Carib Scope

分类： society

  • Over 200 children sought help for sexual abuse last year

    Over 200 children sought help for sexual abuse last year

    On Friday, at a public awareness exhibit hosted by the Bahamas Crisis Centre at Marathon Mall, senior officials and advocacy leaders sounded the alarm on a persisting public safety crisis in the island nation: widespread child sexual abuse and a fragmented system that continues to fail vulnerable young victims.

    Centre director Sandra Dean-Patterson told attendees that in 2025 alone, more than 200 children between the ages of 3 and 17 reached out to the organization for support after surviving sexual violation, exploitation or assault. She noted that the victims included both boys and girls, and that in most cases, the abuse was perpetrated by someone the victims already knew, a common dynamic that complicates reporting and intervention.

    The exhibit, focused on raising public consciousness around child sexual abuse and domestic violence, also served as a memorial to those who have lost their lives to gender-based violence. In her remarks, Dean-Patterson acknowledged one key area of progress: domestic violence-related fatalities have dropped steadily since 2000, when such violence accounted for 45 percent of all deaths in the country. Still, she emphasized that non-fatal abuse remains pervasive across the Bahamas – and, crucially, that most incidents are entirely preventable with intentional, coordinated action.

    Dean-Patterson pushed back against popular, surface-level policy proposals that focus solely on harsher punishments for offenders, framing the approach as a hollow “easy fix” that avoids addressing core systemic failures. Instead, she argued, the priority must shift to improving investigations, building strong cases against perpetrators, and increasing the likelihood that offenders will be caught and held accountable. One of the most glaring gaps she highlighted is the nation’s continued lack of in-house capacity to process DNA evidence from rape kits, even as the country enters 2026. Decades of public discussion on the issue have not translated to change, she said, forcing Bahamian authorities to ship a limited number of kits to Florida for analysis – a bottleneck that derails countless investigations and lets abusers avoid justice.

    Calling for broader systemic change, Dean-Patterson urged stronger public education campaigns, coordinated collective action across civil society and government, and expanded support from local media outlets to shift public norms and reduce abuse rates. She also noted that the centre invited all candidates running in the upcoming national election to attend the exhibit, saying she hopes elected leaders will prioritize this crisis after taking office and understand the long-term damage intergenerational violence inflicts on Bahamian children and communities.

    Khandi Gibson, founder of the advocacy group Families of All Murder Victims, echoed Dean-Patterson’s calls for investment in education and early intervention. Gibson argued that every school-aged child in the Bahamas should receive age-appropriate education on personal boundaries, including how to distinguish safe, consensual “friendly touches” from inappropriate, harmful contact. Like Dean-Patterson, she highlighted chronic under-resourcing of victim support systems, calling for a dedicated national budget line to ensure consistent, reliable assistance for survivors of abuse and violence.

  • Heavy duty equipment knocks out power supply, causing widespread blackout

    Heavy duty equipment knocks out power supply, causing widespread blackout

    A major early-morning power blackout disrupted service across multiple populated areas in Guyana’s Demerara region, including the capital city of Georgetown, on Sunday, after construction heavy machinery accidentally struck a critical high-voltage transmission line, state power utility Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has confirmed.

    The outage was first reported at approximately 8:50 a.m. local time, when customers across Demerara began reporting sudden losses of electrical service. GPL emergency response teams were dispatched within minutes to inspect the L10 Transmission Line, a key connector between the New Georgetown and Sophia power substations, to trace the root cause of the disruption.

    On-site investigations at the construction zone along Dennis Street confirmed that heavy construction equipment operated by China Railway First Group, which was carrying out road expansion projects in the area, had made physical contact with the energized transmission line, triggering the widespread outage.

    In the hours following the incident, GPL crews have been working to secure the work site, move the damaged excavator, and complete repairs to the transmission infrastructure, with the priority of restoring full power service to affected communities as quickly as possible while adhering to strict workplace safety protocols.

    Beyond the immediate inconvenience of the service disruption, GPL has highlighted the severe life-threatening risks that come with accidental contact with electrical infrastructure. The utility noted that incidents of this type not only cause widespread power losses and costly damage to the national power grid, but also put construction workers and bystanders at extreme risk of catastrophic injury or death.

    In the wake of the blackout, GPL issued a urgent public warning to all private contractors, construction firms, and members of the public working or operating near overhead power lines. The agency urged all parties to maintain required clearance distances, strictly follow all national electrical safety protocols, and exercise extreme caution when working in proximity to transmission infrastructure. GPL also emphasized that any party found responsible for damaging critical national electrical infrastructure will be held fully legally accountable under Guyanese law.

  • Carter’s Canine Expo returns with “massive” turnout

    Carter’s Canine Expo returns with “massive” turnout

    Following a 12-month break to mark its 150th corporate anniversary, one of Barbados’ most beloved community pet events, Carter’s Canine Expo, has made a highly anticipated comeback. Now in its fourth iteration, the expo departed from its previous location this year, settling into a spacious new home at the dedicated dog training grounds in Waterford, St Michael, and welcoming hundreds of dog enthusiasts from across the entire island.

    Built around the core principle of holistic, responsible pet ownership, the event’s shift to a larger venue came as a direct response to steadily rising attendance in previous years. Organizers prioritized creating a more relaxed, enjoyable environment for both two-legged attendees and their furry canine companions, eliminating the overcrowding that had impacted past editions.

    From its launch, the expo has centered public education as its primary mission. This year was no exception: visiting pet owners had exclusive access to one-on-one guidance from leading industry experts covering three core pillars of pet care: nutrition, grooming, and behavioral training. All educational sessions and resources were tailored specifically to help Barbadian pet owners improve the quality of life for their animals, addressing common local care challenges and answering individual questions.

    But for many attendees, the undisputed highlight of the day was the expo’s signature Novelty Dog Show. Unlike traditional purebred canine competitions that cater almost exclusively to professional handlers and serious breeders, this show was intentionally designed to be accessible and inclusive for everyday pet owners and their rescue, mixed-breed, or companion dogs.

    Speaking on behalf of event organizer Carter’s General Stores, marketing coordinator Tammy-Rose Evelyn, who is a self-proclaimed dog owner of seven canines herself, emphasized the show’s core purpose. “We know how much local patrons adore their dogs, and we know they jump at the chance to show their companions off to the community,” Evelyn explained. “Not every pet owner competes at the high standard of the Barbados Kennel Club, so we built open categories that let the average person participate, have fun, and walk away with a prize just for sharing their dog with the crowd.”

    While organizers walked into the day with some initial uncertainty about whether they would fill the expansive new venue, those concerns quickly faded when attendance far exceeded expectations, with organizers describing turnout as massive. Though the stands were packed with excited spectators ready to cheer on competitors, some casual owners did hold back from entering the more skill-focused competition categories. Categories including “Best Trained” and “Best Trick” recorded slightly lower entry numbers, as many owners reported feeling self-conscious about their dogs’ ability to perform on command in a public event setting.

    As the day drew to a close, organizers closed the expo with a public commitment to continue growing the event in the years ahead. The 2024 return reaffirms Carter’s long-standing dedication to supporting Barbados’ local pet community, with preparations already set to begin for the fifth annual expo, which is expected to bring another day of tail wags, community connection, and accessible pet education to the island.

  • In custody: Nathan Emmanuel Malik Lovell

    In custody: Nathan Emmanuel Malik Lovell

    Weeks after authorities issued a public wanted bulletin over his alleged involvement in serious criminal activity, Nathan Emmanuel Malik Lovell is now behind bars in Barbados. The Barbados Police Service first alerted the public to Lovell and launched a manhunt for him on April 23, naming him as a person of interest in a high-stakes criminal case.

    Law enforcement confirmed Saturday that the wanted man has been taken into official police custody, and he is currently cooperating with investigating officers as they work to advance their case. In a public statement issued following the arrest, the Barbados Police Service extended formal gratitude to both members of the general public and local media outlets for their widespread cooperation and support throughout the search operation.

    Tips and shared information from the public helped close the net on Lovell, highlighting the critical role of community collaboration in helping law enforcement locate and apprehend wanted individuals, bringing the multi-week search to a successful close for investigating authorities.

  • Cave Hill campus remembers Daquan Roberts

    Cave Hill campus remembers Daquan Roberts

    On a quiet, somber Saturday at the Cave Hill campus of The University of the West Indies, the air hung heavy with unspeakable sorrow as faculty, staff and fellow students came together for a moving walk and vigil to honor Daquan Roberts, a promising law student whose life was cut short in a recent fatal shooting.

    The pain of the loss was palpable across every corner of the gathering, reaching its most raw and heart-wrenching moment when Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law Dr. Ronnie Yearwood delivered a tribute that left him overcome with emotion. Struggling to steady his voice through tears, Dr. Yearwood reflected on the cruel turn of fate that flipped what should have been a joyful milestone for the law school into a period of devastating collective mourning.

    “This year was supposed to be a celebration — of life, of our students, of the graduation of a new cohort,” he said, his frame visibly shaken by grief. “For every educator who walks this campus, our students are not just names on a class roster. They are people we grow to care for deeply; over time, they become extensions of our own families, as much our children as the ones we raise at home.”

    Dr. Yearwood went on to speak to the one-of-a-kind, unbreakable bond that forms between legal educators and the students they mentor. The Faculty of Law, he explained, does not merely teach statutes and case law — its core mission is to nurture young minds and guide the next generation of legal leaders to live out core values of justice and integrity. That close, nurturing work, he said, makes this senseless loss cut even deeper, leaving the entire department fractured on a deeply personal level.

    “I truly do not have the words to capture how sad and broken I feel, how broken all of us are here,” he said. “As a father to a son myself, I cannot begin to fathom the agony that Daquan’s family is carrying right now. I am so, so, so sorry for your unbearable loss.”

    For the entire duration of the remembrance event, that heavy, muted grief hung over the entire campus. Even senior faculty leadership, accustomed to stepping forward to steady the community in difficult times, struggled to find language that could match the depth of loss shared by every member of the UWI Cave Hill family.

  • Labour Queen Contestant Tonya Phillips Leads Roadwork and Outreach Project in St. John’s Rural South

    Labour Queen Contestant Tonya Phillips Leads Roadwork and Outreach Project in St. John’s Rural South

    Against the backdrop of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party Queen Pageant, a unique community-focused framework has redefined what it means to compete: instead of centering only on cultural display and performance, contestants are challenged to deliver meaningful, tangible change to their home constituencies through dedicated service projects. Leading this charge for the St. John’s Rural South district is contestant Tonya Phillips, whose work spans critical infrastructure upgrades, youth empowerment, and care for the constituency’s most isolated vulnerable residents.

    Organized under the pageant’s Queens Committee, the mandatory community project requirement is rooted in a clear mission: to push contestants beyond traditional pageant activities and encourage them to give back to the communities that support their candidacies. For Phillips, this mission has translated into hands-on involvement across three key priority areas that directly address local needs.

    Her first major contribution ties into ongoing infrastructure improvements across St. John’s Rural South, where she has partnered directly with Daryll Matthew, the constituency’s Member of Parliament, to advance ongoing road rehabilitation works. Phillips has framed her approach to community service as rooted in on-the-ground participation rather than distant planning, and her work on the road improvement project embodies that commitment, bringing direct, visible benefit to local residents who have long relied on the upgraded thoroughfares.

    Beyond concrete infrastructure upgrades, Phillips has prioritized investing in the district’s younger generation through sustained engagement with local recreational and sports programming. She has maintained a consistent public presence at community sporting events, most notably throwing her support behind the Ottos local basketball team. Organizers of the pageant initiative note that this focused involvement is intended to boost youth participation in organized activities, lift team morale, and give young residents a visible role model to encourage their ongoing engagement with community life.

    Phillips’ outreach does not stop at public projects and youth work; she has also prioritized care for some of the constituency’s most overlooked residents: shut-ins who are unable to leave their homes unassisted. She makes regular visits to these community members, spending one-on-one time checking in on their needs, offering companionship, and connecting them with any additional support they may require.

    Pageant committee leaders explain that the “Queens with a Purpose” initiative was developed to reposition the annual event as a platform for growing leadership, rather than just a cultural showcase. The program is intentionally designed to foster key leadership and collaboration skills among young women contestants while encouraging them to take active ownership of local community development. Phillips’ multi-pronged project serves as a leading example of how the initiative is turning that goal into action, bringing immediate benefit to St. John’s Rural South while building the foundation for long-term youth leadership across Antigua and Barbuda.

  • Slain law student to receive posthumous degree

    Slain law student to receive posthumous degree

    The Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies has launched formal procedures to grant a posthumous Bachelor of Laws degree to Daquan Roberts, a high-potential third-year law student whose life was abruptly ended by a recent outbreak of gun violence. The landmark decision was publicly announced by Deputy Principal Professor Winston Moore during an on-campus vigil and memorial walk held Saturday, an event organized to celebrate the short but meaningful life Roberts built during his time at the institution.

    Speaking on behalf of the university’s principal to a crowd of mourning relatives, teaching staff and fellow students, Professor Moore acknowledged that the entire campus community has been left reeling by an incident of this magnitude, even as the university’s core mission remains centered on nurturing the next generation and building brighter futures for its students.

    “Daquan came to this institution to earn this degree through years of consistent effort, unwavering dedication and personal sacrifice,” Professor Moore told attendees. “We hope this honor can bring a small degree of comfort to his family, as they take solace in knowing that his academic journey here has been fully recognized and celebrated by our institution.”

    Beyond being just a name on the university’s student registry, Roberts is remembered by the campus community as a deeply committed scholar who entered the legal field with the goal of advancing equal justice for all. Professor Moore called the young student’s death a senseless, horrific tragedy, noting that while the Cave Hill Campus has never experienced a loss of this kind in its history, deadly gun violence has become a depressingly normalized crisis across the broader regional society.

    “Gun violence does not merely end a single life—it steals an entire future,” Professor Moore emphasized. “It robs our community of a son, a friend, a classmate, and a future attorney who could one day have stood in a courtroom to advocate for those who had no other voice to speak for them.”

    In closing, the Deputy Principal challenged the entire university community to turn its shared sorrow into determined action. He called on all attendees to speak out loudly against the ongoing wave of violence that is cutting short the lives of young people across the region, and to work toward creating safer learning environments where all students can pursue their education free from fear. The event concluded with a formal commitment from the university: the institution will stand in unwavering solidarity with the Roberts family in the years ahead, and will ensure Daquan’s legacy remains a permanent, honored part of the Cave Hill Campus’ history.

  • Killings fall, fear rises

    Killings fall, fear rises

    For years, violent crime has stood as one of the most pressing and destabilizing challenges facing Trinidad and Tobago, eroding public confidence and placing immense strain on government resources. A decades-long upward trajectory in homicides has turned the issue into the defining political flashpoint for the nation’s major parties, with campaign promises around public safety shaping recent electoral outcomes.

    Leading up to the April 28, 2025 general election, the United National Congress (UNC) made national safety a central pillar of its campaign, tapping into widespread public frustration over the surge in murders that unfolded over the 10-year tenure of the preceding People’s National Movement (PNM) government. Now, one year into the UNC’s term, new crime data offers a mixed picture: while overall homicides have dropped to their lowest level in 15 years, violent crime remains a persistent reality for communities across the country.

    Since the UNC won power in 2025, the nation has recorded 353 murders through late April 2026. As of April 24 this year, 111 homicides have been registered, compared to 127 murders on the same date in 2025. By the end of 2025, the full annual murder toll hit 367 — a figure that aligns closely with the 355 murders recorded in the PNM’s first year in office after its 2000 election win. But when placed in the context of long-term trends, the 2025 number marks a dramatic reversal:

    Historical data shows the national murder toll climbed steadily from 354 in 2011 to an all-time record of 626 in 2024, the final full year of PNM rule. That 2024 toll included the deaths of more than 40 women and 10 children, pushing public anger to a breaking point. The 2025 drop to 367 represents the lowest annual homicide count recorded in the nation since 2011.

    Firearms remain the dominant weapon in homicides, responsible for more than 80% of all killings. The widespread availability of high-powered weapons has also driven a pattern of multiple-victim attacks: between 2025 and early 2026, there have been at least 94 incidents with multiple casualties, including 33 double homicides, 8 triple homicides, 4 quadruple homicides and 2 quintuple homicides.

    To address the escalating gang violence that drove the 2024 murder peak, successive governments have turned to states of emergency (SoEs) as a core crime-fighting tool. During the PNM’s first term, COVID-19 public health restrictions — including stay-at-home orders, border closures and business shutdowns — acted as de facto movement limits before a full SoE was declared in 2021 amid a pandemic surge. As pandemic restrictions lifted, homicide rates climbed steadily back to the 2024 record, prompting the PNM to call its first anti-crime SoE in December 2024, which ran through April 2025.

    Since taking office, the UNC government led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar has declared two additional SoEs. The first, launched in July 2025, targeted violent criminal networks operating within the national prison system and remained in place until the end of January 2026. The current active SoE, declared on March 2, 2026, was implemented in response to rising organized gang activity and direct threats against law enforcement and protective services.

    Despite the controversial nature of emergency measures, early data suggests the strategy is delivering measurable results. Beyond the 2025 annual drop in homicides, projections for 2026 point to further reductions, with current estimates putting the full-year murder toll around 355 — matching the PNM’s first-year figure and continuing the downward trend from the 2024 peak. This decline is also visible across other categories of serious crime:

    Trinidad and Tobago Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro recently reported that serious reported crimes (SRCs) have dropped 30% year-over-year, falling from 3,413 incidents in the first four months of 2025 to 2,397 over the same period in 2026. Guevarro noted that all policing divisions across the country have recorded reductions, ranging from 32% to 55% compared to last year.

    In remarks to the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Westmoorings, Guevarro pushed back against widespread public anxiety over crime, arguing that public fear is being amplified by political and special interests with their own agendas. He warned that unfounded fear distorts public behavior, raises operational costs for local businesses, discourages foreign and domestic investment, and erodes public confidence in government and law enforcement.

    Guevarro also defended the ongoing state of emergency, emphasizing that the measure is not designed to restrict the lives of law-abiding citizens or hinder legitimate business activity. Instead, he said, emergency powers are targeted exclusively at violent actors and organized criminal networks. Over the first 42 days of the current SoE alone, police conducted more than 3,500 targeted enforcement operations, made over 1,500 arrests, and filed 340 criminal charges. Guevarro framed these actions as evidence of consistent, aggressive disruption of criminal activity, adding that while violent crime remains a real challenge, widespread public fear is often disconnected from the improving statistical reality.

  • A trough will generate downpours and thunderstorms across much of the country this Sunday.

    A trough will generate downpours and thunderstorms across much of the country this Sunday.

    On Sunday, the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet) issued an official update warning that a low-pressure trough will shape nationwide weather conditions, bringing a period of widespread rain that will ramp up through the day and stick around for the coming days.

    The wet weather is set to kick off in the early pre-dawn hours, with gradual building cloud cover and scattered light to moderate showers moving across the northwestern portion of the country by morning. Meteorologists specifically flagged Santiago Rodríguez, Montecristi, and Puerto Plata as the first provinces to see measurable rainfall as the system moves into the country.

    By mid-afternoon, conditions will worsen thanks to a combination of the existing trough and daytime atmospheric warming, which will supercharge cloud development and precipitation. Forecast models call for widespread thick cloud cover, followed by moderate to heavy downpours, rolling thunderstorms, and sudden gusty winds that will last into the early evening. A long list of provinces across the north and border regions are in the highest-risk zone, including Hato Mayor, Monte Plata, Sánchez Ramírez, Duarte, Hermanas Mirabal, María Trinidad Sánchez, and Espaillat.

    In response to the projected severe weather, Indomet’s National Forecast Center has issued formal weather advisories and alerts across multiple at-risk provinces. The main hazards highlighted are urban flooding, rapid rises in river and stream water levels, and an elevated risk of landslides in vulnerable terrain.

    For the Greater Santo Domingo area, forecasters predict mostly scattered cloud cover through most of the day, though they note that occasional thicker cloud formation and unexpected passing showers can not be completely ruled out. Across the entire country, temperatures will remain unseasonably hot despite the cloud cover and rain, with overnight lows ranging from 22°C to 23°C and daytime highs reaching between 29°C and 31°C.

    Indomet stressed that the weather pattern driven by the trough will not move on after Sunday, and that similar conditions – most notably afternoon rain and thunderstorms – will persist over the coming days. The agency has urged the general public to remain vigilant, keep updated with the latest official weather bulletins, and follow any safety guidance issued by local emergency management authorities.

  • 37th Session of the Sectoral and Thematic Table on Social Protection in Haiti

    37th Session of the Sectoral and Thematic Table on Social Protection in Haiti

    Amid ongoing efforts to build a more inclusive and coordinated support system for vulnerable populations across Haiti, the country’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST) has brought together key sector stakeholders for the 37th gathering of its high-level Sectoral and Thematic Table on Social Protection (TSPS). Organized by MAST’s internal Studies and Programming Unit (UEP), the hybrid event, held both in-person at Port-au-Prince’s Montana Hotel and accessible to global participants via live videoconference, opened this week with a clear core mandate: strengthen institutional and multi-partnership coordination to address longstanding gaps in Haiti’s social protection ecosystem.

    In his formal opening address to attendees, Social Affairs Minister Marc-Elie Nelson centered his remarks on the critical role of Haiti’s National Policy on Social Protection and Promotion, framing the framework as a foundational strategic asset for MAST’s work. He explained that the recurring TSPS sessions serve a unique purpose in the sector: creating a structured space for cross-stakeholder dialogue, breaking down silos that have historically fragmented social protection interventions, and unifying diverse actors around aligned, collective action.

    “It is non-negotiable that every intervention, whether led directly by the Haitian state or implemented by our technical and financial partners, aligns fully with this national framework and contributes to its coherent rollout,” Nelson stated. He went on to reaffirm MAST’s unwavering commitment to sustaining collaborative partnerships, upholding alignment with national development priorities, ensuring intervention coherence, and leveraging complementary strengths across all participating organizations.

    Marie Hérolle Michel, Director General of MAST, followed the minister’s remarks by praising the consistent engagement and proactive energy of all stakeholders working to advance social protection across Haiti. She called for deeper cohesion and targeted collaboration to deliver tangible, practical results that directly improve the lives of Haitian citizens. “A cohesive national social protection system starts with cohesion right here within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor,” Michel emphasized, underscoring the importance of internal alignment to set an example for external partners.

    The 37th TSPS session featured a structured agenda focused on progress tracking and future planning. Attendees heard a joint presentation on the Social Protection and Employment Accelerator Joint Project from leads Sergot Jacob and Thomas Debrouwer. Barbara Canton and Jonès Pyram delivered a comprehensive overview of key progress and achievements delivered through the TSPS framework over the preceding term. Claudy Louis, the TSPS Focal Point, walked attendees through the newly revised Terms of Reference for the roundtable, updating operational guidelines to reflect evolving sector needs. Finally, Lucny Cadet, Coordinator of MAST’s UEP, presented a formal action plan designed to revitalize the TSPS mechanism and expand its impact moving forward.