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  • Ayub Stars as Kingsmen beat Patriots

    Ayub Stars as Kingsmen beat Patriots

    The 2026 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League delivered another edge-of-your-seat clash on August 28, as Jamaica Kingsmen walked away with a tense 11-run victory over hosts St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots at Warner Park. The result marked the Kingsmen’s third win of the tournament, and their second victory over the Patriots this campaign, anchored by a career-defining all-round performance from Saim Ayub that stole the show.

    The Patriots got off to a dream start with the ball, when fast bowler Naseem Shah claimed two wickets in his opening two overs, leaving the Kingsmen reeling at two wickets down inside the first six power play overs. With both opening batters back in the pavilion, Ayub stepped in at the third batting spot to steady the innings, just a day after teammate Tim Seifert notched a tournament century the previous night.

    St. Kitts leg-spin star Wanindu Hasaranga kept the pressure on the Kingsmen through the middle overs, picking up two key wickets and pulling off a spectacular one-handed diving catch to dismiss Usman Khan – a play that is already being touted as a leading contender for catch of the 2026 tournament.

    Undeterred by the wickets falling around him, Ayub refused to let the Patriots take control of the match. He built his innings patiently, slowly clawing momentum back to the Kingsmen before unleashing a devastating hitting spree in the final seven overs of the innings. Jamaica exploded for 91 runs in that closing period, with Ayub leading the charge and valuable late cameos from Rovman Powell and Keemo Paul adding a combined 46 runs to the total.

    Ayub brought up his maiden career T20 century in spectacular style, hammering Obed McCoy into the stands to reach the three-figure mark. He fell to the very next ball trying to repeat the heroics, but his knock of 102 runs from just 58 balls had already dragged the Kingsmen to a formidable total of 182 runs for 7 wickets.

    A brief rain shower delayed the start of the Patriots’ chase, and when play resumed, the hosts mirrored the Kingsmen’s rocky power play start: they reached 42 runs but lost three wickets, one more than Jamaica had lost at the same stage, with early breakthroughs from Jediah Blades and Keemo Paul putting the chase on the back foot early.

    Like the Kingsmen’s innings, the middle overs proved tricky for the Patriots as their batting line-up struggled to find rhythm while rebuilding. Opener Andre Fletcher was the exception, slowly finding his form and mirroring Ayub’s approach of patience before acceleration. Remarkably, after 13 overs, the two sides were dead level at 91 runs for 4 wickets, leaving the match perfectly poised going into the final stretch.

    Fletcher began opening up his shot selection, finding the boundary with increasing frequency and putting the Patriots firmly back in contention for victory. That was when Ayub delivered another match-winning contribution: he took a sharp catch off his own bowling to remove Fletcher, breaking the Patriots’ last major partnership.

    The packed Warner Park crowd held its breath as the hosts’ key batter walked off, but late drama still awaited. Dasun Shanaka and Jason Holder kept the Patriots’ hopes alive, taking 24 runs from Blades’ 18th over to set up a nail-biting final over.

    With Jamaica fans watching anxiously from the stands, Shanaka launched three consecutive sixes off the final over bowled by Odean Smith, leaving the Patriots needing just 31 runs to pull off the win. Smith, though inconsistent through the over, held his nerve to close out the victory for the Kingsmen, even as the hosts pushed right to the final ball.

    In the aftermath of the result, the Patriots remain rooted to the bottom of the CPL 2026 table, with plenty of work to do to turn their campaign around during their home leg. The Kingsmen, meanwhile, hold onto fourth place in the standings with their third win of the season. Hunain Shah and Blades finished the match with two wickets apiece for the Kingsmen, rounding off a dominant team performance built around Ayub’s once-in-a-match individual display.

  • Former Suriname Defence Minister is new ambassador to Guyana

    Former Suriname Defence Minister is new ambassador to Guyana

    Suriname has installed Ivan Fernald, a former national defence minister who held the cabinet post from 2005 to 2010 under the Ronald Venetiaan government, as its newly accredited top diplomat to neighboring Guyana. The swearing-in ceremony also welcomed Andy Atmodimedjo, who will take up the role of Suriname’s ambassador to Indonesia.

    At the official event, Surinamese President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons laid out clear priorities for Fernald’s tenure, emphasizing that advancing stronger bilateral ties between the two South American neighbors and closely monitoring ongoing border issues sit at the top of the agenda. She underscored that protecting Suriname’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, paired with commitments to mutual respect and reciprocal benefit, are non-negotiable guiding principles for the ambassador’s work.

    Fernald’s appointment comes at a tense moment in bilateral relations. Currently, the two countries are locked in a standoff over Suriname’s decision to suspend operations of the MV Canawaima, the cross-border ferry that runs along the Corentyne River. Suriname has also rejected Guyana’s offer of a temporary replacement vessel to keep the critical supply and passenger route active. Beyond the ferry dispute, the neighboring nations have grappled with a decades-old unresolved territorial claim over the 15,600-square-kilometer New River Triangle, a long-running point of friction that has defied diplomatic resolution to date.

    Beyond addressing these ongoing challenges, Geerlings-Simons tasked Fernald with expanding Suriname’s political and diplomatic engagement with Guyana, growing bilateral trade and investment flows, and promoting Suriname’s national identity and the untapped potential of its economy and people. The president stressed that the ultimate goal of this diplomatic posting is to position Suriname as a credible, strategic, and dependable partner for Guyana and the broader region.

    Geerlings-Simons also noted that the bilateral relationship with Guyana holds unique significance in Suriname’s foreign policy framework. Long before formal diplomatic ties were established between the two independent nations, the people of Guyana and Suriname have been connected through cross-border family bonds, cultural exchange, historic trade routes, and free movement of communities. “As neighbors, we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us, without losing sight of the challenges involved,” she stated.

  • The Caribbean Does Digital Government Well – Up to a Point

    The Caribbean Does Digital Government Well – Up to a Point

    The United Nations’ E-Government Development Index, a leading global benchmark for digital public service delivery, assesses how easily citizens and businesses can access government offerings online – from business registration and tax filing to official document requests – instead of waiting in in-person lines at government offices. Rankings are calculated on a 0 to 1 scale, based on three core pillars: the scope and quality of online public services, the robustness of national telecommunications infrastructure, and the level of digital human capital across the population. The 2024 iteration of the survey reveals that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has posted a generally solid performance in digital public service advancement. Of the 14 CARICOM member states evaluated in the index, six managed to score above the 2024 global average score of 0.64. The Bahamas leads the regional pack with a score of 0.71, with Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica recording scores just slightly lower to round out the region’s top four performers. The majority of the bloc’s remaining member states fall within a tight mid-tier ranking range, reflecting relatively consistent baseline digital capacity across most of the region. Haiti stands out as a notable outlier, posting the region’s lowest score at just 0.21, far behind the rest of the CARICOM bloc. Despite the broad progress across most of the region, the most critical takeaway from the 2024 data is the existing regional performance ceiling. The UN categorizes nations with scores above 0.75 into its “Very High” e-government development tier, the group that includes the world’s leading digital public service innovators. As the 2024 data makes clear, no CARICOM member state has managed to cross this threshold to join the ranks of global digital leaders. While the region has successfully built widespread basic digital public service capacity across most of its member states, it has not yet produced a single nation that can compete as a true global front-runner in e-government development.

  • FLASH: 2025/2026 State Exam Results (9th AF 9 dept. and Baccalaureate 8 dept.) – Part 2

    FLASH: 2025/2026 State Exam Results (9th AF 9 dept. and Baccalaureate 8 dept.) – Part 2

    On August 27, 2026, Haiti’s Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) announced the long-awaited release of partial results for the 2025-2026 national state examinations, covering ninth-grade fundamental education tests across nine of the country’s 10 departments and baccalaureate final exams across eight departments. Data compiled and verified by the National Bureau of State Examinations (BUNEXE) reveals a mixed picture of pass rate changes year-over-year, with some departments seeing incremental improvements and others recording notable declines.

    For the ninth-grade fundamental examinations (9th AF), results from nine participating departments show a wide range of performance outcomes. In the Centre department, 10,404 of 12,064 test-takers earned passing marks, translating to an 86.24% pass rate, a small uptick from the 85.90% rate recorded in the 2024-2025 cycle. Grand’Anse posted an 85.99% success rate, with 6,125 students passing out of 7,123 participants, marking a notable drop from 2024-2025’s 93.74% rate. Nippes saw a mild improvement, climbing to 75.50% from 72.49% last year, with 6,549 successful candidates out of 8,674 total examinees. The North department recorded a 93.45% pass rate, down slightly from 96.54% the previous year, as 17,945 of 19,203 participants passed. The Northeast department saw a clear uptick, reaching 91.73% from 2024-2025’s 87.35%, with 7,410 successful examinees out of 8,078. In the West department, Haiti’s most populous, 62,319 of 67,811 test-takers passed, for a 91.90% pass rate that is a slight decrease from 95.16% last cycle. The South department notched a very marginal improvement to 91.45%, up from 91.22% in 2024-2025, with 11,806 passes out of 12,910 participants. The Southeast department recorded an 80.34% pass rate, down from 84.47% last year, as 7,721 of 9,610 examinees passed. Finally, Artibonite posted an 80.11% success rate, down from 86.01% in 2024-2025, with 18,801 passes out of 23,470 participants. MENFP has confirmed that ninth-grade results for the remaining Northwest department will be published in the near future.

    For the baccalaureate final examinations (NS-IV), results released for eight of 10 departments also show stark variation across regions. The West region saw a dramatic drop in pass rates, falling from 95.16% in 2024-2025 to 45.73% this cycle, with just 18,746 of 40,996 participants earning passing marks. Nippes also recorded a significant decline, dropping to 40.36% from 75.00% last year, with 1,649 passes out of 4,086 total examinees. Against this trend, the South department improved to 71.71% from 66.93%, with 4,991 successful candidates out of 6,960 participants. The Southeast posted a mild increase to 56.58% from 53.64%, as 2,525 of 4,443 examinees passed. The Northeast climbed to 42.70% from 36.65% last cycle, with 1,974 passes out of 4,623 participants. The Centre department recorded one of the most impressive gains, jumping to 68.10% from 49.72% in 2024-2025, with 3,889 successful candidates out of 5,711 total participants. Grand’Anse saw a sharp decline, falling to 42.84% from 61.87% last year, with 1,585 passes out of 3,700 examinees. The North recorded a nearly flat slight increase to 48.97% from 49.73% (corrected from original source typo) in the previous cycle, with 5,732 passes out of 11,706 participants. Baccalaureate results for the two remaining departments, Northwest and Artibonite, will be released shortly, per MENFP’s official announcement.

    In closing guidance for educational institutions, MENFP instructed all school principals to collect their institutions’ full result rosters from their respective departmental education directorates following the full publication of all results. The ongoing release of partial results follows standard protocol for Haiti’s national examination cycle, with full results expected to be published within the coming weeks.

  • Simons: Goudsector kan geen ‘free-for-all’ blijven

    Simons: Goudsector kan geen ‘free-for-all’ blijven

    Suriname’s President Jennifer Simons has announced a sweeping, structural overhaul of the country’s unregulated gold mining sector, responding to growing environmental damage highlighted by recent mass fish deaths in the Saramacca River. After decades of laissez-faire management and ineffective incremental reforms, the government is moving to end the longstanding pattern of ad-hoc intervention that only acts after irreversible harm occurs.

    In a press conference held Thursday, Simons framed the Saramacca River fish mortality incident not as an isolated failure by a single operator, but as a wake-up call for systemic change across Suriname’s gold mining industry. “We have gold across almost all of Suriname, but we cannot allow prospecting everywhere,” Simons told reporters, emphasizing that clear geographic boundaries must be drawn to separate permitted mining areas from protected lands.

    As an immediate first step, the government has instituted a total temporary moratorium on new mining permits, permit extensions, and ownership transfers. The pause will allow authorities to conduct a comprehensive sector-wide audit to map legal and illegal mining operations, document the extraction techniques being used, and verify widespread compliance with existing regulations.

    Following the audit, all legal artisanal mining operations will face systematic, routine inspections — a break from the current model that only triggers action after a pollution incident or public outcry. To improve monitoring across Suriname’s vast, remote interior, the government will integrate satellite imagery to detect unreported new mining and deforestation activity in real time. Special joint teams composed of police, military personnel, and intelligence services will then be deployed to respond rapidly to unauthorized operations.

    To fund this expanded enforcement effort, Simons announced the government will require the gold mining sector itself to cover the costs of regulatory operations, including staffing for the National Mining Authority (NMA), laboratory testing, and security support. “These costs must ultimately come from the gold sector itself,” she noted.

    A core pillar of the new regulatory framework is the phase-out of dangerous toxic chemicals used in artisanal extraction. Despite a national ban on mercury, the substance remains widely used, and accumulates steadily in ecosystems and water supplies. Simons has laid out a target of fully eliminating mercury use from the sector within five to seven years, though final timelines will be negotiated with industry stakeholders. The administration also is moving to block small-scale prospectors from shifting to cyanide — a toxic alternative that requires strict safety protocols that most small operators lack the training or infrastructure to implement. Unregulated cyanide use, Simons warned, carries an even higher risk of catastrophic environmental accidents.

    To support the transition to cleaner practices, the government will promote and help fund chemical-free alternative extraction techniques, including gravity separation methods such as shaking tables and centrifuges that eliminate the need for toxic inputs.

    The regulatory overhaul also expands protection for community residential lands and critical river source watersheds, with new specially protected protected areas where all mining activity will be permanently banned. To improve coordinated response to environmental threats, the government will end the siloed management of mining pollution, requiring cross-agency collaboration between public health authorities, agricultural agencies, environmental regulators, and land management bodies. The country will also expand domestic capacity for environmental testing, creating a coordinated network of government and academic laboratories that eliminates the need to send most samples for testing overseas.

    Simons acknowledged that the scale of the challenge is significant. Decades of unregulated activity have left large portions of the sector outside effective government control, and the state lacks the personnel to maintain a permanent presence across the entire interior. For this reason, she noted, technological monitoring, targeted inspections, and cross-agency cooperation will be critical to closing enforcement gaps.

    While the government does not promise a quick fix to decades of accumulated damage, Simons emphasized that the administration is committed to breaking from the status quo of inaction until a crisis occurs. “We are starting this process, and we will see it through — without favor or exception,” she said. Gold mining remains a core part of Suriname’s national economy, she noted, but it can no longer operate as an unregulated free-for-all with no clear limits on activity.

  • Saim Ayub’s century leads Jamaica Kingsmen to 11-run win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots – WIC News

    Saim Ayub’s century leads Jamaica Kingsmen to 11-run win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots – WIC News

    The 2026 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) delivered another gripping contest on August 27, as a career-defining performance from Saim Ayub carried the Jamaica Kingsmen to an 11-run victory over the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at Warner Park Sporting Complex in Basseterre.

    Hosts St Kitts and Nevis Patriots won the pre-match coin toss and opted to send Jamaica Kingsmen in to bat first, a decision that would ultimately set up a tense, low-margin final encounter. The Kingsmen got off to a rocky start early, losing top-order batters Keacy Carty and Maaz Sadaqat for just two combined runs before Ayub stepped onto the pitch.

    The emerging star turned the innings on its head, smashing an explosive 102 runs off only 58 deliveries to anchor the Kingsmen’s total. Supported by consistent late-order contributions from Rovman Powell (21 off 17 balls) and Keemo Paul (an unbeaten 25 off 13 deliveries), the Kingsmen closed their 20 overs at 7 wickets for 182 runs, setting a challenging target of 183 for the Patriots to chase.

    St Kitts and Nevis Patriots responded with a hard-fought batting effort that kept the match neck-and-neck until the final over. Andre Fletcher led the home side’s charge with 55 runs off 38 balls, while late cameos from Jason Holder (34 off 23 balls) and Dasun Shanaka (an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls) brought the Patriots within striking distance of the winning target. When the 20 overs concluded, the Patriots finished at 6 wickets for 171 runs – 11 runs short of the mark needed to secure the win. Beyond his batting heroics, Ayub also claimed one wicket during the Patriots’ chase to cap off a dominant all-round display.

    Ayub was named Player of the Match for his performance, which marked the first T20 century of his professional career. Speaking to reporters after the game, he shared his calm approach to the standout innings. “I enjoy everything; the atmosphere and the people. It’s just love. Nothing much. I think I just played with the flow and had some planning about what to do in the middle, which bowler to hit and which one not to hit, and just going sensible,” he said.

    Following the 18th match of the 2026 CPL season, the result reshuffled the tournament’s points table. Jamaica Kingsmen now hold fourth position, having earned 6 points from three wins across seven matches. Meanwhile, the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots remain at the bottom of the rankings in seventh place, with just 2 points from a single win in five outings.

    The CPL 2026 action continues on August 28, with Trinbago Knight Riders set to face off against Barbados Tridents in the next scheduled fixture.

  • School grants by next week

    School grants by next week

    As the 2026 September academic term approaches, the Ministry of Education has announced that disbursement of its needs-based School Supplies and Book Grant will commence next Wednesday, August 26, just five days ahead of the official term opening on September 7. This targeted financial assistance program is designed to offset the cost of educational materials for low-income and vulnerable student populations across the country.

    Administrative teams at the ministry have already wrapped up the initial screening phase for all submitted applications, with a total of 45,953 requests received from students enrolled across 668 educational institutions. The eligible institution pool includes government-run and government-supported primary and secondary schools, state-sponsored private secondary campuses, specialized special education facilities, and Servol junior life centres. Currently, ministry staff are working through the final mandatory eligibility verification stage, a step officials say is critical to upholding program integrity, protecting public tax dollars, and ensuring support reaches only the most qualifying vulnerable applicants.

    Per an official statement released by the ministry this week, roughly 10,000 applications are on track to complete final verification by the end of the current day, with the remaining batch of applications scheduled to be fully processed by the disbursement start date of September 2. This year’s processing cycle represents a notable challenge for administrative teams: not only is the total number of applications significantly higher than in previous years, but the entire review and verification timeline has also been compressed. The application window for the 2026 program ran from June 22 to July 11, 2026, marking a shorter implementation period than past grant cycles.

    Priority for the grant is given to high-need groups, including households with children requiring special education support and families already receiving other forms of government social assistance. Grant amounts are tiered based on a student’s grade level during the 2025/2026 academic year. Students enrolled from Infant One through Standard Five, as well as those in Form One and Form Three through Upper Six, will receive a one-time grant of TT$1,000. Students progressing to Form Two in September 2026 (previously enrolled in Form One for the 2025/2026 term) will receive a TT$500 grant; the reduced allocation reflects the ministry’s separate provision of six specially designed learning support textbooks integrated for use with student-issued laptops.

    To keep applicants informed, the ministry has set up a dedicated online application tracking portal at bookgrant.moe.gov.tt, where parents and guardians can check the status of their request in real time. Applicants will also receive automatic email updates regarding their eligibility status and upcoming payment details. In its statement, the ministry acknowledged the critical role the grant plays in easing financial strain for families preparing for the new school year, and reaffirmed its commitment to moving through the verification and payment processes as quickly and efficiently as possible. Additional updates regarding cheque distribution and program next steps will be posted to the ministry’s official communication channels as processing continues.

  • Water spouts high from Maraval pothole

    Water spouts high from Maraval pothole

    Commuters traveling along Saddle Road in Maraval, Trinidad, faced unexpected navigation challenges on Thursday, when a nearly 3-foot-wide pothole began forcing pressurized water several feet into the air, creating a major road hazard that slowed travel through the area. Situated just past the popular Monique’s Guest House, the unstable crater has forced drivers to approach the stretch with extreme caution, with many coming to a full stop to yield to oncoming traffic before maneuvering around the damage to avoid costly tire and undercarriage repairs to their vehicles. When local newspaper Trinidad Express visited the troubled site Thursday afternoon, the water spout remained active, drawing the attention of frustrated commuters and long-time local residents.

    Local residents confirm this is not a new problem: the combination of burst water infrastructure and worsening pothole damage has plagued the corridor for months, with repeated failed repair attempts. Taniel Davis, a Maraval resident who lives just a short distance from the damaged stretch of road, explained that crews from the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) have patched the site multiple times, but the issue keeps reemerging shortly after work is completed. According to Davis, the patch jobs fail to hold up under the weight of regular heavy goods vehicle traffic, which repeatedly ruptures the underlying water main and creates a new pothole each time. “WASA would fix it, but anytime a heavy truck drives over it, the main would burst again and then another hole develops,” Davis told the Express. A local employee who works near the site echoed Davis’ frustration, confirming the hazard has been growing worse for months with no permanent resolution.

    The dangerous state of Saddle Road has also become a point of political friction, with opposition MP Colm Imbert, who represents the Diego Martin North-East constituency that includes the road, publicly calling out the current national government over its failure to address the issue. In a post to his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Imbert said he has been raising alarms over the “atrocious condition” of Saddle Road with the sitting administration for more than a year, noting that both unaddressed potholes and WASA water leaks have been left unattended for months. During an opposition press conference held the same day the water-gushing pothole was reported, Imbert doubled down on his criticism, labeling the hole a dangerous “crater” and also highlighting separate complaints of overgrown vegetation reaching six feet high in parts of his constituency. Imbert added that the scale of the hazard was unprecedented, noting he had never seen a problem this bad in the 45 years he has represented the area.

    In response to requests for comment from the Express, Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath acknowledged the issue Thursday. While Padarath said he had not yet seen Imbert’s public social media post about the pothole, he pledged to immediately reach out directly to WASA leadership to alert the agency to the hazard and coordinate a response.

  • Padarath confirms hike in WASA fees

    Padarath confirms hike in WASA fees

    A contentious 100% to 700% fee increase for core services at Trinidad and Tobago’s Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has ignited a fierce political dispute, with the opposition calling for high-level resignations and the governing side defending the move as a long-overdue modernization effort. The revised charges, applied to services delivered by WASA’s Infrastructure and Compliance Department, took effect on July 1, 2024 (corrected from the original 2026 transcript error), bringing long-unupdated rates in line with current operational costs, according to Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath. These one-time fees cover regulatory inspections, design reviews, and approvals for new residential, commercial, and industrial water and wastewater connections, as well as plumbing and pool infrastructure work, a service area that had not seen rate adjustments since the 1980s, Padarath confirmed.

    In a press conference held at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain on Tuesday, former Public Utilities Minister and Opposition MP Marvin Gonzales slammed the government for what he called an underhanded, unconsulted rate hike that imposes new financial strain on already burdened Trinbagonian residents. Gonzales, who shared documentation of the new fee structure with reporters, pointed out that while outdated rates are still listed on WASA’s public website, in-person customers are now being charged the dramatically higher rates with no advance warning to consumers, industry stakeholders, or elected opposition representatives. Specific increases range from a 100% jump for commercial/institutional swimming pool connections (rising from TT$1,000 to TT$2,000) to a staggering 700% increase for multi-family residential per-unit connection inspections, from TT$150 to TT$1,200. Other hikes include a 650% increase for commercial unit inspections (TT$200 to TT$1,500), a 300% increase for industrial connections (TT$450 to TT$1,800), and a 260% rise for residential swimming pool connections (TT$500 to TT$1,800).

    Gonzales accused the ruling government of “acting in the dark of night”, framing the unannounced fee increase as part of a broader pattern of quiet hikes to government service fees and traffic fines that shift greater cost burdens to households. The opposition has formally called for Padarath’s immediate resignation, alongside the full removal of WASA’s board of directors and executive management team, over the lack of public consultation and transparency around the changes.

    Padarath rejected these accusations in comments to the Trinidad Express, denying any secrecy around the adjustment and stressing the new rates have been published on all WASA service forms as of the July 1 effective date. He emphasized that the fees are one-time charges, not recurring costs to customers, and that updating the decades-old fee structure is a critical step to modernize WASA’s overall operations. The revised rates, he argued, will boost operational efficiency in the Infrastructure and Compliance Department and reduce long-term operating expenditures for the state-owned utility. In a sharp counterattack on Gonzales, Padarath dismissed the opposition’s criticism as a distraction from ongoing internal political infighting within the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM), claiming the former minister was acting as a “bacchanalist” (provocateur) to draw attention away from a contested internal party battle for the San Fernando East constituency seat.

  • ‘Take it to the police’

    ‘Take it to the police’

    A brewing internal conflict within Trinidad and Tobago’s main opposition party, the People’s National Movement (PNM), took center stage this week as Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles addressed public claims of inaction on alleged corruption from sitting San Fernando East MP Brian Manning. Speaking at a formal press briefing held at her Port of Spain office, Beckles confirmed she held a constructive, productive meeting with Manning earlier the same day, but chose not to disclose specific details of their closed-door discussion to reporters.

    Manning recently went public with criticism, claiming Beckles had been reluctant to confront suspected corrupt actors within the party’s ranks, in the wake of a public split between the MP and his now-resigned San Fernando East constituency executive. In her response, Beckles pushed back against claims that she or the party bear primary responsibility for investigating criminal allegations of corruption. She emphasized that she is not a law enforcement official, and that the PNM operates according to its longstanding internal constitutional procedures, which cannot be bypassed for public pressure.

    “If at any time there is any allegation of wrongdoing, of any corruption by anybody as it relates to the PNM, if a person is making such an allegation and you have the evidence, you must take it to the police,” Beckles reiterated during the briefing. She stressed that accusations alone do not equal a finding of guilt, and that all party members retain the fundamental right to due process and a fair hearing. While she noted that parties can review allegations brought forward to them per internal rules, Beckles made clear that the PNM lacks the statutory authority to conduct formal criminal investigations into corruption claims.

    Beckles pushed back against growing criticism of her leadership style in handling the ongoing rift, noting that the PNM, a 70-year-old established political institution, is bound by its own constitution that requires sensitive internal matters to be handled through established channels rather than public spectacle. “Not everything which is happening in the PNM will be aired in the public,” she said, adding that she is choosing to focus on pressing policy issues affecting the national population rather than engaging in internal drama or unsubstantiated rumors. She also committed that the party would protect the integrity of members found to be innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Addressing recent public speculation around a US$187,000 condominium purchased in Florida’s Broward County, which local Homeland Security Minister Roger Brown previously referenced when he stated public fund corruption allegations belong with police investigators, Beckles denied having any knowledge of who owns the property. She clarified that the core question is not ownership itself, but whether the property was acquired through illicit corrupt means, a question that falls to law enforcement to resolve, not the political party.

    Beckles confirmed that the annual general meeting for the San Fernando East PNM constituency has been postponed, while AGMs for other PNM constituencies across the country are already underway. Internal party processes have been initiated to address the conflict, she said, but details of those processes will not be released publicly per party rules. She also confirmed that the entire former San Fernando East constituency executive chose to resign of their own accord, as they determined that step was in their best interest. On the topic of former Education Minister Hazel Manning, Brian Manning’s relative, who is seeking a position on the new constituency executive, Beckles said she has no objections, noting Hazel Manning’s decades of experience and commitment to the party.

    When asked whether the PNM would consider requesting Brian Manning’s resignation over his decision to air internal party disputes publicly, Beckles dismissed the question, reaffirming the party’s longstanding norm of not washing internal dirty linen in public. She did acknowledge, however, that shifting political norms, particularly the rise of social media, have changed how internal party conflicts play out in the public space.