Carib Scope

标签： Guyana

圭亚那

  • Big wave slammed MV Barima; 67 rescued- Edghill

    Big wave slammed MV Barima; 67 rescued- Edghill

    In the early hours of Sunday, July 19, 2026, Guyana’s Public Works Minister Juan Edghill confirmed that the sinking of the MV Barima ferry late Saturday off the Essequibo Coast was caused by a massive, unexpected wave that capsized the vessel. A large-scale, multi-agency search and rescue operation is still ongoing to locate the remaining passengers and crew who are still unaccounted for after the disaster.

    According to official passenger and crew manifests, 116 passengers and 17 crew members were on board the vessel when it sank. As of Sunday morning, rescue teams had pulled 67 people from the water, including 15 children and multiple crew members. Edghill shared the preliminary finding of a large wave causing the capsize during a briefing with family members of missing crew, speaking shortly after a formal press conference held at the Umana Yana.

    During the briefing, the daughter of 55-year-old missing crew member Richard Moe — who had worked for Guyana’s Transport and Harbours Department since he was 14 years old — was comforted by Maritime Administration (MARAD) Legal Advisor Thandi Mc Allister, who was also present for the meeting. Edghill noted that all survivors interviewed so far have corroborated the sudden, wave-driven capsize, but a full formal investigation has already been launched to rule out other potential causes, including collision with an unmarked submerged object.

    The minister also warned against spreading unconfirmed information, as spotty cellular service in the remote accident zone has made it difficult to verify early reports consistently. Government officials first received the ferry’s distress signal at 11:00 PM Saturday night. With daylight breaking on Sunday, the operation has been expanded to cover a wider search area, with assets from the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, MARAD, and private partners including an OMNI helicopter with specialized rescue swimmers joining the effort.

    To support the response, the Ministry of Health has activated emergency operations centers in Regions Two and Three to provide immediate medical care to survivors. Officials have confirmed that the names of rescued individuals will not be released to the public immediately, in line with emergency response protocols for major maritime incidents.

    The MV Barima, a ferry that served the remote riverain community of Port Kaituma, which is only accessible via ocean-going ferry service, was originally constructed in Scotland in the 1930s. Officials confirmed that the vessel has undergone repeated periodic rehabilitation and upgrades over the decades to keep it in operational service for Guyana’s remote northwest coastal communities.

  • 53 now rescued after ferry MV Barima capsized off Essequibo Coast

    53 now rescued after ferry MV Barima capsized off Essequibo Coast

    A major maritime search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of Guyana following the late Saturday night capsizing of the MV Barima, an 89-year-old ferry traveling to Port Kaituma in the country’s North-West District. As of early Sunday morning, Prime Minister Mark Phillips confirmed that 53 people — a combination of passengers and crew members — have been pulled from the water alive.

    Public Works Minister Juan Edghill alongside the Prime Minister announced that additional details about the accident will be released after sunrise Sunday, as rescue teams work to gather more on-the-ground information amid low-light conditions from the overnight incident. At the time of the capsizing, Edghill confirmed that 116 passengers plus unspecified crew members were on board the aging vessel when it overturned roughly 10 nautical miles off the Essequibo Coast, according to rough estimates from Google Earth Pro mapping data.

    Responders were able to pinpoint the ferry’s location quickly thanks to signals from its Electronic Locater Transmitter (ELT) and visible emergency flares launched by people on board immediately after the incident began. Both state-operated and private rescue assets have been deployed to the incident zone, with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard leading the official search and recovery effort alongside the private resources. As of the latest update early Sunday, operations remain ongoing to locate the remaining people unaccounted for from the voyage.

  • BREAKING: North west ferry in severe distress off Guyana’s coast, search and rescue teams deployed

    BREAKING: North west ferry in severe distress off Guyana’s coast, search and rescue teams deployed

    In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, July 19 2026, a major search and rescue operation was activated after the aging passenger ferry MV Barima sent out a distress signal while sailing in rough waters near Iron Punt, off Guyana’s Pomeroon River, senior government and military officials have confirmed.

    The emergency unfolded after the vessel’s crew launched emergency flares to signal their dire situation, amid extremely low light conditions that complicated initial locating efforts. It was an aerial search and rescue team that first spotted the stricken ferry after responding to the distress call.

    Private regional aviation firm Roraima Airways was the first to deploy an aircraft to the last known position of the MV Barima, which had departed the capital Georgetown at 3 PM Saturday on a scheduled voyage to Port Kaituma. After the Roraima Airways crew locked in the ferry’s exact coordinates, they immediately relayed the critical location data to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to coordinate a full rescue response.

    Brigadier Omar Khan, Chief-of-Staff of the GDF, confirmed to Demerara Waves Online News that both the GDF Air Corps and Coast Guard had been quickly dispatched to the distress site. He described the unfolding incident as “a tough morning” that required rapid mobilization of both air and marine rescue assets.

    Brentnol Ashley, Chairman of Region One (Barima-Waini) – the administrative region where the incident occurred – told reporters he first received word of the emergency at approximately 12:30 AM Sunday, and was remaining on standby waiting for further updates from frontline search and rescue teams as of early Sunday.

    As first responders worked to reach the vessel, a notable gap in official communication has emerged. Beyond the confirmation provided by GDF leadership, the Guyana government has not issued any coordinated crisis communications response to what could become a major maritime disaster. As of the latest update, there was no designated government communications personnel available to respond to media queries or provide regular official updates on the status of the ferry, crew, passengers, or rescue operation.

    Multiple attempts to reach senior maritime officials for comment went unanswered Sunday. Maritime Minister Deodat Indar and Stephen Thomas, Director-General of the Maritime Administration, alongside other senior government leaders, have not released any information on the incident despite repeated outreach from media.

  • CXC scraps SBAs for several subjects due to AI, other technologies

    CXC scraps SBAs for several subjects due to AI, other technologies

    In an official announcement made Friday, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has introduced sweeping reforms to its long-standing School-Based Assessment (SBA) system, a response to the growing disruption caused by generative artificial intelligence and rapid technological advancement across regional education sectors. The changes will apply to both the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination® (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), with the core goal of upholding the credibility and academic integrity of CXC qualifications.

    Dr. Wayne Wesley, CXC Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, emphasized that the reforms are not a rejection of generative AI as a learning tool. Instead, the changes address a critical gap: as AI becomes more accessible to students across the Caribbean, the original SBA framework can no longer reliably verify that submitted work reflects a candidate’s own knowledge and skills. “The SBA has served Caribbean students exceptionally well for almost 50 years, and we do not approach this reform lightly,” Wesley stated in an official release. “But the integrity of our qualifications is non-negotiable. When a system designed to assess student work loses its reliability, we have a duty to act decisively. CXC recognizes the challenges of this era, and we remain unwavering in upholding the standards that Caribbean families, educators, and employers have trusted for decades.”

    The revised framework comes after 12 months of extensive consultations with education stakeholders across 21 Caribbean states and territories, and is scheduled to roll out starting with the 2027 academic year. The reforms take a targeted, differentiated approach: for practice-focused subjects where hands-on, project-based work measures skills that cannot be tested in a traditional exam setting—including Agricultural Science, Visual Arts, Music, Physical Education, Technical Drawing, and Food Nutrition and Health—the SBA model will be retained, with stricter moderation processes to strengthen authentication.

    For all non-practical academic subjects, such as Mathematics, English, Caribbean History, Social Studies, and Principles of Business, the traditional SBA will be phased out entirely. In its place, candidates will complete Paper 032, CXC’s existing alternative assessment, administered under formal exam conditions. The assessment has been adjusted to retain the SBA’s original focus on extended, reflective learning: candidates will receive their exam topics one month in advance to allow preparation, extra time will be allocated for completion, and students will be permitted to bring personalized reference notes into the exam hall.

    In a public video statement accompanying the announcement, CXC Director of Operations Dr. Nicole Manning explained that the redesigned system preserves the core educational value of extended assessment while restoring confidence that work submitted for grading is authentically the candidate’s own. “A CXC qualification holds real value for employers, universities, and the families that sacrifice years of time and resources to support a student’s education,” Manning said. “It is in all our collective interest to uphold the high standard we have worked generations to build.”

    Manning also outlined a phased implementation timeline to minimize disruption for students and schools. For CAPE non-practical subjects, the full transition to Paper 032 will take effect for the May–June 2027 exam sitting. For CSEC candidates, 2027 will serve as a transition year, where schools may choose to offer either the traditional SBA or the new Paper 032 model, with a full mandatory transition to Paper 032 scheduled for May–June 2028. Existing SBA scores will remain transferable under CXC’s longstanding two-year validity rule, and starting in 2027, Paper 032 scores will also follow the same two-year transfer policy.

  • All 33 children evacuated from burning Hope children’s home

    All 33 children evacuated from burning Hope children’s home

    On Friday, a sudden fire broke out at the Hope Children’s Home, a residential childcare facility located on Guyana’s East Coast of Demerara, prompting an emergency response that resulted in all 33 children at the home being evacuated without harm, the nation’s Ministry of Human Services and Social Security confirmed in an official press statement updated 17 July 2026.

    Critical good fortune meant that when the blaze ignited in the home’s boys’ dormitory, every child living at the facility was gathered on-site for Vacation Bible School in the compound’s adjacent church building, far from the origin of the fire. First responders and facility staff acted immediately to coordinate an organized evacuation, moving all children to a secured open area on the nearby dam to account for everyone present.

    The ministry has formally confirmed that all 33 residents – 18 boys and 15 girls – have been accounted for, with no injuries reported among the children or responding personnel. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the country’s Childcare and Protection Agency, alongside senior ministry officials, has already launched the process of relocating the children to alternate state-run care facilities.

    At these new temporary and permanent accommodations, the children will continue to receive the full spectrum of care, protection, and emotional support they require, consistent with standard care protocols. In the statement, the Ministry emphasized that the safety and long-term well-being of the children affected by the incident remain its top operational priority, and that officials will continue to monitor the situation closely as relocation and recovery efforts progress.

  • Anti-money laundering mechanism to scrutinise non-financial businesses

    Anti-money laundering mechanism to scrutinise non-financial businesses

    GEORGETOWN, Guyana – July 16, 2026 – Guyana is moving forward with a sweeping new anti-financial crime initiative, launching the Guyana Compliance Commission (GCC) to bring high-risk non-financial industries including law firms, accounting practices, automobile dealerships, and pawnbroking businesses under enhanced regulatory scrutiny for potential money laundering activity, Attorney General Anil Nandlall announced this week.

    Speaking at the opening of the 9th Annual General Meeting for the Assets Recovery Inter-Agency Network of the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB) on Wednesday, Nandlall explained that the targeted sectors were selected for heightened oversight because they regularly facilitate large-scale transactions that carry elevated risk of being exploited for illicit financial activity. “They do a lot of transactions that have money laundering implications,” Nandlall told local outlet Demerara Waves Online News in an interview following the announcement.

    Under the new regulatory structure, the GCC will operate as a specialized supervisory body reporting directly to Guyana’s existing Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The government has targeted full operational activation of the commission by November 2026, ahead of the upcoming conference of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), where Guyana is scheduled to present a progress update on its implementation of reforms outlined in the body’s fourth round of cross-national mutual evaluation.

    The path for Caribbean nations to roll out this type of expanded oversight cleared recently following a landmark ruling by the United Kingdom’s Privy Council in a Jamaican legal case. The ruling clarified that while attorney-client privilege remains protected, legal professionals’ overarching duty to uphold national anti-money laundering law takes precedence when suspicious transactions are involved. Nandlall emphasized that this ruling aligns with the new regulatory framework Guyana is implementing: “They don’t have to say what their clients tell them but once they conduct a transaction of a particular type and volume, they have to report it. That is the way the world is running.”

    Established under dedicated new legislation, the GCC has already completed its initial setup phase: a governing board led by former New Building Society director Anil Beharry has been appointed, and eight full-time staff positions have recently been approved to fill out the commission’s operational team.

    Nandlall framed the creation of the GCC as a critical milestone in reinforcing the integrity of Guyana’s financial system. “This represents a significant step forward in strengthening Guyana’s supervisory framework for designated non-financial businesses and professions. As the Commission continues to expand its operational capacity, it will play an increasingly important role in protecting the integrity of Guyana’s financial system through effective supervision, enhanced compliance monitoring and stronger engagement with reporting entities,” he said.

    Beyond the new compliance commission, Nandlall confirmed that the Guyanese government is also developing a dedicated regulatory and supervisory framework for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, as part of ongoing legislative reforms designed to align the country’s financial rules with global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards.

  • Asset Recovery Interagency Network of the Caribbean drafting legal frameworks to go after dirty money

    Asset Recovery Interagency Network of the Caribbean drafting legal frameworks to go after dirty money

    On Wednesday, 15 July 2026, senior Caribbean law enforcement and anti-crime officials gathered for the annual general and steering group meetings of the Asset Recovery Interagency Network of the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB), where they laid out a coordinated regional plan to crack down on illicit proceeds from transnational organized crime and strengthen cross-border asset recovery frameworks.

    Shalimar Hack, Guyana’s Director of Public Prosecutions and ARIN-CARIB’s 2026 president, opened the summit held under the theme “From Tracing to Transformation: Building An Asset Recovery-Ready Caribbean” by emphasizing that binding regional legal frameworks must embed mandatory inter-agency cooperation to speed up asset recovery investigations.

    Hack explained that fragmented regulatory structures and siloed agency operations slow progress in targeting criminal wealth. “When all relevant stakeholders are aligned under clear laws that support collaborative action, and understand the critical role of a unified approach to cutting off criminal proceeds, we can sustain an effective fight against transnational criminal activity,” she told attendees. She added that a regional interagency network is foundational to upholding rule of law across individual Caribbean jurisdictions and the region as a whole.

    Moving beyond traditional anti-crime approaches, Hack stressed that securing criminal convictions alone is not enough to dismantle organized crime groups. “If we do not undermine the financial foundations that allow these networks to operate, we have not truly solved the problem of transnational crime,” she said. Hack called for a systemic transformation of Caribbean asset recovery practices: authorities must not only successfully trace illegal assets and strip criminal networks of their illicit gains, but also repurpose those seized resources for public benefit across member states.

    Atlee Rodney, Deputy Executive Director of the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) – ARIN-CARIB’s coordinating secretariat – outlined the ongoing work to advance these regional goals, noting that RSS is partnering closely with the network’s steering committee and key global strategic partners to update Caribbean legal frameworks for cross-border cooperation. Major partners include the European Union’s Europe Latin America Programme of Assistance against Transnational Organised Crime and the Inter-American Development Bank, which provide technical and financial support for regulatory reform.

    Rodney, a former Police Commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda, noted that a top priority is updating national legislative and policy frameworks across Caribbean countries to match the evolving sophistication of transnational criminal enterprises. Current key initiatives include drafting a regional Model Agreement for Joint Investigations, conducting reviews of domestic legal rules governing international cooperation, and strengthening mutual legal assistance mechanisms to enable faster, more effective exchange of information and evidence across national borders.

  • Judy Latchman’s 2025 appointment as Chief Magistrate announced

    Judy Latchman’s 2025 appointment as Chief Magistrate announced

    In an unusual development that has raised unaddressed questions, Guyana’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has finally made public an appointment to the country’s top magistracy post that was finalized more than a year and a half ago. The commission quietly named Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman as Guyana’s new Chief Magistrate on January 7, 2025, but the official announcement of the appointment only came on July 14, 2026, via a late-night update posted to the Supreme Court of Judicature’s official Facebook page. Per the commission’s statement, Latchman’s appointment has been retroactively effective from the original nomination date in January 2025. Notably, no official explanation has been provided for the 18-month gap between the appointment decision and its public disclosure.

    Latchman brings over two decades of legal and judicial experience to the role, with a well-documented professional trajectory rooted in Guyana’s legal system. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Guyana in 2002, followed by a Legal Education Certificate from the Trinidad-based Hugh Wooding Law School in 2004. Later that same year, in October 2004, she was formally admitted to the Bar of Guyana, marking the official start of her legal career.

    Her first professional role was as a State Counsel in the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a position she took up immediately after admission to the bar. She rose through the ranks quickly, earning a promotion to Senior State Counsel in that same department by 2008. In 2009, Latchman made the transition to the magistracy, building a reputation for consistent judicial service over the next eight years that led to her elevation to Principal Magistrate in 2017, the role she held before her 2025 appointment to Chief Magistrate.

    Beyond her active judicial duties, Latchman maintains prominent professional ties within commonwealth judicial circles. She is a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and holds membership in both the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and the Judicial Education Institute of Guyana.

    Alongside the long-delayed announcement of Latchman’s appointment, the JSC also revealed that six new judicial officers have been appointed to the rank of magistrate. The new appointees are Ocelisa Marks, Nikkisha Logan, Jimelle Joseph, Shareefah Parks, Taneisha Saygon and Caressa Henry. All six are scheduled to take their oaths of office before Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips on July 15, 2026, the day following the public announcement of the appointments.

  • Another Azruddin Mohamed associate wanted for “Paper Shorts” murder

    Another Azruddin Mohamed associate wanted for “Paper Shorts” murder

    Guyanese authorities have issued a murder warrant for Satrohan “Depo” Rajkumar, a former associate of the country’s Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting of gold miner Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes, law enforcement officials confirmed Wednesday. The killing took place outside Georgetown’s popular Palm Court venue on Main Street in March 2021, and a renewed investigation into the high-profile case has now unearthed new developments that have sent shockwaves through Guyana’s political landscape.

    Three other associates connected to Mohamed’s now-defunct motor racing venture Team Mohameds – Udoh Kanu, used car dealer Amarnauth Ramsook, and security officer Mark Richmond – have each been granted bail set at 1 million Guyanese dollars as the probe continues. Investigators have confirmed that the getaway vehicle used by the attackers was later discovered burned out along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, and the registered owner of the car has since passed away.

    Mohamed, whose We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party secured 13 seats in last September’s general and regional elections to cement his position as Guyana’s Opposition Leader, has launched fierce public pushback against the renewed investigation, claiming the probe is a politically motivated plot to tarnish his name. The allegations come after Mohamed publicly exposed a large-scale agricultural development owned by sitting President Irfaan Ali along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

    “The People’s Progressive Party has never faced a determined, vocal Opposition Leader in recent history. That is why they have waged a relentless campaign to bring me down ever since I entered mainstream politics,” Mohamed wrote in a post on his official Facebook page linked to Team Mohameds.

    The opposition leader also claimed that two of his former innocent employees were detained for six days as part of what he called a deliberate manipulation of Guyana’s judicial system and a blatant violation of the men’s constitutionally protected rights. Already wanted by United States authorities on allegations of unrelated financial crimes, Mohamed further claimed that the deceased getaway car owner, Shemroy Stewart, was a known contracted killer for Shaheed “Roger” Khan – a drug kingpin who was convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. years ago on cocaine trafficking charges. Mohamed has denied ever having any personal or professional connection to Stewart. He also alleged that senior police officials have approached multiple inmates in Guyanese prisons offering incentives to issue false statements that would directly tie him to Fagundes’ murder.

    For his part, Khan broke his silence on the case Monday, stating that Fagundes – whom Khan described as his “son” – was killed in an attack that was actually meant for him. Khan repeated longstanding claims that he previously helped prevent the collapse of the former Bharrat Jagdeo administration, and accused police of intentionally dragging their feet in the initial response to the 2021 shooting, a claim he first made publicly weeks after the killing.

  • Group of armed, patrolling Chinese arrested in Suriname

    Group of armed, patrolling Chinese arrested in Suriname

    On a Tuesday in mid-July 2026, a sweeping joint security operation carried out by Suriname’s National Police Force (KPS) and national military in the remote interior Sarakreek district resulted in the arrest of 14 Chinese men, according to official statements from Suriname’s law enforcement leadership. The operation was launched after authorities received credible tips and video evidence showing armed individuals matching the suspects’ descriptions moving through the area in uniformed attire, allegedly conducting patrol activities.

    Following a coordinated consultation between the Public Prosecution Service and the Office of the Surinamese President, officials greenlit an immediate deployment of a combined police-army task force, supported by two military helicopters to access the hard-to-reach interior region. The mission was commanded by the Central Regional Commander of the Suriname Police Force, with Minister of Justice and Police Harish Monorath confirming key details in an interview with local outlet Starnieuws.

    In addition to taking the 14 suspects into custody, law enforcement teams seized multiple firearms including semi-automatic weapons, other heavy weaponry, and an undisclosed amount of ammunition. A full inventory of seized items is still pending after one of the deployed helicopters experienced technical complications that disrupted initial counting efforts, so Monorath was unable to share an exact final count of confiscated weapons as of Wednesday’s update.

    All suspects have since been transferred to the capital Paramaribo, where ongoing criminal investigations and pre-trial arraignment processes are underway. Social media circulated images and video that showed former vice president and ruling ABOP party chair Ronnie Brunswijk present at the operation site, prompting public speculation about his involvement. However, Monorath clarified that Brunswijk did not lead or command the security mission, noting that the former leader traveled to Sarakreek independently to gather on-the-ground information and shared relevant details with official security teams.

    Monorath pushed back against early unconfirmed speculation about the suspects’ activities in the region, noting that initial tips suggested the group claimed to be carrying out private security work. He emphasized that any security operations within Suriname’s borders fall under the purview of the country’s own national army and police forces, and the investigation will fully clarify the legal status of the group’s activities. The minister also added that not all of the arrested Chinese men are in Suriname illegally: some hold valid residency and entry documentation, so officials will wait for the full outcome of the investigation before releasing any formal conclusions on the case.