Carib Scope

分类： society

  • Kiwanians join K-Kids to plant fruit trees

    Kiwanians join K-Kids to plant fruit trees

    On Jamaica’s annual Labour Day, a cross-group community initiative has transformed the outdoor grounds of Tarrant Primary School in St Andrew, delivering a long-lasting environmental and educational gift to students and staff. The project, a joint effort between the school’s K-Kids program, the Kiwanis Club of West St Andrew, and the Kiwanis Club of Constant Spring, was carried out in partnership with Jamaica’s national Forestry Department.

    Volunteers spent the day working side-by-side to plant a variety of native fruit trees across the school campus and install a fully connected irrigation system linked to an on-site water storage tank. The new system will ensure the young saplings receive consistent moisture as they grow, increasing their chances of maturing into productive trees that can provide fruit for the school community for years to come.

    Dozens of volunteers from multiple youth and adult organizations turned out to contribute manual labor to the project. Key participants included Michael Powell, Lieutenant Governor for Kiwanis Division 23, which covers Eastern Canada and the Caribbean; Hadajah Freebourne-Raffington, Principal of Tarrant Primary School; Maurice Livingston, President of the Kiwanis Club of West St Andrew; and Demar Lyle, President of the Kiwanis Club of Constant Spring. They were joined by other adult Kiwanis members, student volunteers from the St Andrew High School Key Club, and the young participants of Tarrant Primary’s own K-Kids program, who took an active role in the planting work.

    Labour Day in Jamaica has long been marked by national community service projects, with groups across the country coming together to improve public spaces, schools, and local neighborhoods. This initiative aligns perfectly with that tradition, combining environmental action, youth engagement, and community investment to benefit a local public school. For students, the new orchard will also serve as an outdoor classroom, offering opportunities to learn about plant growth, sustainable food production, and environmental stewardship long after the planting day ends.

  • Suspect in custody in Trinidad after body of missing 12-year-old found

    Suspect in custody in Trinidad after body of missing 12-year-old found

    PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A tragic incident has sent shockwaves through a small coastal Trinidadian community after the body of a missing 12-year-old girl was recovered on a remote oil well access road, with a local man now in custody aiding law enforcement’s ongoing probe.

    The victim, identified as Mercedez Layne, was first reported missing to authorities on Saturday. According to official police statements, the preteen had stayed overnight at her grandfather’s home before he placed her into a private vehicle arranged to take her back to her own residence. What was supposed to be a routine short trip quickly turned into a nightmare, when the child never arrived at her destination.

    Alarmed by Mercedez’s disappearance, the girl’s mother and her grandfather traveled together to the Erin Police Station to file an official missing person report. Law enforcement immediately launched a coordinated search and investigation into the case. Following leads pulled from witness tips and a review of closed-circuit security camera footage, investigators were able to pinpoint the vehicle Mercedez was last seen riding in. The vehicle was later found abandoned; investigators processed the scene, documented the car with photographic evidence, and transported it to the Erin Police Station to be retained as evidence for the continuing inquiry.

    On Sunday, a routine work check led to the grim discovery of the young girl’s body. An employee of a local oil company was heading out to inspect an oil well when he came across the body of a young female, lying face down along the unpaved access road leading to the well site. The worker contacted the Erin Police Station immediately, and first responders rushed to the remote location. After processing the crime scene, the body was formally confirmed to be that of the missing 12-year-old.

    Local law enforcement confirmed to Caribbean Media Corporation that a 26-year-old man has been taken into custody in connection with Mercedez’s death, and remains in police custody as investigators continue to piece together the full circumstances of the case.

  • WATCH: Hundreds bid farewell to broadcaster Daniel Thompson

    WATCH: Hundreds bid farewell to broadcaster Daniel Thompson

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — On a solemn Saturday, hundreds of grieving community members packed the Marjorie Meyer Hall at Shortwood Teachers College, coming together to celebrate the life and say goodbye to one of Jamaica’s most beloved broadcast voices, Daniel ‘DT’ Thompson, who served the RJR Gleaner Group for nearly three decades.

    A moving thanksgiving service was held to honor Thompson’s legacy, with heartfelt tributes pouring in from his colleagues at RJR Gleaner and peers across Jamaica’s media industry, who shared personal anecdotes and memories of his decades-long contributions to local radio.

    Thompson passed away on April 30 following a sudden heart attack, cutting short a career that shaped Jamaican public broadcasting for a generation. Over 28 years of service with Radio Jamaica, Thompson built his reputation as a versatile, reliable presence on the airwaves, working every possible time slot and leaving an indelible impression on countless station programs. He launched and hosted his own successful show, most recently contributed as a regular anchor and contributor to the station’s widely popular audience-participation call-in program *Hotline*, and earned widespread recognition for the fan-favorite “X and Y” feature he co-hosted alongside collaborator Emily Shields.

    Video footage of the memorial service was captured by photojournalist Llewellyn Wynter.

  • 37 y-o Brazilian woman accused of posing as 12-y-o child to be adopted

    37 y-o Brazilian woman accused of posing as 12-y-o child to be adopted

    A shocking case of elaborate identity fraud has emerged in Brazil, where a 37-year-old woman stands accused of deceiving an entire community by pretending to be a pre-teen to gain adoption. Law enforcement officials have confirmed that Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira constructed a false persona as ‘Gabriela’, a 12-year-old child fleeing a violent, abusive home. According to investigative details first reported by Yahoo News, Oliveira first approached a local church pastor with her fabricated story, winning the sympathy of the congregation. Moved by her supposed plight, church members pooled financial support for the young-looking imposter and facilitated an introduction to a local couple open to welcoming a child into their home.

    After moving in with the prospective adoptive family, Oliveira maintained her 12-year-old facade consistently: she participated in age-appropriate family activities, took the weight-loss drug Mounjaro to maintain a smaller physique, and even marked a staged 12th birthday with the household. The family proceeded with formal adoption paperwork, and the ruse might have continued indefinitely if a family relative had not grown suspicious of inconsistencies in her behavior and physical appearance. When confronted about her noticeably mature features, Oliveira spun a convincing explanation, claiming that childhood hormone therapy and prolonged abuse at the hands of her biological father had caused her to age prematurely.

    The relative’s distrust prompted an independent online search, which uncovered multiple public records connecting Oliveira to a string of nearly identical impersonation schemes across Brazil. Armed with this evidence, the relative contacted law enforcement, whose investigation confirmed that Oliveira had carried out this con in at least seven different Brazilian states. Following her arrest, Oliveira reportedly confessed to the deception during police interrogation. She is currently being held in preventive custody at the Joinville Women’s Prison as the legal process moves forward.

    At the request of Oliveira’s defense team, a judge has granted approval for a full psychiatric evaluation to be conducted. Her legal counsel has argued that undiagnosed, underlying psychological conditions may have driven her actions, a factor that could potentially mitigate any criminal responsibility she faces for the alleged fraud.

  • Police investigate viral video of Abaco man being slapped

    Police investigate viral video of Abaco man being slapped

    A disturbing video capturing a prolonged physical assault on an older man in Abaco has gone viral across social media platforms, triggering widespread public anger and prompting local law enforcement to launch a formal investigation, according to a report from the Tribune. The clip, which has been shared hundreds of times across major social networks, shows the victim – a man who appears to be in his 50s – remaining completely unresisting throughout the entire attack, never fighting back against his aggressors.

    In the graphic footage, one attacker grabs the victim by the front of his shirt to hold him in place, while delivering no less than 19 consecutive slaps to the man’s head and face. A second assailant joins the attack, adding his own slaps before landing a single hard punch to the victim’s stomach. Around 10 onlookers are gathered at the scene to watch the assault unfold; while one bystander makes a weak attempt to intervene, the two attackers ignore the effort and continue beating the victim.

    Shockingly, the person holding the camera to record the entire incident can be heard laughing uncontrollably from start to finish, and other bystanders in the background also join in the laughter. The disturbing behavior of both the attackers and the laughing onlookers quickly sparked fierce backlash after the video spread online, with social media users lining up to condemn the incident in comment sections.

    Local police official Sheria King has confirmed that law enforcement received an official complaint over the incident and is moving forward with an investigation to identify the attackers and hold them accountable for their actions. Social media commenters across the platform have directed widespread criticism at all parties involved, calling out the attackers as bullies and cowards for ganging up on an unresisting older man, while also condemning the person who filmed the attack for laughing rather than stepping in to stop it. Many users emphasized that the public humiliation and violence the victim suffered is no laughing matter, stressing that the entire incident exposes a disturbing lack of empathy among those involved.

  • BUT president urges minister to fix teacher shortages

    BUT president urges minister to fix teacher shortages

    The head of the Bahamas’ largest educators’ organization is pushing the country’s newly appointed Education Minister to confront deep-rooted, long-unresolved flaws in the public education system, warning that many critical problems have dragged on for generations despite repeated calls for reform from teaching professionals.

    Belinda Wilson, president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers, outlined the union’s top priorities during an interview on Guardian Radio’s popular morning talk show Morning Blend, where she drew particular attention to crippling inefficiencies in the Ministry of Education’s teacher recruitment pipeline that have left countless newly graduated educators stuck in bureaucratic limbo for months.

    Wilson shared that some newly qualified educators, who were supposed to receive classroom assignments at the start of the academic year, only received their official postings mere weeks before the school year came to a close – a stark example of the systemic delays that have plagued the ministry’s hiring process for years. Her public remarks come as educators across the country continue to sound the alarm over three core issues: persistent understaffing, crumbling school infrastructure, and unaddressed workplace concerns.

    The union leader recently held a formal meeting with new Education Minister Chester Cooper and his senior leadership team, which she described as a productive opening dialogue that covered the full scope of challenges facing the nation’s public education sector. During the meeting, Wilson presented Cooper with a comprehensive 20-page policy document that details both the strengths and critical weaknesses of the current education system, paired with concrete, actionable recommendations for systemic improvement.

    The discussion touched on everything from teacher placement protocols and curriculum updates to the employment status of Cuban educators working in Bahamian schools, school repair backlogs, plans for new campus construction, and the lack of internal communication that has slowed progress on key initiatives.

    Wilson painted a grim picture of staffing shortages across the entire public school network, which serves thousands of students spread across 164 campuses located on 24 of the Bahamas’ islands and cays. She explained that while substitute teachers are intended to only fill temporary gaps created by educator absences or extended leave, the system now relies heavily on retired teachers to work full-time as long-term supply instructors, because hundreds of permanent vacancies remain unfilled.

    One of the most persistent bottlenecks, Wilson emphasized, is the drawn-out timeline required to process and appoint newly graduated teaching candidates. Many students enrolled in education programs at the University of The Bahamas receive government-funded grants or scholarships, meaning the Ministry of Education is already aware of these candidates long before they complete their degrees. Even with this advance knowledge, Wilson said, graduates often wait months to receive their official appointment letters while civil servants collect transcripts, background check results, and other required documentation.

    To illustrate the scope of the problem, Wilson used a common enrollment scenario: for a cohort of 100 new teaching graduates invited to orientation in August ahead of the new school year, only 20 to 30 leave the orientation ceremony with a signed appointment letter in hand. The rest of the cohort is left in uncertain limbo while paperwork moves slowly through multiple layers of bureaucracy.

    “Every delay is blamed on another department: ‘Oh, we’re waiting for the public service. Oh, we’re waiting for police to complete vetting. Oh, we’re waiting for them to submit their diploma. Oh, we’re waiting for their transcript,’” Wilson said. “That entire bureaucratic backlog is enough to drive young teachers away.”

    She added that these unnecessary delays are deeply demoralizing for early-career educators, who invest four years in their professional training and are eager to begin working with students, only to be sidelined by avoidable administrative gridlock.

  • Flash flood watch in effect for several parishes

    Flash flood watch in effect for several parishes

    KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s national weather agency has activated a flash flood watch for multiple low-lying and flood-vulnerable regions across the island, with the alert in effect immediately until 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

    The areas covered by the watch include the parishes of Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, St Catherine, St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew, according to an official announcement shared by the Meteorological Service of Jamaica in a press statement circulated on Monday.

    Meteorologists attribute the impending severe weather to a dynamic tropical wave currently traversing the island, which is interacting with an upper-level atmospheric trough. This combination of weather systems is projected to sustain highly unstable atmospheric conditions across Jamaica through late Wednesday afternoon, forecasters confirmed.

    “Over the coming days, the island will see repeated intervals of showers and thunderstorms, many of which will bring heavy downpours at peak intensity, with southern parishes facing the most persistent impacts through the duration of the alert,” the statement read. “Beyond heavy rainfall, strong gusty winds are also anticipated, particularly along southern coastal zones and in offshore waters off the island’s south coast.”

    The weather service has issued a urgent advisory to commercial fishers and all other marine operators, especially those working along Jamaica’s southern shoreline, to practice extreme caution throughout the event. Sea conditions are expected to rapidly deteriorate in areas impacted by showers, thunderstorms and high gusts, creating significant navigation hazards.

    For residents living in at-risk zones, officials emphasize that a flash flood watch indicates flash flooding is a plausible outcome, not a certainty. Communities have been instructed to implement early precautionary measures, stay updated on evolving conditions via subsequent official releases from the Meteorological Service, and remain prepared to evacuate or take emergency action quickly if flooding develops or a higher-level flash flood warning is issued.

    The Meteorological Service of Jamaica noted it will maintain continuous monitoring of the interacting weather systems and issue updates as conditions change to support public safety.

  • Woning Robijnstraat in vlammen opgegaan: bedlegerige man naar SEH afgevoerd

    Woning Robijnstraat in vlammen opgegaan: bedlegerige man naar SEH afgevoerd

    A residential property located on Robijnstraat was completely engulfed in flames in the early hours of this morning, leaving the entire structure reduced to ruin after the intense blaze caused catastrophic damage to the building.

    Thankfully, emergency responders managed to safely evacuate a bedridden resident from the burning property before the fire spread further, according to initial information obtained from local authorities.

    The evacuated resident suffered breathing complications after inhaling thick toxic smoke produced during the fire. After receiving on-site first aid from emergency medical teams, the individual was transported via ambulance to the local emergency department for urgent and ongoing medical assessment and treatment.

    Local fire crews arrived at the scene within minutes of the emergency call being placed. Their rapid, coordinated response successfully contained the blaze, stopping it from jumping to adjacent nearby homes and preventing a far larger disaster that would have impacted more local residents. Despite the swift and determined efforts of emergency services, the original residential property was too severely damaged to be saved.

    As of the latest update, investigators have not yet confirmed the exact cause of the fire. Local police have launched a formal investigation to map out the sequence of events that led to the incident and determine what sparked the blaze.

  • OPINION: The rights of a displaced worker

    OPINION: The rights of a displaced worker

    Across the globe, a sweeping pattern of workforce reduction has emerged in recent years, as both public sector agencies and private companies restructure their operations under the banner of boosting operational efficiency, cutting overhead costs, and preserving long-term business viability and productivity. For countless workers, this trend has meant sudden unemployment through layoffs, retrenchment, or redundancy — leaving them out of work and struggling to make ends meet, even as companies frame these cuts as legitimate business decisions.

    While mass layoffs have become commonplace, terminated workers hold clear legal protections when employers fail to follow established fair procedures before cutting staff. Industry best practices and legal frameworks universally require that employees facing job loss are entitled to a transparent, fair review process, adequate advance notification of termination, and eligible severance compensation where the terms of employment or local regulation mandate it.

    If an employer skips required procedural steps or fails to provide the mandated notice period, workers retain the right to file a wrongful dismissal claim in civil court for breach of employment contract. Under labor and contract law, any termination without required advance notice is formally classified as a breach of contract, and the standard legal remedy for this violation is pay in lieu of notice — compensation equal to the wages an employee would have earned during the required notice period.

    There are, however, limited exceptions to this rule. Employees terminated for gross misconduct, such as theft, workplace violence, or other serious violations of company policy, are not eligible for pay in lieu of notice, and immediate termination is legally justified in these cases. Similarly, workers who resign without providing the required notice, or employees still in a probationary period, forfeit their right to this compensation. Eligibility for all forms of termination pay is also bound by the specific terms outlined in an individual’s employment contract, so workers are advised to review their agreements closely after receiving termination notice.

    For workers facing layoff or redundancy, additional benefits may be available depending on local labor regulations. Many jurisdictions require employers to provide severance pay for large-scale redundancies, and displaced workers are typically eligible for state unemployment benefits to bridge the gap between jobs. In cases of planned workforce reductions, some regional rules also mandate that employers offer retraining programs to help displaced workers build new skills for future roles. A small number of employers also extend existing health insurance coverage for a limited period after termination, a significant benefit for laid-off workers navigating the job market.

    Above all, displaced workers are reminded to verify that all outstanding financial obligations are settled before their employment ends. This includes any unpaid accrued wages, compensation for earned but unused vacation time, and all other contractual monetary benefits tied to the role. This guidance comes from Dennis DePeiza, a Labour Relations & Employment Relations Consultant with Regional Management Services Inc.

  • Kinderen leren over de gevolgen van illegale visserij

    Kinderen leren over de gevolgen van illegale visserij

    On the occasion of the International Day Against Illegal Fishing, Suriname’s fisheries authorities have launched a unique outreach initiative that targets young learners, aiming to build early awareness of the threats of unregulated fishing and the critical need for sustainable practices to protect local marine resources. The core message of the activity is that introducing children to the harms of illegal fishing from an early age creates a foundation for long-term stewardship of Suriname’s aquatic ecosystems and the future of the national fishing sector.

    Illegal fishing, which includes fishing without valid permits, operating in restricted protected waters, and using banned gear that damages marine habitats, is a leading driver of overfishing and severe declines in wild fish populations. To keep fish stocks viable for decades to come, sustainable, rule-compliant fishing is non-negotiable. When fishermen adhere to established regulations and permit requirements, fish populations have adequate time and space to reproduce and replenish, ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from the rich marine resources found in Suriname’s waters.

    This public education message was delivered to students from Sharroyschool by Ranjit Soekhradj, a representative from the Fisheries Directorate of Suriname’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV). On Friday, the group of schoolchildren visited the Central Fishermen’s Harbors of Suriname (Cevihas) as part of the International Day commemoration. Staff from both LVV and Cevihas collaborated closely to host the students, leading guided tours of the facility and walking young attendees through the far-reaching consequences of unregulated fishing.

    During the educational excursion, students gained hands-on insight into multiple facets of Suriname’s fishing industry. They received detailed explanations of daily operations at the fishing harbor, vessel maintenance protocols, post-catch fish processing procedures, and the significant role the sector plays in driving Suriname’s national economy. Beyond classroom-style explanations, the students got an up-close look at large commercial fishing vessels, learned how fresh catches are unloaded and stored, had the opportunity to ask industry experts pressing questions about fisheries management, and toured the local Small Scale Fisheries Center to learn about small-scale artisanal fishing operations.

    For Larissa Kodjama, a teacher at Sharroyschool, the off-site excursion was an invaluable complement to standard geography lessons taught in the classroom. After the tour, students were assigned to compile their observations and takeaways into formal written reports and class presentations. Kodjama emphasized that hands-on, practical learning helps students absorb and retain information far more effectively than learning exclusively from textbooks.

    Through this youth-focused activity, LVV and Cevihas have marked the International Day Against Illegal Fishing in a meaningful, long-term oriented way. By investing in youth awareness and education, the organizations have drawn national attention to the urgency of sustainable fishing practices and the ongoing work needed to protect and preserve Suriname’s valuable wild fish stocks for current and future communities.