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2026 VAT-free days eligible businesses

Grenada’s government has rolled out details for its 2026 Cost of Living Assistance Programme, a targeted policy designed to ease financial pressure on local consumers by introducing three weekend VAT-free shopping events in the final third of the year.

The initiative, led by the country’s Ministry of Finance and managed by the Inland Revenue Division, will open VAT-free shopping to consumers on three paired weekends: 28–29 August, 25–26 September, and 30–31 October 2026. During these dates, shoppers will be exempt from paying value-added tax on qualifying purchases made at registered participating businesses across all parishes of the island nation.

Officials have published a preliminary full roster of approved vendors spanning every parish, which have been grouped by geographic region for easier consumer navigation. In the parish of St George, the most heavily represented region, hundreds of registered retailers have been confirmed to participate, covering nearly every sector of local consumer commerce. These include large grocery chains such as 10 Points Grocery, Big Bazaar, Budget Foods Inc., and Ram’s Grenada Limited; independent grocers and convenience stores like A & M Mini Mart, Aalim Store, and Best Buy; pharmacies ranging from Best Care Pharmacy Grenada Inc., Atlantic Health Pharmacy Ltd, to Wecare Pharmacy and multiple Hills & Valley-branded pharmaceutical locations; auto parts and service suppliers including Andy Johnson Auto Parts, Knight’s Auto World Ltd, and Steele’s Auto Supplies Co. Ltd; hardware and building suppliers such as Europa Hardware Grenada Ltd, Elegant Plumbing & Supplies Ltd, and M and N Hardware Mahon and Sons Limited; and specialty retailers spanning optical care, furniture, clothing, marine supplies, electronic goods, and more.

Outside of St George, participating retailers are also confirmed across every other parish on the main island and the smaller island of Carriacou. St Andrew’s approved vendors include 3P’s Mini Mart, Baron Foods (Grenada) Limited, Pick-N-Pay, and Shop N Save Wholesale & Retail Ltd, among others. St David will host participating businesses such as Automaster Inc., Aubrey’s Green Grocery, and St David’s Pharmacy Ltd. St John’s approved retailers include Dominics Shopping Centre Limited, OK Supermarket Ltd, and Spice Isle Pharmacy Co Ltd, while St Patrick and St Mark also have a range of local vendors registered for the program. On Carriacou, popular local retailers including Ade’s Dream Supermarket Ltd, D & D Super Centre, and Ken’s Supa Valu are among the participating locations.

The Inland Revenue Division has noted that the published list remains preliminary, and any eligible retail business that does not appear on the current roster has until 19 August 2026 to submit an appeal for inclusion. Businesses seeking to appeal can contact the division via phone at 440-3556 or by email at helpdesk@irdgovgd.

The VAT-free shopping program is a core component of the government’s broader strategy to address rising cost of living pressures, putting direct savings in the pockets of local consumers while supporting small and medium-sized retail businesses across the country by encouraging consumer spending during the event weekends. Consumers are advised to confirm participation with individual retailers ahead of shopping to access the VAT exemption benefit.

20 8 月, 2026
Caribbean digital commerce falls behind North America – minister

The Caribbean region faces urgent pressure to close its digital commerce gap with North American markets, according to senior Barbadian government official Kerrie Symmonds, who outlined stark disparities and structural barriers holding back small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from regional and global competitiveness. Speaking at the dual launch of the Small Business Association’s (SBA) capacity-building initiative *Reengineering MSMEs for Growth – Adoption and Application of Digital Solutions to Build Resilience and Global Competitiveness* and Small Business Week 2026 hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Symmonds highlighted that digital transactions make up just 4 to 5 percent of all business activity across the Caribbean, compared to 18 to 19 percent in the United States and 16 percent in Canada – two key markets Caribbean firms are targeting for expansion.

Even more notably, 70 percent of all retail trade in the region still relies on in-person, brick-and-mortar transactions, a sign that the region’s pace of digital transformation has fallen far behind what is needed to compete. Symmonds, who serves as Minister of Business Development and Consumer Affairs, emphasized that closing this gap is not a challenge for individual small businesses alone; it demands coordinated, cross-regional policy action to drive widespread adoption of digital and mobile commerce frameworks.

MSMEs form the backbone of Caribbean economies: in Barbados alone, 98 percent of all businesses are MSMEs, contributing $5 billion to the country’s $16 billion total gross domestic product. Symmonds argued that this substantial contribution could grow far larger if enterprises overcome cultural and structural barriers to digital adoption, noting that many small business owners remain risk-averse and overly conservative about integrating new technologies into their operations.

Among the most pressing systemic challenges identified is the region’s dependence on externally controlled cross-border payment systems. In the current volatile geopolitical environment, Symmonds warned, external third parties can sever or block payment processing at any time, leaving businesses unable to complete transactions and threatening their survival. Even when payments go through, reliance on foreign-managed systems comes with steep costs: processing fees, interchange charges, and elevated interest rates add up to 24 to 25 percent of transaction values in Barbados, a burden that erodes small business profit margins. This dependence on traditional credit and debit cards, which consumers prefer for their built-in confidence and consumer protection frameworks, further locks the region into a high-cost digital commerce model.

Symmonds also pointed to widespread financial exclusion as a major obstacle to progress. Across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), an estimated 30 to 35 percent of the population is completely unbanked, with another 40 to 50 percent classified as underbanked. In the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), unbanked rates range from 20 to 25 percent. These figures create a large pool of consumers who cannot participate in digital commerce, stifling demand for digital business models. Compounding this issue is the total lack of interoperability between regional digital payment wallets: if a merchant uses one provider and a customer uses another, no transaction can be completed, even when both parties are ready to do business. To resolve this, Symmonds called for a unified regional approach rather than fragmented country-by-country solutions, arguing that fragmented systems will never deliver the scale needed for growth.

On the business side, Symmonds exposed a critical gap in how Caribbean MSMEs adopt digital tools: while 78 percent of businesses use social media and customer-facing digital platforms to engage with buyers, only 14 percent use digitized inventory management software, just 13 percent have adopted digital payroll systems, a mere 8 percent use customer relationship management (CRM) tools, and 25 percent of businesses rely on no digital management tools at all. This pattern shows that businesses are willing to engage customers digitally, but are slow to adopt back-end tools that would improve operational efficiency, productivity, and long-term competitiveness. Many MSMEs cite the high cost of digital tools and a lack of technical knowledge as barriers to adoption, but Symmonds warned that remaining stuck in informal, analog, and digitally immature business models will permanently limit MSMEs’ ability to contribute to the region’s emerging digital economy. “While we may argue about whether that is a reasonable answer or whether that answer is something that you can’t agree with, what you cannot do is to disagree with the consequences,” he said. “The consequences are that there are still, therefore, too many of our MSMEs, which are locked into a state of being very informal and being analogue, and therefore being digitally immature and digitally underdeveloped, and in that state, they cannot give birth to the new economy that we want to be able to create through the application of the digital solutions that we’re talking about here today.”

CDB President Daniel Best echoed Symmonds’ call to action, stressing that the Caribbean cannot afford to remain on the sidelines of the global digital economy. Best highlighted the new capacity-building project, which will support 150 MSMEs across five Caribbean nations – Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines – to strengthen their digital capabilities, adopt new technologies, and compete more effectively in regional and global markets. “The Caribbean cannot afford to remain on the sidelines of the digital economy, but participation will not happen by chance. This is not a pipe dream. It requires entrepreneurs who are ready to adapt, institutions that are ready to support them, and partners who are prepared to invest in the systems that make digital business possible,” Best said. He urged all participating MSMEs to take full advantage of the initiative to build new skills, adopt digital tools, and access the new markets that digital transformation opens up.

The project centers on inclusive growth, with targeted support for women-led enterprises and underserved small businesses that face disproportionate barriers to expansion. Best noted that digitalisation offers a unique opportunity for small Caribbean states to overcome longstanding structural disadvantages that come with operating small, geographically isolated markets. “For small states and firms, digitalisation offers a powerful opportunity to overcome traditional constraints, strengthen resilience, increase productivity, and expand participation in regional and global markets,” he explained. Beyond skills training, the initiative also provides grant funding to help selected entrepreneurs implement their digital transformation plans and scale their operations, addressing the cost barrier that many MSMEs cite.

SBA First Vice Chairman Donna Hope reinforced the importance of the initiative, pointing to 2025 research commissioned by the SBA and funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, which found that MSMEs make up 98 percent of formal businesses in Barbados and account for 55 percent of all private-sector employment. “These figures reinforce a fundamental point: when our small businesses are stronger, more productive, and more competitive, our economies are stronger,” Hope said. Small Business Week 2026 carries the theme *Beyond Borders: Positioning Small Businesses for the Global Economy*, reflecting the region’s growing focus on helping small enterprises expand beyond domestic markets.

20 8 月, 2026
Farrell, Jones face robbery, firearm charges

Authorities in Barbados have brought a slate of severe criminal charges against two 23-year-old men from Christ Church, ranging from armed robbery to illegal weapons possession and attacks on law enforcement, following a coordinated investigation by the island nation’s top anti-crime unit.

The Barbados Police Service (TBPS) confirmed that officers from its Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) took Tyrese Leroy Farrell, a resident of Ealing Park South, and Reaquan Jacobi Jones, who lives in Bournes Land, St Christopher, into custody and formally processed charges against them earlier this month.

The pair face joint charges connected to two separate robbery incidents that took place on August 9. They are also both accused of illegally holding a firearm and 14 rounds of ammunition, offences alleged to have occurred on August 11.

Farrell alone faces a raft of additional charges spanning three police divisions across the country. In the Bridgetown Division, he is charged with three more robberies: one dating to July 18 and two that allegedly occurred on July 25. He is also accused of escaping from police custody on August 14.

Further charges against Farrell include possession of an additional 15 rounds of unlicensed ammunition, five counts of assaulting on-duty police officers stemming from an incident on August 16, and two separate counts of resisting arrest by law enforcement.

For his part, Jones faces one additional separate charge: assisting Farrell, an alleged offender, evade authorities on August 11.

As of the latest update from TBPS, both Farrell and Jones are scheduled to make their first court appearance at District ‘A’ Criminal Court today.

20 8 月, 2026
Bailey vows ‘no normalising gun violence’ as police tighten response

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ newly installed acting Commissioner of Police Trevor “Buju” Bailey has announced a sweeping, coordinated crackdown on rising gun crime, pledging that the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) will not tolerate armed criminals terrorizing local communities or eroding public trust in security.

Bailey stepped into the top leadership role of the RSVGPF this Monday, while the incumbent Commissioner Enville Williams begins a seven-month leave. His announcement came during a formal press conference Thursday, where he was joined by two other recently promoted senior officers: acting Deputy Commissioner Junior Simmons and acting Assistant Commissioner Brenton Smith, whose promotions also took effect on Monday.

The press briefing comes amid a sharp spike in lethal violence across the country this year. To date, SVG has recorded 31 homicides, the vast majority of which involve firearms. The most high-profile incident was a July 17 triple shooting in Kingstown, carried out just a few hundred yards from the RSVGPF headquarters. Between last Friday and Tuesday this week, four separate shooting incidents in the capital left one man dead and two women wounded, amplifying public pressure for decisive law enforcement action.

Addressing the widespread fallout of the current wave of violence, Bailey emphasized that every shooting impacts far more than the immediate victim. “Every shooting has consequences far beyond the immediate victim. Families are devastated, communities become fearful, businesses are affected, and the sense of security that every citizen ought to enjoy is undermined,” he said, adding that police leadership fully recognizes the severity of the crisis and rejects any normalization of bloodshed. “We will not normalise gun violence. We will not accept a situation where persons believe that they can carry illegal firearms, discharge a weapon in communities, intimidate citizens, and take human life without consequences,” he stressed.

Bailey outlined a multi-pronged anti-crime strategy centered on intelligence-driven operations, targeted resource deployment, and cross-unit accountability. The force will reevaluate its personnel and resource allocations to direct additional support to hotspots, with specialist investigative teams, intelligence analysts, patrol units and local commanders working in lockstep toward a shared goal: protecting SVG’s residents and visitors.

A core priority of the new strategy is removing illegal firearms from local communities. Intensified intelligence operations will target all actors involved in the illegal gun trade, from those who possess and store weapons to suppliers and traffickers. Bailey also announced plans to strengthen the force’s ballistic tracing capacity to connect evidence across separate shooting incidents, alongside tighter supervision of all policing operations and clearer accountability for criminal investigations.

Bailey issued a direct warning to anyone involved in gun violence or aiding armed offenders, promising an unrelenting lawful response. “Know that those individuals who are involved in gun violence, that the police will pursue you with every lawful means that are available to us. If you possess an illegal firearm, understand that our objective is to find that weapon and to remove it from the streets of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said. “If you participate in shootings, or assist those who do, expect the police to come knocking. We will conduct thorough investigations and pursue prosecutions wherever evidence supports charges.”

Despite the force’s expanded operational response, Bailey repeatedly stressed that law enforcement cannot reverse the trend of gun violence on its own. He noted that in nearly every case, community members hold critical information about the location of illegal weapons, the identities of carriers and suppliers, and plans for future violence. This information, he said, can mean the difference between life and death for potential victims.

“Information provided to the police can prevent a murder. It can save a child, a parent, a friend, a father, a mother, or even an innocent bystander,” Bailey said. He issued a direct appeal to all segments of society — including churches, civil society groups, local businesses, young people and responsible citizens — to join forces with police, framing the fight against gun violence as a collective effort rather than a confrontation between law enforcement and the public. “The battle against gun violence cannot become a battle between the police and the communities. It must be the police and the communities standing together against those who use violence to terrorise our societies,” he added.

Bailey also called on the public to hold the RSVGPF accountable by its actions, not just its public statements. “I therefore ask the public to judge us not merely by what we say at this press conference today, but on the work that follows. We intend to be visible. We will be proactive. We will strengthen our investigations. We will recover the illegal firearms, and we intend to restore confidence and security within all of the communities within the state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.

Even as he pledged a robust crackdown, Bailey emphasized that all police operations will remain strictly within the bounds of law, with full respect for citizens’ constitutional rights. He confirmed that all officers have been reminded that every operation must be conducted “lawfully, professionally, and with respect to the rights of the citizens of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”, adding that “effective policing and professional policing must go together”.

Describing the current moment as a test of leadership and professionalism across the entire force, Bailey noted that every rank has a critical role to play. “Every commander must lead … Every investigator must investigate thoroughly … Every patrol officer must remain vigilant … Every supervisor must be held accountable … Every police officer must understand the responsibility that comes with wearing the uniform,” he said.

Bailey tied the new anti-crime strategy directly to recent leadership changes in the RSVGPF, announcing that newly promoted Assistant Commissioner Brenton Smith will take over direct oversight of all crime-fighting operations, providing strategic leadership across the Criminal Investigation Department, Major Crimes Unit, intelligence division and local operational units. Bailey has tasked Smith with strengthening cross-unit coordination, tightening investigative accountability, and bringing renewed focus to gun-related crime and serious violence. He stressed that the appointment is not just a simple role reassignment, but a reminder that crime fighting remains the responsibility of every member of the force, and additional promotions may be announced in the coming days.

Bailey emphasized that the recent leadership transition is not a moment for celebration, but a time to embrace heightened public responsibility. Reflecting on his own promotion from rank-and-file team member to top leader, he said: “Whilst yesterday, I was a part of a team, today, I lead a team. Whilst yesterday I reported up the chain, today the chain reports to me, and they expect nothing but the best of me.”

Calling for a “new guard” and renewed commitment to public safety across the force, Bailey urged every officer to rededicate themselves to crime fighting and protecting the safety of both residents and visitors. He framed the crackdown as a defense of the fundamental right of all Vincentians to live in peace, noting that the country belongs to all its citizens, every one of whom deserves to live, work and raise their family in a safe, secure environment. “We will not allow a small minority through gun violence, criminal activities, and intimidation to disrupt the lives of our law-abiding citizens or threaten the safety and security of the visitors to our shores,” he said. The acting commissioner reaffirmed that the RSVGPF remains “resolute, professional, and unwavering” in its duty to protect the public, safeguard national security, and restore a widespread sense of safety across the country.

20 8 月, 2026
Lisbert Evans Accused of Issuing EC$221,000 in Cheques Without Sufficient Funds to Businesses and Individuals

In an official announcement released Thursday, August 20, 2026, the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda’s Office of Strategic Communications (STRATCOM) has confirmed the arrest and charging of a 44-year-old local man in connection with a multi-case fraud investigation involving more than 200,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars in worthless checks.

Lisbert Evans, a resident of the Barnes Hill neighborhood, stands accused of deliberately issuing a series of bad checks to local businesses and private individuals, totaling an approximate value of EC$221,000. All of the checks issued by Evans were drawn from bank accounts that did not hold sufficient funds to cover the promised payments, according to official police allegations.

Law enforcement investigators have documented that the alleged fraudulent activities took place over a three-and-a-half-month window, spanning from April 17 to July 27, 2026. The offenses are linked to multiple locations across Antigua, including the busy commercial corridors of All Saints Road, Popeshead Street, and Friars Hill Road.

Following the arrest, officers executed a court-authorized search warrant at Evans’ Barnes Hill residence. During the search, police seized multiple physical items that are believed to be connected to the alleged fraud scheme, which will be used as evidence in ongoing legal proceedings.

The Royal Police Force has noted that this case remains an open investigation, and authorities are currently working to unpack additional potentially connected fraud incidents that may be linked to Evans. Investigators have not yet released further details on whether additional suspects are being sought in connection with the case.

20 8 月, 2026
Antigua and Barbuda to Waive Sales Tax on School Supplies for Two Days

As households across Antigua and Barbuda gear up for the start of a new academic year, the national government has rolled out targeted temporary tax relief to ease growing back-to-school costs for local families. The country’s Cabinet has officially greenlit a zero percent Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) on a curated list of education-related and essential food items, set to take effect on August 28 and 29. This policy covers nearly all core supplies students need for the classroom, ranging from uniforms, footwear, and backpacks to stationery such as notebooks, pens and pencils, calculators, geometry toolkits, and art materials. It also extends to specialized equipment for information technology and home economics courses, ensuring even niche learning needs are covered. The Inland Revenue Department is currently finalizing formal guidance that will clarify which specific products qualify for the exemption, as well as outline clear protocols for retail businesses to correctly apply the zero tax rate at checkout. Government officials emphasized that the core goal of this initiative is to cut the heavy financial strain placed on households, which routinely face soaring costs when preparing for the new school term. This is not the first time the administration has implemented this kind of measure: a nearly identical two-day tax reduction was rolled out in April ahead of schools reopening following the Easter holiday break, demonstrating the government’s ongoing commitment to supporting family budgets. The tax holiday forms one piece of a broader suite of government assistance programs for families with school-aged children, which also includes the long-standing School Uniform Grant Programme and the national School Meals Programme, both designed to reduce barriers to access education for all students across the twin-island nation.

20 8 月, 2026
Antigua and Barbuda Spending US$30,000 on Tint Meters, Breathalyzers and Speed Radars

The Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda is moving forward with a targeted initiative to boost road safety across the country, after its Cabinet greenlit a $30,000 investment in modern traffic enforcement technology. The funding comes as local law enforcement prepares to ramp up a crackdown on three high-risk driving violations: illegal excessively dark vehicle window tint, speeding, and drunk driving.

Maurice Merchant, the country’s Director General of Communications, confirmed the spending decision to reporters at a post-Cabinet press briefing held on Thursday. Under the approved allocation, the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda will take delivery of 62 new pieces of specialized equipment: 25 portable tint meters, 25 professional-grade breathalyzers, and 12 handheld speed detection radar devices.

The expenditure was endorsed by the nation’s top governing body following a formal recommendation from Attorney General and Public Safety Minister Sir Steadroy Benjamin. The core goal of the equipment upgrade is to bolster the operational capacity of the Police Traffic Department, enabling officers to more consistently and accurately enforce existing national traffic legislation and reduce preventable road incidents.

This latest approval builds on a directive Cabinet issued just one week prior, which ordered police to launch a national public education and enforcement campaign targeting non-compliant vehicle tint. Under that earlier order, officers are instructed to immediately remove illegal tint whenever they find it during traffic stops.

Cabinet decision-makers were briefed on the urgent need for new equipment amid growing concerns over rising traffic accident rates, with excessive speed and alcohol-impaired driving consistently cited as major contributing factors in severe, often fatal, road collisions across the islands. Law enforcement leadership has also highlighted growing safety risks stemming from the widespread use of overly dark tint: heavily tinted windows block officers’ ability to see into vehicles during stops, creating unnecessary hazards for personnel carrying out routine and high-risk enforcement duties.

The 25 new tint meters will eliminate subjective guesswork from compliance checks, allowing officers to take precise, objective measurements of window tint darkness to confirm whether vehicles meet the legal limits set out in Antigua and Barbuda’s traffic code. The upgraded professional breathalyzers will significantly improve the force’s ability to accurately test motorists suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol, while the handheld radar units will give patrol officers a portable, reliable tool to identify speeding motorists on all types of roads across the country.

Overall, the acquisition of new enforcement technology marks a key pillar of the Antigua and Barbuda government’s broader ongoing effort to overhaul traffic enforcement and crack down on reckless, dangerous behavior that puts all road users at risk.

20 8 月, 2026
Packaging Centre aids families ahead of school term

As Barbados prepares to kick off a new academic year, a homegrown private sector firm has stepped forward to deliver critical support to vulnerable children – and is now calling on fellow businesses to join the growing movement to ease the financial burden on low-income Barbadian families.

Packaging Centre Ltd., a local Barbadian business, has quietly run its back-to-school assistance initiative for years, flying under the public radar until now. The company recently held a small handover ceremony to distribute school supplies and nutritious snacks to children facing economic hardship, marking the first time the program has been highlighted publicly.

Warehouse manager Simon Cho, who led the event with Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley, also the Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown, in attendance, shared that the project first launched in 2022 in partnership with the Honourable Kirk Humphrey. For the past three years, the team intentionally kept their efforts private, but made a deliberate choice to go public this term to catalyze broader collective action.

“We first started this back in 2022 with the Honourable Kirk Humphrey. We’ve been doing this for multiple years, but we never put it in the news,” Cho told reporters. “The decision to speak publicly now is so that we can get other companies to come together and start doing this on a bigger scale.”

The donation focuses on the fundamental tools children need to thrive in the classroom, including backpacks, textbooks, writing instruments, and other core supplies that many low-income families struggle to afford ahead of the new term. Beyond direct assistance, Cho emphasized that cross-sector collaboration between private businesses and the government is the only sustainable way to meet widespread community needs.

“It’s important that the private sector and government work together because we can’t put all the pressure on government to do everything,” Cho explained. “It’s important that the private sector pick up and help as much as they can within our means, obviously, and do our part to move Barbados forward, especially when it comes to investing in our children, the foundation of our nation.”

Minister Lashley, whose constituency covers Bridgetown, hailed Packaging Centre as a model of responsible corporate citizenship, noting that the program fills a critical gap for vulnerable families across the capital and surrounding urban areas. Lashley added that he expects the initiative can grow into a coordinated partnership between elected representatives and private businesses to expand support to more communities across the parish of St Michael.

“I first got a call from the Packaging Centre in relation to this programme. I said, you know what, this would be a good relationship, where you have the MP for the City and other MPs throughout the urban corridor where there’s a need for this type of programme that I can partner with,” Lashley said, adding that parents across Bridgetown and neighboring districts have already expressed strong appreciation for the effort.

The MP also announced that his own constituency office will launch its independent back-to-school support program next Monday in Bridgetown, noting that growing corporate participation both expands the number of families that can be reached and encourages more businesses to contribute to the cause.

“I am pleased that other corporate companies are coming forward too. I must say that we also are about to launch our own back-to-school programme, I think on Monday in the City too,” Lashley said. “We welcome this because not only would it raise the volume [of support], but it also creates the awareness to entice and to attract more businesses to come forward to engage in this positive activity.”

20 8 月, 2026
American Canadian School of Medicine press conference

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20 8 月, 2026
‘There Is No Trust’: Retired Top Cop Raises Concerns Over Police Intelligence

A retired senior law enforcement leader in Antigua and Barbuda is sounding the alarm over a growing crisis that is crippling the country’s fight against violent crime: the collapse of public trust between communities and police officers. Nuffield Burnette, former Assistant Commissioner of Police, has pulled back the curtain on systemic weaknesses in current policing strategies, arguing that agencies have drifted away from proactive prevention into a purely reactive approach—all while losing access to one of their most effective traditional crime-fighting assets: community informants.

Burnette, who shared his insights during a reflection on decades of policing experience, explained that cultivating confidential informants has long been a core pillar of effective law enforcement, allowing agencies to gather actionable intelligence on planned and committed criminal activity. Today, however, that foundational tool is increasingly out of reach. “What seemed to be the enemy of the police, now what we call cultivating informants, police seem not to have the ability to do that anymore because there is no trust,” Burnette noted. “That is one of the main pillars in policing and police crime-fighting. In my day, that was a big deal.”

For the retired officer, rebuilding that fractured public confidence is not a secondary public relations goal—it is a non-negotiable prerequisite for turning the tide on rising crime. Without trust, communities have little incentive to share critical information that can help officers stop crimes before they happen, hold offenders accountable, and dismantle active criminal networks. Burnette emphasized that even the most advanced modern surveillance infrastructure, from street cameras to digital monitoring tools, can never replace the close collaborative relationship between police and the communities they serve.

Beyond the crisis of public trust, Burnette also raised urgent, unflinching concerns about the rampant flow of illegal firearms into Antigua and Barbuda, calling for far stricter oversight of the country’s main ports of entry. “Where they’re getting the guns from, we know. The guns come through the seaport and the airport,” he stated. In a striking revelation, Burnette also alleged that individuals widely viewed as respectable, upstanding members of Antiguan and Barbudan society are directly involved in the illicit importation of these weapons. The scale of this illegal network, he argued, demands heightened vigilance and expanded targeted surveillance at all points of entry and across communities.

Burnette’s comments have reignited public debate over the future of policing in Antigua and Barbuda, as local law enforcement continues to grapple with growing rates of gun-related crime and organized criminal activity. His core argument puts renewed focus on a simple, high-stakes truth: sustainable progress in curbing crime cannot be achieved through technology or increased enforcement alone. It depends first on mending the broken bond between police and the public.

20 8 月, 2026