Nearly two years after a devastating lightning strike triggered a catastrophic fire at Barbados’ national Archives Department, ongoing recovery, structural repair and heritage protection work is still progressing, according to the island’s Minister of Pan African Affairs and Heritage Trevor Prescod. The destructive blaze broke out just minutes before midnight on June 18, 2024, ripping through a two-story building at the department’s Black Rock, St. Michael campus that held generations of irreplaceable historic national documents. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, chief archivist Ingrid Thompson confirmed that only a small fraction of the records stored in the damaged Block D could be saved from the destruction. Prescod recently spoke with local publication Barbados TODAY following an on-site inspection of the recovery work, where he received a full briefing from department leadership on the status of structural repairs, new specialized equipment installations, and safety protocols put in place to protect surviving archival collections. “It is clear that while we have restored the roof over the burned area, we have not yet completed interior finishing work on that section of the building,” Prescod explained. Beyond patching up fire-related damage, government authorities have prioritized hardening the entire archives facility against future natural and environmental hazards, rolling out new specialized protective infrastructure to mitigate risks to the remaining buildings and their holdings. “We are installing a wide range of specialized devices and safety equipment designed to reduce the threat of similar damage to the entire site,” Prescod noted. In response to growing public concern over the safety of surviving one-of-a-kind historical documents, Prescod moved to reassure residents that all valuable archival materials have already been relocated away from the high-risk damaged zone. “Right now, all surviving collections are secured in an alternative location away from the area where lightning struck and hit the building,” he said. “We are making consistent progress, and all materials remain protected.” Basic construction and technical supplies have been imported to support the ongoing work, Prescod confirmed, though he added that key technical installation processes are still ongoing and have not yet been finalized. When asked whether a full public report detailing the full scope of damage, a breakdown of lost versus salvaged items, and a formal damage assessment had been completed, Prescod said he could not provide a firm timeline for the document’s release. He did note, however, that work is ongoing to restore as many damaged records as possible, and that off-site preservation and large-scale digitization projects are underway in partnership with other local organizations. A selection of surviving records has already been transferred to the R.O.A.D (Restoring Our Atlantic Destiny) digitization initiative based on Harbour Road, where they will be digitized for long-term preservation and public access. In addition to fire recovery work, Prescod confirmed that structural maintenance and masonry repairs are ongoing across other sections of the broader archives campus, pushing back against recent rumors that construction of a completely new standalone facility had already begun. “We are carrying out targeted repairs across the existing site right now; masons are on-site doing that work,” he explained. He also revealed that maintenance teams are currently addressing a separate major structural issue on the site’s eastern perimeter, caused by invasive tree roots that have compromised the building’s outer wall. “Tree roots have grown through and penetrated the eastern wall of the archives building, which has created a major structural integrity issue,” Prescod said. Technical engineering teams are currently evaluating two potential solutions to fix the damage: constructing a new reinforced interior supporting wall, or demolishing and fully reconstructing the compromised section of the outer wall. Prescod emphasized that despite the range of complex operational and environmental challenges the department has faced since the fire, the dedicated teams leading recovery work remain fully committed to stabilizing the facility’s infrastructure, protecting the island’s priceless historical heritage, and completing all critical repairs to return the archives to full public functionality.
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Ayub’s century leads Kingsmen to third win
In a thrilling Thursday night clash at Basseterre’s Warner Park, a sensational individual innings from Saim Ayub carried Jamaica Tallawahs to a hard-fought 11-run victory over hosts St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League. This knock marked the second century of this year’s tournament, cementing Ayub’s status as one of the competition’s breakout performers.
Jamaica Tallawahs won the pre-match toss and opted to set a target first, a decision that looked questionable at the very start of their innings. Pakistani paceman Naseem Shah delivered a dream opening for the home side, removing opener Keacy Carty with the very first delivery of the match, leaving Tallawahs 1-0 inside the first minute. The side recovered slightly through the powerplay, reaching 42 for 2 at the end of the six-over powerplay restriction, but wickets continued to tumble steadily as the innings progressed. By the ninth over, Tallawahs were in serious trouble at 63 for 4, with only Ayub offering consistent resistance against a disciplined Patriots bowling attack.
The left-hander refused to be bogged down by the falling wickets around him, hammering deliveries to every corner of the ground as captain Rovman Powell joined him in the middle. The pair put on a critical 72-run partnership for the fifth wicket, dragging the total from a underwhelming 63 to a competitive 135 before Powell was dismissed for 21 in the 17th over. Ayub eventually fell with six balls remaining in the innings, but his explosive 58-ball knock produced 102 runs, including 6 fours and 8 maximums. With support from Kemo Paul’s unbeaten 25 – the second-highest score of the entire Tallawahs innings – the side closed on a challenging 182 for 7 from their 20 overs. For Patriots, the bowling unit shared the wickets evenly: Wanindu Hasaranga finished with 2 wickets for 18 runs, Naseem Shah claimed 2 for 37, and Obed McCoy picked up 2 for 43.
Chasing 183 to claim their third win of the tournament, Patriots got off to a rocky start, losing key top-order batters Kyle Mayers (10), Johnson Charles (14), and Kevin Wickham (1) to finish the powerplay on 42 for 3. The home side fought back through middle-order contributions, with veteran all-rounder Andre Russell hitting a team-high 55 runs from 38 deliveries, including 4 fours and 3 sixes. Captain Jason Holder added a useful 34 runs, and Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka hit an unbeaten 35 from just 18 balls to keep the chase alive late into the innings. However, a consistent flow of wickets from the Tallawahs bowling attack prevented the hosts from building the match-winning partnership they needed. Patriots closed their innings on 171 for 6, falling 11 runs short of the target. For Tallawahs, Hunain Shah took 2 wickets for 23 runs, while Jediah Blades claimed 2 for 50.
The result pushes Jamaica Tallawahs up to fourth place in the 2024 CPL table with six points from three wins, keeping them firmly in contention for a playoff spot. Meanwhile, the defeat leaves St Kitts & Nevis Patriots rooted at the bottom of the seven-team standings with just two points from their campaign so far.
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Ex-cop urges more chances for young offenders
At Thursday evening’s St Andrew Ideas Forum, a 36-year veteran of law enforcement made a forceful case for expanding supervised rehabilitative programs for young people charged with low-level offences, warning that permanent criminal convictions create lifelong barriers to economic and personal advancement.
Jonathan Best, who retired after a decades-long career in policing, laid out a structured alternative model for handling minor youth offending that would keep young people out of prison and free of permanent criminal records. He used a common example of a young person involved in a first-time physical altercation to illustrate his proposal: instead of immediate conviction and sentencing, the young person would be released to supervised home custody with clear conduct requirements, and their court case would be adjourned for a 90-day probationary period.
During those three months, Best explained, the young person would be required to return to school or another learning program, or secure stable employment, with magistrates able to connect participants to pre-vetted job openings through court support staff. If the young person meets the requirements after the initial three-month period, the case would be extended for an additional three months. After a full year of consistent positive progress – no reoffending, steady enrollment in education or full-time work – the case could be dismissed entirely, leaving the young person with no permanent criminal conviction on their record.
Best emphasized that even minor, decades-old convictions continue to derail young people’s lives long after they have turned away from crime. He shared firsthand observations of young people who were fired from jobs after employers discovered old minor convictions on their police clearance certificates, and others who were blocked from employment and international travel entirely due to their criminal records. “For petty offences, people should be given multiple chances,” Best argued. “We talk about second chances, but we should be willing to give third, even fourth chances if that is what it takes. I know it sounds unusual coming from a former police officer, but locking young people out of opportunity for minor mistakes only pushes them deeper into a cycle of crime. We do not want a 16-year-old ending up involved in violent armed offending because we closed off every other path to them.”
In response to Best’s proposal, Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams clarified that the current government already follows a diversion-first philosophy for minor youth offending, and has rejected the practice of issuing permanent convictions for simple mistakes that would ruin young people’s life prospects. Abrahams noted that a range of existing social programs, including the Youth Advanced Corp, already work to divert at-risk young people away from the criminal justice system entirely, rather than pushing them into conviction and punishment. He confirmed that diversion programs would not be extended to serious violent offences, however – anyone caught with a firearm, or involved in a shooting, regardless of age, would face full criminal prosecution and penalties.
“This government is not seeking to stain anybody’s record and cripple them for life over something that is just a mistake,” Abrahams said. “Our policy is to divert people out of the traditional criminal justice system and into rehabilitative, corrective, nurturing environments that help them get back on track. We recognize that not every young person has the same stable family support that many of us took for granted growing up, so we need to meet them where they are.”
Abrahams added that the government is currently building new dedicated facilities to accommodate youth diversion programming, which is focused on intervening early with at-risk young people still in the school system, providing targeted support before they end up involved in crime or in conflict with the law.
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Brittons Hill man admits all cannabis charges
In a sudden turn of proceedings at a local magistrates court, a 51-year-old man from Reece Road, Britttons Hill has reversed his initial partial guilty plea and admitted to all three cannabis-related offenses brought against him.
When the case was first called, magistrate Manila Renee read out the three charges against Winston St Alban Alleyne. The defendant initially only entered a guilty plea for simple possession of cannabis, maintaining not guilty pleas for two more severe charges: trafficking a quantifiable amount of the controlled substance and possessing cannabis with intent to supply. All three offenses are alleged to have occurred on a Thursday evening.
Prior to the change of plea, law enforcement officer Sergeant Kenmore Phillips had already confirmed he had no objections to granting bail to Alleyne, but no approved surety was present at the court when the hearing began. By the time Alleyne’s surety arrived at the courthouse, the defendant made an unexpected request: he asked for all charges to be read a second time to the court. After the charges were re-read, Alleyne changed all of his pleas to guilty.
Details of the arrest were presented to the court, outlining that uniformed police were conducting routine patrols along Fairchild Street in the Vincy Town district when they spotted Alleyne rolling a cigarette. Officers detected a strong, distinct odor of marijuana emanating from the area where Alleyne was standing, so they approached him to share their suspicions and request to search his person and belongings. Alleyne consented to the search without objection, and during a check of his haversack, law enforcement found a clear plastic bag holding the suspected cannabis.
Forensic testing confirmed the seized substance weighed 37.19 grams, with an estimated street value of $190. A review of Alleyne’s criminal history showed his most recent prior conviction dated back to 2010, for a similar cannabis-related offense.
In her sentencing decision, Magistrate Renee chose to convict, reprimand and discharge Alleyne on all three charges, including the possession, trafficking, and intent to supply counts. She explained her lenient decision in open court, noting “It was not a large amount, you did not waste the court’s time and your antecedents are very old. So you can go.”
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Government Considers ABLP Headquarters as Temporary Law-Class Venue
A surprising solution to a pressing space shortage at The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus has emerged, with the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) headquarters being put forward as a temporary host for the institution’s brand-new law degree program.
When the program opened applications for its first cohort, university administrators received an overwhelming response: more than 100 prospective students submitted applications, and around 65 have successfully enrolled to begin their studies. This unexpectedly high enrollment has left the campus scrambling for a large, accessible teaching space that can accommodate the incoming cohort while permanent purpose-built facilities are finalized.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who made the announcement, detailed that the ABLP’s 5,000-square-foot ‘People’s Place’ facility is well-sized to meet the program’s space needs. Critically, the party has offered to rent the space to the university for only a nominal fee, a move that Browne projects would save the Antiguan and Barbudan government close to US$1 million that was originally earmarked for large temporary modular tents to house the classes.
To address concerns over mixing partisan political activity with academic operations, Browne emphasized that no party events or political organizing would be permitted at the headquarters for the entire duration that it is used for educational purposes. He also added that the proposal includes a plan to install a retractable exterior canopy to create additional covered space for lectures or group study, expanding the facility’s usable area beyond its interior footprint.
Even with these safeguards and cost benefits, Browne acknowledged that the venue’s connection to the ruling national party creates unique considerations, and he has framed the suggestion as a potential last-resort option rather than a finalized plan. The proposal will now go before the relevant university and government oversight committees for full discussion and a final vote on whether to move forward with the arrangement.
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Antigua and Barbuda Installs 200 Surveillance Cameras in Crime-Fighting Push
The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is moving forward with a major upgrade to its national closed-circuit television surveillance infrastructure, with Prime Minister Gaston Browne confirming the deployment of 200 new cameras across the country. Speaking on the initiative, Browne outlined that the core goal of expanding the CCTV network is to boost the operational capabilities of local law enforcement, particularly in three key areas: gathering actionable intelligence to prevent criminal activity, advancing ongoing criminal investigations, and improving the speed and effectiveness of responses to emergency incidents nationwide.
This surveillance upgrade is not an isolated effort, but rather a central component of a wide-ranging, multi-faceted national strategy to combat rising crime rates across the country. In addition to the new surveillance cameras, the broader initiative includes the acquisition of specialized drones fitted with cutting-edge night-vision technology, which carry an operational range of up to 25 kilometers. Other complementary measures under the plan include a full digitization of existing police records to streamline information access for investigators, and targeted professional training programs to enhance the skills of public prosecutors handling criminal cases.
Prime Minister Browne also noted that law enforcement agencies have already ramped up stop-and-search operations in communities across the nation in recent months. These intensified efforts, he said, have already delivered tangible results, with officers recovering a growing volume of unregistered illegal firearms and prohibited ammunition that would have otherwise remained on the streets.
Despite the disclosure of these broad details about the crime-fighting initiative, Prime Minister Browne held back key information that many community members and transparency advocates have been seeking. He did not reveal any specifics about where the 200 new surveillance cameras will be installed, nor did he disclose the total budget allocated to the program or the timeline for when the full expansion is expected to be completed and operational.
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Pawiroredjo: Sterkere fiscus moet gepaard gaan met betere bescherming belastingplichtige
As debate over the new General Tax Act (AWB) gets underway in the Dutch National Assembly, the leader of the NPS parliamentary faction, Jerrel Pawiroredjo, has voiced conditional support for expanding the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration’s (Belastingdienst) powers to crack down on tax evasion and the untapped informal economy, while raising urgent alarms over unregulated authority, inadequate institutional capacity, and threats to taxpayer rights.
Pawiroredjo’s core argument centers on a fundamental balance: a powerful tax administration can only function effectively within the framework of a strong rule of law that equally protects the rights of compliant taxpayers. For the system to retain public trust, he argues, the government must demonstrate that expanded fiscal powers are paired with clear boundaries, principles of due process, and a guarantee that compliant citizens will not face unnecessary punitive measures.
Addressing the problem of the informal economy, Pawiroredjo noted that currently registered, tax-compliant individuals and businesses are already easily audited, while large swathes of economic activity remain entirely outside the tax system’s oversight. He stressed that the AWB’s new expanded powers should not be used to pressure already compliant taxpayers, but exclusively to root out unreported economic activity. Under the new legislation, the Belastingdienst will gain broader authority to request financial data and documents, audit business records, obtain information from third parties, and access private buildings and properties under specific conditions. Pawiroredjo has called on the ruling government to provide clear details on how these powers will be targeted: what data sets will be cross-linked, which high-risk informal sectors will be prioritized, and what specific strategies will be used to identify unregistered operators.
While Pawiroredjo stressed that he has no ideological opposition to a robust tax authority, as insufficient powers would prevent the agency from fulfilling its legal mandate to collect revenue for public services including education, healthcare, infrastructure, national security, and social welfare, he insisted that all government authority must be bounded by law. Core legal principles including procedural fairness, proportionality, legal certainty, and equal treatment must guide every use of new powers. A power being formally written into law, he argued, does not grant the agency carte blanche to use it in every scenario without assessment. The government, he said, must outline explicit thresholds for when the agency can request third-party data, audit private records, demand access to business premises, or impose fines, and must always prioritize the least intrusive measure possible to achieve compliance.
One key provision drawing Pawiroredjo’s scrutiny is the rule that filing an objection to a tax assessment does not automatically suspend the requirement to pay the assessed amount. While he acknowledges the rationale for this rule — to prevent bad-faith objections from being used solely to delay payment — he warned that serious harm can be done to legitimate businesses that file well-founded objections. If the tax authority proceeds with collection actions such as asset seizure while the objection is pending, and the assessment is later found to be incorrect, the business may already suffer irreversible financial damage. To address this, he called for a clear collection policy that allows for deferred payment or suspension of enforcement actions when a properly motivated objection is submitted, noting that the relevant legislative article should not become a free pass to deploy the harshest possible measures early in a legitimate dispute.
Pawiroredjo also drew attention to risks stemming from the Belastingdienst’s ongoing digital transformation. While electronic communication and digital tax services offer clear efficiency gains, he pointed out that technical failures can create unintended barriers to taxpayer rights: notifications may fail to send, digital portals can experience outages, and documents may be marked as delivered in administrative systems even if the taxpayer never actually received them. To avoid penalizing taxpayers for administrative or technical errors outside their control, he demanded clear rules outlining when objection periods officially start, and which party bears the burden of proving that an electronic message was actually sent and received. No taxpayer should lose their right to appeal through no fault of their own, he emphasized. As the tax authority gains greater access to personal and financial data from banks, suppliers, shareholders and other third parties, Pawiroredjo also stressed that taxpayers must be guaranteed full access to all information used to generate assessments or fines, with clear protocols for due process and access to personal tax records.
Beyond questions of rights and power, Pawiroredjo raised a critical practical concern: does the current Belastingdienst actually have the institutional capacity to implement the sweeping new law effectively? The AWB imposes new obligations not just on taxpayers, but on the tax authority itself: more audits mean more open cases, expanded objection procedures require additional trained staff, robust due process demands more time per case, digital transformation requires reliable, secure information infrastructure, and fair imposition of fines requires well-trained, expert personnel. Pawiroredjo has called on the government to confirm whether a full implementation capacity analysis has been conducted ahead of the vote, and to disclose how many additional staff will be required, what IT upgrades will be needed, what the total implementation cost will be, and when the agency will be fully prepared to roll out the new framework. “When we introduce a modern piece of legislation into an organization that lacks the capacity to implement it, we create a massive problem for ourselves,” he warned.
Pawiroredjo also called for a broader cultural shift within the tax administration, arguing that the agency should move away from a default presumption of guilt toward taxpayers, and that the government must get its own administrative house in order. He highlighted common cases where taxpayers have made payments that are never properly processed administratively, leaving the taxpayer to bear the burden of proving they already fulfilled their obligation. He also proposed a default minimum two-week response period for taxpayers answering information requests from the agency, except in cases of verifiable urgent need.
The NPS faction will submit a full list of proposed amendments to the minister leading the legislation. A portion of the changes are technical adjustments, but many directly address core issues of legal certainty, taxpayer protection, and limits on executive power. Repeating his core position, Pawiroredjo stressed: “I absolutely support a strong Tax Authority. We need one.” But ultimately, he said, the goal must be “a strong taxpayer in a strong rule of law.” He even suggested that compliant taxpayers willing to fulfill their tax obligations should be welcomed and supported by the government, noting they have every right to a state that helps them rather than creates unnecessary barriers to compliance.
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Most CDAP drugs accessible
Public health officials in Trinidad and Tobago are moving to resolve ongoing supply gaps for chronic disease and cancer medications distributed through the country’s Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP), Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe has confirmed. In a recent statement responding to mounting public concerns, the minister stressed that the vast majority of prescription drugs covered under the public health programme remain fully accessible to patients who rely on the scheme for ongoing care.
Over the past several weeks, patients and their family members have renewed public outcry over repeated stockouts at public health facilities and registered CDAP dispensing pharmacies, with critical drugs for chronic conditions and cancer treatment among those affected by unavailability. These complaints have reignited broader questions about the stability of the nation’s pharmaceutical supply chain and the speed at which depleted stocks of life-saving medications are replenished.
Speaking to local outlet *Express* in response to media queries, Bodoe reaffirmed that ensuring a steady, adequate supply of necessary medications is one of the current government’s top public health priorities. “I have taken note of some complaints in the public domain regarding shortages of medication,” Bodoe shared via phone.
The minister added that systemic challenges around procurement and supply chain management were already in place when he assumed leadership of the Ministry of Health, but that incremental, consistent progress is being made to shore up processes. This includes enhanced oversight of existing contractual agreements with the National Procurement and Disposal End User Corporation (Nipdec), the public body responsible for pharmaceutical procurement in the country. Bodoe also noted that regional health authorities have been granted autonomy to resolve immediate shortages through emergency, ad hoc purchasing arrangements. “Steps are being taken to address those medicines identified as short in supply,” he said.
Issues with pharmaceutical availability and procurement are not new for Trinidad and Tobago’s public health system, with recurring disruptions stretching back years. During a 2024 parliamentary enquiry by the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee into the sufficiency of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies, lawmakers learned that of the 526 operating pharmacies across the country, only 231 held official authorization to dispense CDAP medications. At that time, an additional 46 pharmacies were in the process of completing CDAP registration, and the hearing also raised multiple red flags around drug supply and inventory management.
Prior to taking on the role of Health Minister, Bodoe — then an opposition member of the parliamentary committee — highlighted complaints from pharmacy owners that many CDAP-supplied drugs arrived with only a short window remaining before expiration. Nipdec officials responded at the time that the official standard required a minimum of 18 months of shelf life for all delivered medications.
Shortly after assuming the health portfolio in July 2025, Bodoe announced that a full systemic review of CDAP had been finalized, with proposed reform plans currently under consideration by the Cabinet. Key proposed changes include expanding the programme’s coverage to include more medications and lowering cost burdens for participating pharmacies that dispense CDAP drugs to patients.
Public concern around procurement inefficiencies and pharmaceutical waste has grown in recent months. In December 2025, Bodoe disclosed that roughly $80 million worth of medications had expired before they could be used over a 10-year period. The revelation prompted Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to order Nipdec to produce a full public report on pharmaceutical storage protocols nationwide. The government has also signaled it plans to open up the market by increasing the number of licensed pharmaceutical importers and suppliers, a move intended to boost market competition and drive down prescription drug costs for public health programmes and patients.
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TOO LATE
As the 2024 new school term approaches, a wave of frustration has swept across parents of school-aged children, who are criticizing Trinidad and Tobago’s Education Ministry over its delayed processing of the School Supplies and Book Grant, a targeted assistance program designed to support low-income and vulnerable families with educational costs. The ministry made its announcement last Thursday, revealing that it had wrapped up the initial review phase for all 45,953 submitted applications for the grant, and has now moved into the final eligibility verification stage to ensure funding reaches the families that need it most. Under the current timeline, the ministry projects that it will complete verification for roughly 10,000 applications by the end of the day this Friday, with the remaining 35,953 applications set to be finalized by September 2, just five days before the new term kicks off on September 7. That narrow timeline has left many parents who counted on the grant to cover book and supply costs in a lurch, forcing them to dig into their own limited savings to purchase required materials weeks before they will hear if they qualify for assistance. Karen Alleyne, a customer service representative and parent connected to a grant applicant, shared her family’s experience with local outlet Express: “While the grant itself is a wonderful support for struggling families, this rollout is far too late. My cousin ended up scrambling to pull together the money to buy books after waiting months for any update, and we never received any email or official feedback on our application status.” Alleyne added that she had not seen widespread conversation about the ministry’s recent announcement among other parent groups in her community. For Lawrence Sookhoo, a security guard whose daughter is set to enter First Form at Barataria Secondary School this term, the long wait for a grant response left him no choice but to use money set aside in his informal rotating savings group, locally called a sou sou, to cover the cost of his daughter’s books. “Education is non-negotiable, so I just bought the books my child needs, regardless of the grant,” Sookhoo explained, noting that he had grown exhausted of waiting for an update on his application. One parent who requested anonymity shared that they had already spent roughly $2,000 on school materials, having already abandoned any hope of receiving government assistance ahead of the term. They added that they felt particular sympathy for workers who lost their jobs with the CEPEP and URP government employment programs, many of whom were counting on the grant to ease their financial strain. An anonymous educator echoed parent frustrations, emphasizing that the processing delay creates unnecessary hardship, especially for single-parent households that often operate on tight budgets. “This should have been finalized months ago, well before the term started,” the educator said. Local bookseller David Ramcharan noted that his store is now preparing for a chaotic last-minute rush of parents once grant approvals go through, even though most families have already purchased their required books ahead of the term. “From what I understand, around 20,000 approved parents will receive roughly $1,000 in cash directly deposited to their bank accounts,” Ramcharan explained. “The announcement was just made, so we haven’t seen any shift in sales yet, but we’re bracing for a surge once funds hit accounts.” Ramcharan added that his store has already processed smaller education vouchers from other government bodies and state-owned entities, including the National Gas Company, but that those have not moved the needle on overall sales so far this year. “Up to this point, sales are pretty much on par with last year, with no major increase,” he said. “We stocked all required books on time, so we’re ready for whatever last-minute demand comes our way.” This is not the first time the timeline of the School Supplies and Book Grant has drawn political scrutiny. Former Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, who currently serves as Member of Parliament for St Ann’s East, first raised questions about delayed grant processing ahead of the previous year’s school term, signaling that timeline issues have plagued the program for multiple cycles.
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Officers find 14 phones, 285 packs of cigarettes at MSP
In a pre-dawn targeted search operation launched on intelligence tip-offs about drone-fueled contraband smuggling, officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service (TTPrS) seized a large cache of prohibited items from the country’s Maximum Security Prison (MSP) early Friday. The operation, carried out by the service’s elite Emergency Response Unit (ERU) starting around 3 a.m., focused on the B and M Divisions of the high-security facility, where officers recovered an extensive list of banned goods. Among the seized items were 14 mobile phones, 285 packs of cigarettes, one sealed box of Big Bambu wrapping paper, two digital scales, a cellphone charger, four homemade improvised weapons, a cellphone screen replacement, a brown-handled screwdriver, two pairs of headsets, and a pair of scissors. The largest single seizure by weight was 2,055 grams of plant-based material suspected to be marijuana, commonly known as ganja. All recovered contraband has been secured as authorities continue their probe into the smuggling ring, with ongoing support from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). TTPrS officials confirmed that multiple inmates are facing formal charges as the investigation progresses. Acting Commissioner of Prisons Elvin Scanterbury publicly praised the ERU officers involved in the operation, highlighting their unwavering dedication, sharp vigilance, and commitment to upholding institutional security. In an official statement, Scanterbury reaffirmed the TTPrS’s long-standing goal to maintain a secure, contraband-free environment across all of the nation’s correctional facilities. He also noted that smuggling attempts remain persistent, with bad actors continuously developing new tactics—including leveraging modern technology such as drones—to bypass layered security protocols. The TTPrS emphasizes that it relies on a proactive strategy combining intelligence-driven operations, upgraded security infrastructure, and targeted search exercises to detect, block, and disrupt the flow of illegal goods into its facilities. To strengthen these efforts, the service has issued a public appeal for community assistance in protecting the integrity and security of Trinidad and Tobago’s correctional system. Any member of the public with information related to contraband trafficking or unauthorized introduction of prohibited items into prisons is encouraged to contact the TTPrS confidential hotline at 800-PRSN (7776), or submit tips directly to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.