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  • 3 Southern Villages Join New EU Job and Farming Project

    3 Southern Villages Join New EU Job and Farming Project

    In a major milestone for rural economic development in southern Belize, three local communities—Hopkins Village, Seine Bight, and Maya Center Village—have formally signed on to become the inaugural participants in the four-year PROSPER project, an international initiative backed by the European Union and implemented in partnership with the Government of Belize and the International Labour Organization. Scheduled to run from 2026 to 2030, the program targets expanded job creation and sustainable farming growth for Indigenous Maya and Garifuna communities across the country, with 12 additional communities in Toledo District set to join later this year after final community consultations conclude.

    Unlike many top-down development projects, PROSPER centers on community-led decision-making to ensure that economic gains from local industries—from cultural tourism to agricultural exports—remain in the hands of local residents rather than outside entities. Each participating community will establish a dedicated local action group, giving everyday residents direct voting power to set funding priorities and select which development projects move forward first. This collaborative approach was built into the project from its early planning stages: more than 100 residents from Hopkins and Seine Bight were consulted back in December 2025 to shape project priorities during the pre-launch groundwork phase.

    The selection of the first three communities followed a rigorous assessment process that evaluated each village’s existing small business ecosystem, cooperative infrastructure, and overall readiness to launch new development initiatives. Two core pillars anchor the project’s work: the first is expanded investment in sustainable cacao agroforestry, a traditional farming practice that aligns with Belize’s goals for climate-resilient agriculture and economic growth. Local vocational schools will integrate cacao cultivation training into their official curricula, and will receive targeted equipment upgrades and expert training support to deliver high-quality education to new and emerging farmers.

    Rodwell Ferguson, Belize’s Minister of Agriculture, emphasized the long-term value of the project’s focus on cacao agroforestry during the signing ceremony. “By investing in and supporting our rural farming communities, we can do more than just boost short-term incomes,” Ferguson noted. “We can strengthen rural livelihoods across the country and build more resilient agricultural systems that will serve generations of Belizeans to come.”

    PROSPER’s overarching mission addresses a longstanding challenge in many rural tourism and agricultural economies across the Global South: how to ensure that revenue generated from local land and labor translates into sustained, community-wide prosperity rather than leaking out to external third parties. By centering Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous community leadership, the project aims to create a replicable model for inclusive rural development that can be expanded across Belize and potentially adapted to other regional contexts in the Caribbean and Central America.

  • IDB hosts Invest Sustainability Week confab here

    IDB hosts Invest Sustainability Week confab here

    Against a backdrop of escalating climate threats, aging infrastructure gaps, and unmet social development needs across small island developing states (SIDS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has brought its annual Sustainability Week conference to the Caribbean for the first time, launching a multi-day dialogue in Barbados to connect global and regional investment capital with high-priority development projects across Latin America and the Caribbean.

    Hosted at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle Hotel in the parish of St Philip, the event draws more than 300 participating businesses from across the Caribbean and Latin America, with a total of over 700 in-person attendees and an additional 1,000 virtual participants joining from around the globe. Running through Thursday, the conference features targeted discussions on four core themes: scaling renewable energy adoption, strengthening national and community disaster resilience, expanding sustainable infrastructure financing, and opening new private-sector investment pathways across the region.

    Barbados Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn framed the island nation as the ideal host for the landmark gathering, noting that SIDS confront a unique set of systemic barriers when it comes to accessing affordable financing for development and climate action. “As smaller states, we do have peculiar needs with respect to our financing arrangements,” Straughn told reporters on the opening day of the conference Tuesday. “This gathering brings private sector stakeholders from across Latin America, the Caribbean and the globe together to co-design solutions that work not just for Barbados, but for every small island across the region.”

    Over the past eight years, Straughn explained, Barbados has led regional advocacy to expand access to concessional financing that supports equitable development and climate resilience-building, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that exacerbated existing economic gaps across the Caribbean. The conference, he said, is a core component of a broader regional push to mobilize both public and private capital to help countries meet their sustainable development targets.

    Straughn emphasized that any new financing must be directly tied to projects that deliver measurable, equitable outcomes across three key pillars: environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and targeted support for vulnerable and marginalized communities. This approach has become a core evolution of corporate social responsibility over the past decade, he noted, as stakeholders increasingly demand tangible impact alongside financial returns. “As we continue to press for the reform of the international financial architecture, we are seeking to match finance with specific deliverables and projects to ensure that we can close persistent development gaps,” Straughn said. “Because at the end of the day, you are as strong as the most vulnerable amongst you.”

    A key priority for Barbados, the finance minister added, is expanding access to regional investment opportunities for ordinary Barbadians, moving beyond a system where growth benefits only large traditional financial institutions. “We need more Bajans investing abroad… Bajans have money, so we are working with credit unions as well as traditional banks to create pathways for local citizens to bid on and invest in these regional opportunities, generate income outside of Barbados, and strengthen our own economic resilience,” he explained. The government’s goal, he noted, is to create inclusive investment opportunities that allow ordinary people to earn returns both at home and across the region, rather than concentrating profits exclusively in the coffers of large institutional investors.

    To attract sustained private-sector investment, Straughn stressed, national governments must first establish stable, clear regulatory and macroeconomic conditions. “A transparent regulatory environment that enables private sector participation is non-negotiable, and that’s something we’ve been working to build here in Barbados,” he said. “Fiscal discipline, stable governance, and a predictable political economy are equally critical for private investment to take root, but the opportunities for impactful growth are clearly there.”

    Straughn pointed to a series of existing successful partnerships between the Barbados government and the IDB as proof of concept for this model, including climate-focused coastal protection initiatives, critical public infrastructure upgrades, and social development projects. Among the examples he cited were the south coast and west coast boardwalk projects, which simultaneously protect coastal ecosystems and properties from climate-related erosion while expanding public recreational space. He also highlighted ongoing multi-partner investments in education, healthcare, and water infrastructure, noting that universal access to reliable potable water remains a top development priority for the island. “Over the last several years, we’ve worked with the IDB, World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and other regional partners to develop a comprehensive water master plan to replace pipes originally installed by British colonial authorities over 150 years ago, and upgrade sewerage treatment plants in Bridgetown and the south coast to enable water reuse,” he explained.

    Hosting the conference also delivers direct economic benefits to Barbados, Straughn noted, by supporting the island’s expanding meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector and driving economic activity during traditional off-peak tourism periods. “These events not just help us to focus on better delivery of projects and financing, but it also helps to keep economic activity moving in the way that we want it to,” he said.

    In a pre-recorded opening address, Minister of Public and Private Investments Indar Weir called hosting Sustainability Week a milestone moment for Barbados and the entire Caribbean region, noting that the island has long sought to lead, rather than observe, global conversations about sustainability and climate resilience. “Barbados does not want to be on the sideline of the conversation. We actually want to be part and center of the conversation, and all of you do know the tremendous work and leadership that our Prime Minister has given to the whole subject of sustainability and indeed resilience,” Weir said.

    The gathering creates a unique space for governments, private investors, environmental advocates, and business leaders to align on priorities and forge new impact-focused partnerships, Weir added, noting that the Caribbean was selected to host this year’s event in recognition of the region’s growing sustainable investment potential and its global leadership on climate action. More than 350 companies are participating in this year’s Sustainability Week, with nearly half based in Caribbean countries. “The Caribbean has a clear opportunity to position itself as a global hub for sustainable investment, innovation, resilience, and inclusive growth, and that is exactly what this week is all about,” Weir said.

  • Fire service wants greater biz partnership

    Fire service wants greater biz partnership

    Barbados’ public fire safety agency is turning to the private sector for expanded partnership, as it works to scale up life-saving fire prevention education across all levels of the island’s school system. The call for greater corporate collaboration came from Fire Officer Shalika Charles on Tuesday, in remarks delivered following the conclusion of the Barbados Fire Service’s annual Primary School Fire Safety Quiz. This year’s competition was hosted at the Ministry of Education Transformation’s Media and Resource Department, located in the Elsie Payne Complex on Constitution Road, St. Michael.

    Charles explained that the quiz initiative first launched in 2023 as a cornerstone event marking the Fire Service’s 70th anniversary. Public response from students, school administrators and community members was overwhelmingly positive, prompting organizers to transition the quiz into a recurring annual programming staple. “We made the call to lock this in as a yearly event because it creates a space to actively engage primary school students, school leadership, and entire school communities around core messages of fire safety, fire prevention and general life-saving preparedness,” Charles noted in her address.

    Unlike one-off outreach campaigns, Charles emphasized that the knowledge students gain through the program extends far beyond the competition venue, creating rippling public safety benefits across Barbados’ communities. “This knowledge doesn’t stay locked in this room or just inside the classroom. These kids carry what they learn back to their households, and that information really can be the difference between life and death in an emergency,” she said.

    Charles stressed that long-term growth of the program and direct, tangible benefits for participating students depend entirely on expanded partnerships with private sector entities across the island. “We’re calling on more corporate stakeholders to come on board as sponsors, because that’s how we make sure this program delivers real, lasting value to every student that takes part,” she said. Currently, the program already counts major local firm Sagicor as a returning title sponsor for 2024, with the company stepping up to deliver critical safety resources to participants.

    As part of its sponsorship this year, Sagicor provided free smoke alarms to every student who competed in the quiz, directly advancing the Fire Service’s broader goal of boosting fire safety preparedness in residential properties across Barbados. Additionally, the company donated fire extinguishers to the households of this year’s top-performing students. Charles noted that every piece of safety equipment distributed through the program directly contributes to reducing fire risk across local communities. “All of these resources add up to make homes across Barbados safer for residents,” she said.

    Looking ahead, the Barbados Fire Service has laid out clear plans to expand the program beyond the primary school system, with the next phase focusing on integrating secondary school students to reach older age groups and deepen community-wide engagement. “We’re eager to bring this outreach into secondary schools too, so older students get the same chance to learn these critical skills and engage with our safety messaging,” Charles explained.

    Beyond expanding the quiz competition, the Fire Service is also pushing to embed fire safety education into the permanent, year-round school curriculum, rather than limiting public education activities to a single annual event. “Our end goal is to have fire safety taught consistently throughout the entire school year,” Charles said. To make this long-term goal a reality, she added that deeper ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Education Transformation will be critical to building a sustainable initiative that delivers consistent benefits to Barbados’ younger generations.

    At the close of this year’s competition, organizers named Arthur Smith Primary School as the overall winner of the 2024 Primary School Fire Safety Quiz.

  • WASCO notifies of ‘new rates’ coming soon

    WASCO notifies of ‘new rates’ coming soon

    Over the recent weekend, consumers across St. Lucia were caught off guard by an unexpected notice posted to the official website of the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO). The brief but impactful announcement only stated “new rates coming soon”, but confirmed that water and sewerage tariffs have undergone a formal revision and are scheduled to go into effect starting this June.

    The news of an upcoming rate increase immediately stirred widespread anxiety among households, with the issue being raised for questioning during this Tuesday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing. When approached by reporters from St. Lucia Times for comment, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre confirmed that he was aware of the planned adjustment, but clarified that the national government has very limited legal authority to intervene in the tariff-setting process.

    “I have heard so; our hands are tied, but it’s a situation we are looking at,” Pierre told reporters. He further emphasized that the current regulatory framework gives the National Utilities Regulatory Commission (NURC) the power to adjust water rates, along with all other utility rates. “I know it’s painful [but] Cabinet by law, has no jurisdiction over that. Cabinet has moral suasion,” he added.

    The NURC’s authority to set and adjust utility tariffs, including water and sewerage service rates, is clearly laid out in the National Utilities Regulatory Commission Act. The legislation does not outline mandatory timelines for when rate adjustments must occur, but it grants the commission full power to create, approve, and regularly review tariff structures. This includes the ability to modify rates over time in line with established regulatory mechanisms, such as an indexation formula that accounts for key economic variables including general inflation, changes to industry wages, and fluctuations in electricity costs — all factors that directly impact the operational expenses of utility providers.

    In response to the upcoming cost increase for households, Prime Minister Pierre renewed a longstanding policy appeal to St. Lucian citizens: to explore alternative water sources that can reduce their reliance on the public water supply network. He specifically encouraged more households to invest in residential rainwater collection infrastructure, noting that this simple adaptation can not only help families manage monthly utility costs amid volatile tariff adjustments, but also strengthen long-term community water resilience.

  • Caribbean urged to unite on renewable energy procurement

    Caribbean urged to unite on renewable energy procurement

    Against a long-standing backdrop of heavy reliance on costly imported fossil fuels, Caribbean nations are facing growing pressure to transform their energy sectors – and a top energy official has laid out a clear path forward: combined purchasing power and standardized procurement systems. This call to action came from Kevin Hunte, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Business, during his opening address Tuesday at the regional workshop for the Caribbean Aggregation Procurement Programme (CAPP), hosted at the Courtyard by Marriott.

    The two-day workshop gathered key stakeholders from across the region, including senior representatives from national energy ministries, independent energy regulators, and international development partners, to map out a framework for competitive, region-wide aggregated procurement of renewable energy infrastructure.

    Hunte emphasized that the Caribbean’s energy dependency leaves the entire region exposed to outside shocks that local governments have no power to mitigate. “The vast majority of electricity that keeps our hospitals running, our schools open, our small businesses operating, and our homes lit comes from fossil fuels we import from other regions,” Hunte explained. “Every single kilowatt-hour consumers use ties their household costs to global commodity market shifts we cannot control, from price volatility triggered by geopolitical conflict to supply chain disruptions thousands of miles away.”

    Unlike many other regions, Caribbean residents already contend with some of the highest electricity rates on the planet – but Hunte stressed that this burden is not the result of local mismanagement. Instead, it stems from the region’s inherent structural challenges: small, fragmented national energy markets, isolated standalone power grids, and decades of individual countries negotiating procurement separately. “Families in Bridgetown, Castries, Kingston, and Roseau all pay a premium for power not because of any choices they made, but because of the small scale of our individual markets, disconnected grids, and our historic pattern of approaching energy markets one country at a time,” he noted.

    While the Caribbean is endowed with exceptional renewable energy potential – including strong solar radiation, consistent coastal winds, and untapped geothermal reserves – the pace of renewable energy deployment has lagged behind the global average for the last half decade. Regional stakeholders have already identified a growing pipeline of new renewable generation and battery storage projects across the area, but Hunte warned that continuing to pursue these projects on a national, individual basis will lock in unnecessarily high costs for decades to come.

    “If we keep procuring these projects the way we always have, one country at a time, one tender at a time, we will keep paying that premium, and end up spending far more than the global average for the same clean energy assets and storage capacity,” Hunte said.

    Hunte made the case that uniting regional energy demand and standardizing procurement processes and documentation would make the Caribbean a far more attractive investment destination for major international renewable energy developers and institutional investors. “If we pool our collective demand, align our procurement rules and standardize project documents, and present global developers with one cohesive, well-structured regional project pipeline instead of 15 separate fragmented national pipelines, the benefits are transformative,” he argued. “One of the most immediate gains is major combined cost savings – that’s money that stays in Caribbean communities, rather than flowing out to cover inflated procurement and infrastructure costs.”

    Drawing on the region’s long history of successful collective action through institutions like the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Hunte noted that Caribbean countries have already proven their ability to deliver results through cooperation. “When 15 Caribbean energy ministries come together to back a pipeline of several gigawatts of clean energy, structured with standardized contracts and built-in credit enhancement, that’s a tender that every major player in the global renewable energy industry will compete aggressively to win,” he said.

  • Estranged husband charged with Joy St Omer’s murder

    Estranged husband charged with Joy St Omer’s murder

    A shocking case of domestic violence turned fatal has rocked Saint Lucia, after 34-year-old Primus Toussaint was formally charged with the shooting death of his 24-year-old estranged wife, Joy St Omer. The fatal incident unfolded last Wednesday in the Marigot district of Castries, marking the end of a relationship already marked by documented court intervention.

    Local law enforcement first responded to an emergency call about a shooting at approximately 7:10 p.m. on the day of the incident. Officers from the Marigot Police Station and the island’s Major Crimes Unit rushed to the reported scene, where they discovered St Omer unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle. A resident of Au Tabor, Anse La Raye, St Omer was a mother to one child. Emergency personnel confirmed her death at the scene shortly after arrival.

    Within hours of the shooting, authorities received word that Toussaint, a resident of Belvedere, Canaries, had voluntarily turned himself in to law enforcement. Accompanied by his legal representative, the suspect presented himself at the island’s Criminal Investigations Department, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of murder and held at the Centralised Community Safety Centre.

    Court documents confirm that a legal protection order had already been filed against Toussaint in relation to St Omer at the time the shooting occurred, a detail first highlighted in an earlier police press release announcing the suspect’s surrender. On May 25, one week after the killing, Toussaint made his first official court appearance at the Castries Magistrate’s Court. Following the hearing, Judge remanded the suspect into custody, with his next court hearing scheduled for June 30.

  • Air Peace route opens new economic opportunities for Barbados, says UWI economist

    Air Peace route opens new economic opportunities for Barbados, says UWI economist

    Following the launch of the first direct commercial flight between Nigeria and Barbados by Nigerian airline Air Peace over the weekend, regional economic experts have outlined wide-ranging long-term opportunities for trade expansion, tourism growth and cross-cultural collaboration between the two nations.

    The new connection marks a key milestone in Barbados’ ongoing strategy to diversify its international tourism and trade partners, moving beyond its traditional source markets to tap into emerging opportunities across the African continent. According to University of the West Indies economist Marion Alleyne, the direct air link creates an unprecedented physical foundation to boost economic engagement between the Caribbean island and West Africa, unlocking untapped potential for multiple core sectors.

    For Barbados’ $4.5 billion tourism industry, which accounts for nearly 40% of the island’s national employment, Nigeria’s 220 million-strong population and fast-expanding middle and upper class represent a high-value opportunity to attract higher-spending international visitors and business travelers. Unlike mass tourism that focuses on volume, this new market is expected to deliver greater revenue per visitor, lifting Barbados’ overall tourism profitability. “Nigeria is a much larger economy with a large population in the hundreds of millions, and they do have a growing affluent middle to high income sector that is perfectly positioned to become core high-value visitors to Barbados,” Alleyne explained.

    Beyond tourism, the new air route addresses a long-standing barrier to bilateral trade: for decades, commercial exchange between Barbados and the entire 54-nation African continent has remained extremely low, with limited direct transport options making cross-border business logistics unfeasible for most small and medium-sized enterprises. The twice-monthly Air Peace service, which operates from Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos to Bridgetown before continuing on to Antigua, creates a reliable travel and cargo conduit that will allow business leaders from both sides to meet in person, explore partnership opportunities, and map out new areas for collaboration. Alleyne noted that the complementary strengths of both economies create natural trade synergies: Nigeria holds vast natural resources that Barbados lacks, while Barbados has built strong specialized service sectors and intellectual capacity that it can export to growing West African markets.

    Cultural and creative industries are also expected to reap major benefits from strengthened connections. With African cultural influence increasingly resonating across global creative sectors, Alleyne said the new link will open pathways for two-way cultural exchange, including collaborative projects in music, fashion, film and digital content that can position both regions’ creative industries for global growth. Barbados’ creative sectors will gain access to the large and fast-growing African consumer market, while African creators will gain easier access to Caribbean and North American markets via Barbados’ existing regional transport and trade networks.

    Alleyne also echoed comments from Barbados’ High Commissioner to Nigeria Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, who highlighted that the new route could allow Barbados to position itself as a key regional transit hub connecting other West African nations to destinations across the Caribbean. Even for travelers continuing onward to other islands, Barbados will capture indirect revenue from transit services and layover spending, adding another layer of economic benefit.

    Air Peace currently plans to operate the route twice monthly between May and September, with local officials holding out hope that demand will grow quickly enough to upgrade the service to a weekly schedule in the near future. Alleyne emphasized that the new route aligns directly with the Barbadian government’s stated commitment to diversify tourism source markets and deepen strategic ties with African nations, calling the launch a tangible step forward in delivering on those policy goals.

    While Alleyne cautioned that tangible growth in trade and visitor numbers will not happen overnight, noting that it will likely take 12 to 24 months for businesses and travelers to adjust to the new connection and build lasting partnerships, he stressed that the long-term outlook for the route is overwhelmingly positive. Over time, he projected, both product and service exports between the two regions will see consistent growth, laying the foundation for a mutually beneficial strategic relationship.

  • Mexico Helps Train Belize Farmers in Cattle Farming

    Mexico Helps Train Belize Farmers in Cattle Farming

    A transformative new collaborative livestock training initiative, led by Belize’s Ministry of Agriculture and Mexico’s international development agency AMEXCID, kicked off this week in Cayo District, marking a key step forward in Belize’s push to strengthen and diversify its national agricultural sector.

    Over five days, participating agriculture extension officers, technical specialists from the University of Belize, and representatives from the Belize Livestock Producers Association will gather at the Central Farm Extension Office to learn evidence-based modern approaches to cattle rearing. The comprehensive training curriculum covers three core, high-priority areas: sustainable pasture management, targeted nutritional conditioning to boost cattle productivity, and efficiency-focused strategies to cut production waste in both the local beef and dairy segments.

    For Belizean smallholder and commercial farmers alike, the program promises tangible long-term benefits: participants are expected to leave with the skills to raise healthier cattle and deliver higher-quality beef and dairy products to both domestic and regional markets. This initiative aligns directly with a recent call for agricultural diversification from Belizean Prime Minister John Briceño, who urged the nation’s large community of sugar cane producers to expand into cattle farming just weeks before the training launched.

    Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Briceño emphasized the economic logic behind diversification, noting that stakeholders have spent decades encouraging sugar cane farmers to avoid over-reliance on a single commodity. “We’ve been talking with cane farmers for decades about diversifying, that don’t put all your eggs in one industry, in sugar,” the prime minister said. The new training program turns that policy priority into actionable support, creating clear pathways for sugar producers to build new income streams through cattle rearing while shoring up Belize’s overall agricultural resilience.

  • From the Chiquibul to the World’s Greatest Guitars

    From the Chiquibul to the World’s Greatest Guitars

    Tucked deep within the remote, lush expanse of Belize’s Chiquibul Jungle, a single fallen ancient mahogany has grown from a forgotten logging mishap into one of the most extraordinary legends in modern music history. Decades after the tree was first left to rot in a ravine, acoustic guitars crafted from its rare, uniquely grained timber have left even the world’s most iconic musicians stunned, and become the most sought-after instruments on the global market.

    The story of what insiders now simply call “the Tree” dates all the way back to 1965, when the territory was still known as British Honduras. Per reporting from Smithsonian Magazine, a team of working loggers stumbled across a massive, centuries-old mahogany that measured a full 12 feet across at its base and stretched 100 feet upward to meet the jungle’s closed canopy. When the crew began felling the gnarled giant, it tilted unexpectedly backward and crashed into a deep ravine, leaving it completely out of reach of the heavy tractors the team had brought to extract it. With no way to move the massive log, the loggers abandoned the site, and over generations, the tree’s existence faded into local jungle myth.

    Decades later, that legend found its way to Robert Novak, a wood importer who had traveled to Belize to source rare rosewood for instrument building. When a local contact tipped him off about the forgotten fallen mahogany, Novak decided to trek deep into the jungle to see the tree for himself. “It was just very beautiful,” Novak shared in an interview with Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Extracting the massive log from the ravine turned into a months-long, grueling undertaking: the tree had to be cut into manageable sections one by one, dragged out of the steep ravine by hand, hauled 90 miles over rough terrain to the Belizean coast, then floated upriver to a working sawmill. When the operation was complete, the team had harvested nearly 12,000 board feet of flawless premium lumber, from a tree that forestry experts estimate was 500 years old when it fell.

    What luthiers discovered when they began working with the ancient mahogany was unlike any timber the global instrument-building community had ever encountered. As Smithsonian Magazine documents, the wood features three incredibly rare, distinct grain patterns: a blistered outline that resembles a topographical map of a mountain range, a deeply curled grain pattern known among woodworkers as “sausage,” and the rarest of all, a repeating tortoiseshell mottling that has never been found in any other mahogany. For Belize, mahogany has long been a core part of national identity – the tree is even featured on the country’s official flag, flanked by two loggers holding their traditional trade tools.

    For the world-class musicians who have had the chance to play guitars crafted from “the Tree,” the experience evokes a near-spiritual reverence few other instruments can match. When Slash, the legendary lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, first picked up his custom acoustic built from the tree’s timber, he told Acoustic Guitar Magazine he expected nothing out of the ordinary. “I thought, ‘OK, let’s get this over with,’” he recalled of the first encounter. Instead, he was immediately stopped in his tracks. “When I picked it up, I was completely humbled. It was a shock-and-awe moment. It changed everything I’d ever thought about acoustic guitars.”

    Other leading names in acoustic music, including fingerstyle virtuoso Andy McKee and Dire Straits co-founder David Knopfler, also count custom “Tree” guitars among their most prized instruments. One renowned British guitarist even sold off his entire collection of 14 existing instruments just to afford a single guitar made from the rare wood, and has said he would make the same choice again. Prices for new guitars built from “the Tree” start at roughly $30,000, with rare pre-owned models selling for far more at auction.

    Today, the remaining supply of the rare mahogany is dwindling rapidly. Jay Howlett, a wood researcher who has spent more than a decade tracking down forgotten stashes of the timber hidden in garages, barns, and independent luthier workshops across the world, estimates that only 400 to 600 board feet of usable lumber remains. That is enough wood to build at most 600 more guitars – and once that supply is exhausted, it will be gone forever, with no other tree matching its unique characteristics ever discovered.

    Novak, the man who pulled the legend out of the Belizean jungle decades ago, says he still finds it surprising that the ancient tree has become such a revered name in music circles, with instrument builders and collectors simply referring to it as “the Tree.” “It’s very beautiful,” he said, “and it should get attention.”

    What started as an abandoned log lost in Chiquibul’s dense green canopy has grown into a gift that keeps giving to the global music community. The world has gotten centuries of beautiful music from the tree that Chiquibul gave up, and Belize – a small Central American nation often overlooked in global music history – has given the world a treasure far greater than it has ever been credited for.

  • Motorcyclist dies after La Caye Highway collision

    Motorcyclist dies after La Caye Highway collision

    A fatal road traffic incident has claimed the life of a 28-year-old motorcyclist following a collision with another motor vehicle on Saint Lucia’s La Caye Highway, which unfolded early Sunday morning.

    Local law enforcement has formally identified the deceased as Lenus Alphonse, a resident of Belair in Castries. According to official police records, personnel assigned to the Richfond Police Station received the emergency report of the crash at approximately 11:45 a.m., and first responding officers rushed to the incident location without delay.

    Upon arrival at the scene, responders found Alphonse sustaining critical injuries from the impact of the collision. Emergency medical teams immediately transported the injured motorcyclist to Dennery Hospital to receive urgent medical intervention. Despite the efforts of clinical staff, Alphonse ultimately passed away due to the severity of his injuries.

    In the wake of this deadly crash, the Department of Road Safety and Traffic Investigations under the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force has issued a public advisory directed at all road users. The department stressed the critical importance of maintaining constant vigilance while operating any vehicle on public roads, and urged all motorists to strictly adhere to every established traffic regulation in a bid to prevent additional preventable tragedies.