfirmed gossip, even within immediate family units.

  • Antigua and Barbuda May Need Higher Water Rates, Browne Warns

    Antigua and Barbuda May Need Higher Water Rates, Browne Warns

    The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is facing a growing fiscal dilemma over its water supply, as Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed that gradual rate increases may be unavoidable in the coming years. The revelation came during Browne’s weekly public radio segment *Browne and Browne* on Saturday, where he outlined the heavy financial burden the government already carries to keep running the country’s water systems.

    Each year, the Antigua and Barbuda government pours an estimated 40 million Eastern Caribbean dollars into direct subsidies for water production and distribution, costs that have surged as the country has shifted away from traditional groundwater extraction to far more energy-intensive reverse osmosis desalination. Unlike pulling water from natural underground aquifers, desalination requires specialized infrastructure, large amounts of energy, and ongoing maintenance that drive production costs far higher. To prevent consumers from absorbing the full brunt of these expenses, the state has stepped in to cover the gap, but the strain on public finances is becoming unsustainable.

    Even with this pressure, Browne emphasized that the government has no plans to implement sudden, drastic rate hikes that would disrupt household budgets. Instead, he framed any future changes as modest, manageable adjustments that align with the actual value of the resource Antiguan and Barbudan consumers receive. For context, he pointed to the current flat rate structure: consumers currently pay $22 for access to 1,000 gallons of water, and even a potential increase to $30 would still represent an affordable rate for the volume provided.

    Beyond balancing the government’s books, Browne noted that fairer pricing also serves a critical public goal: encouraging water conservation at a time when the country is battling one of the most severe multi-year droughts it has seen in decades. The prime minister argued that artificially low water prices have incentivized wasteful use, even amid the ongoing dry spell. He cited the persistent practice of residential lawn watering as one example of unnecessary water use that cheap pricing enables.

    As climate conditions push Antigua and Barbuda to deepen its reliance on desalination to guarantee a consistent water supply for residents, responsible consumption will only grow in importance, Browne added. Currently, the government is already pouring investment into upgrading water distribution infrastructure and expanding the country’s reverse osmosis production capacity to address long-standing gaps in service and the ongoing impact of the drought. Moving forward, Browne stressed that any future rate adjustments will be crafted to strike a careful balance: keeping water accessible and affordable for all households, while acknowledging the real costs of producing and delivering this essential resource in a small island nation that must increasingly turn to desalination.

  • Anthony Stuart Delivers Financial Management and Leadership Session for Youth

    Anthony Stuart Delivers Financial Management and Leadership Session for Youth

    On June 22, Antigua and Barbuda’s Department of Youth Affairs hosted a targeted youth development workshop focused on two critical pillars for young professional growth: practical financial management and principled ethical leadership. Following the event, department officials publicly extended their gratitude to the session’s lead speaker, veteran financial and business consultant Anthony Stuart, as well as local coordinator Kelly-Ann Boatswain, for making the engaging, skill-focused session a success. Officials also highlighted the foundational support of the program’s two major sponsors, the Sandals Foundation and Flow Antigua, whose contributions turned the community-focused initiative from a planned project into a tangible, impactful event for local youth.

    A native of Antigua, Stuart brings unparalleled professional expertise to this youth outreach work, boasting more than three and a half decades of hands-on experience spanning the finance, banking, insurance, and business development sectors. His academic and professional credentials underscore his authority in the field: he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Economics, a Master of Business Administration with a specialized focus on Finance, and holds professional certifications as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist. Beyond his private consulting work, Stuart also serves as a business lecturer at the School of Business and Management at The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, giving him extensive experience translating complex financial concepts for emerging professionals.

    Stuart’s cross-sector career background further enriches his perspective for youth audiences: he has held leadership and technical roles in both the public and private spheres, including stints with Antigua and Barbuda’s Customs Department and Audit Department. He previously served as Executive Director of the St. John’s Development Corporation, and currently works as Senior Financial and Business Consultant at Personal Financial Solutions, a locally owned Antiguan consultancy firm.

    For the Department of Youth Affairs, this workshop is far more than a one-off community event. It is part of a sustained, ongoing strategy to arm young Antiguans and Barbudans with the practical, real-world skills they need to thrive in modern workplaces and launch their own ventures. Beyond hard financial skills, the program prioritizes fostering a culture of ethical decision-making, strong leadership capabilities, and entrepreneurial ambition among the nation’s youth. Department representatives emphasized that the ongoing program continues to deliver long-term value, nurturing innovation, ethical practice, and professional resilience among the next generation of young leaders and entrepreneurs across Antigua and Barbuda.

  • Crown of Glory Father’s Day Charity Dinner Deemed a Success

    Crown of Glory Father’s Day Charity Dinner Deemed a Success

    A collaborative community charity initiative held in Antigua has wrapped up to widespread acclaim, with organizers offering sincere gratitude to every individual and entity that contributed to its positive impact. The Crown of Glory Father’s Day Charity Dinner, jointly organized by Wanmei Transforming Lives Disability Services and Jamaica Patriots Antigua, was created to lift up vulnerable groups across the local community, including low-income residents, the Fiennes Institute, regional nursing homes, and local church communities.

    In a public statement released following the event, co-founder Joedian Samms highlighted the critical role that local business sponsors played in making the dinner a meaningful experience for all attendees. Among the supporting local partners were major Antiguan establishments including Christo’s Supermarkets, Mega Distributors Ltd, Carlisle Bay Resort, Jolly Beach Antigua Resort, Connie’s Comfort Suites, Shakera’s Tamarind Fusion, Antigua Digest, ANROP, The National School Bus, St. John Development, Little Canton, and Cool and Smooth.

    Beyond corporate and institutional sponsorship, organizers emphasized that the participation of individual attendees, community partners from nursing homes, the Fiennes Institute, and local congregations was equally vital to the initiative’s success. Every contribution, whether financial, in-kind, or simply through personal attendance, helped the event deliver on its core mission of supporting community welfare.

    Samms noted that the dinner stood as a powerful testament to what collective community care and intentional giving can achieve. The evening brought together people from across different sectors of Antiguan society united by a shared commitment to lifting up their neighbors, aligning perfectly with Wanmei Transforming Lives Disability Services’ long-term mission of creating tangible, positive change for people across the community. To allow the public to engage with the joy and connection of the occasion, event organizers have shared photos capturing key moments from the evening, preserving the memory of the successful celebration of giving.

    As the organization looks ahead to future community outreach projects, Samms extended a final note of appreciation to all who stood with the initiative this Father’s Day, reaffirming the group’s commitment to continuing its work of transforming lives through targeted, compassionate social services.

  • Two Men Arrested After Police Seize Jewellery During Hatton Searches

    Two Men Arrested After Police Seize Jewellery During Hatton Searches

    St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda – Law enforcement operations carried out across two separate residential locations in the Hatton district have left two individuals in police detention, as investigators continue to unpack an alleged stolen jewelry ring operating in the area. The coordinated early-morning raids, executed on June 22 by joint teams from the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, marked a major milestone in ongoing probes into reports of widespread jewelry theft.

    According to official details released by the force’s Office of Strategic Communications on June 23, the operation kicked off just before 6 a.m. that Monday, when handpicked units from the Criminal Investigations Department Task Force and the Special Services Unit moved in simultaneously on the targeted properties. The multi-unit collaboration was structured to eliminate the risk of evidence being destroyed or moved between locations before searches could be completed.

    During the systematic searches of both premises, law enforcement personnel recovered a cache of evidence tied to the theft investigation. Among the items seized were an undisclosed quantity of suspected stolen jewelry, a personal mobile phone, and multiple other pieces of physical evidence that investigators say will help them build their case against the two detained men. Both suspects have been arrested on formal charges of receiving stolen property, a criminal offense under Antigua and Barbuda’s penal code.

    As of the latest official update, the investigation remains active and ongoing. Law enforcement officials have not yet released the identities of the two detainees, nor have they shared details on the total estimated value of the recovered jewelry, or whether additional arrests are expected as the probe progresses. The Royal Police Force has indicated that it will issue further public updates as new developments emerge in the case.