Carib Scope

标签： Saint Lucia

圣卢西亚

  • Former boxing coach donates to young fighters

    Former boxing coach donates to young fighters

    Young emerging boxers on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia have received a timely boost to their training, courtesy of the US-based Pompey Foundation, which officially handed over a shipment of essential boxing equipment to the Saint Lucia Boxing Association earlier this week. The donation, which includes new pairs of boxing gloves, hand wraps and protective training pads, aims to lift barriers for emerging talent and expand grassroots boxing development across the island.

    The handover ceremony was led by Serieana Pompey, daughter of former Saint Lucian boxer and coach John Pompey, the founder of the foundation. For years, Pompey’s organization has prioritized supporting local athletic groups in his home country, having previously delivered sports gear to multiple clubs across Saint Lucia. This past summer, the foundation also organized the popular Pompey Mile Run community event to encourage local recreational fitness.

    Conrad Fredericks, the national head coach of Saint Lucia’s boxing program, accepted the donation at the National Boxing Gym located in Vigie, Castries. In an interview with local outlet St Lucia Times, Fredericks expressed deep gratitude for the ongoing commitment Pompey has shown to the island’s boxing community — a connection that stretches back more than 20 years, when Fredericks first coached a young Pompey at the gym.

    Fredericks emphasized that Pompey’s generosity stems from his long-held gratitude for the foundation the local gym laid for his career. “He remembered what the gym has done for him,” Fredericks said. “He remembered how far he has come from, even though he reached America, and now he ended up donating. We appreciate what he sent. I thank him so much for the things that he sent for the boxing gym. He didn’t just think of himself, he invested in the next generation of boxers coming up in the gym, and he showed his gratitude for what we’ve done for him.”

    Today’s National Boxing Gym looks drastically different from the space Pompey trained in at the turn of the century. The current facility spans more than 2,000 square feet, features a full-size competition ring, and holds tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment sourced through the International Boxing Association (IBA). Looking back, Fredericks recalled the modest conditions of the early 2000s, when Pompey was an active trainee.

    “Back in around 2000 when Pompey was a member, we had a very small gym,” he said. “From the time he moved on, the gym has moved to another level. We have more boxers, we have a bigger gym. In his time, we had four bags, two big bags and two small ones. And now we have over 12 bags in the gym. We have a male and a female washroom. Everything is different from his time. Boxing has grown, and a lot of it came from what he did in his time.”

    For his part, Pompey said his commitment to giving back grows from a core personal belief: staying rooted in the community that shaped you. “I never forget where I came from,” Pompey said. “It feels great to be able to give back. My foundation was able to make a donation to Saint Lucia boxing. To God be the Glory.”

    In a public statement following the donation, the Saint Lucia Boxing Association confirmed that the newly received equipment will be integrated into existing training and youth development programs, with a specific focus on expanding access for school-aged boxers. The federation officially extended its sincere thanks to Pompey and his entire family for their consistent, long-standing support of growing the sport of boxing across Saint Lucia.

  • Dennery denied, Central fumble in SPFL

    Dennery denied, Central fumble in SPFL

    A night of missed opportunity and contentious officiating marred Wednesday’s Saint Lucia Semi-Professional Football League Tier 1 clash, as Dennery was forced to settle for a goalless draw against Anse La Raye at Soufrière Stadium, killing their bid to jump to the top of the league table.

    Headed into the fixture, Dennery held a clear target: secure all three points to close the gap on current leaders Vieux Fort South and stake their claim for the top spot. The east coast side almost achieved that breakthrough inside the opening 10 minutes, when a pinpoint long cross from winger Newton Marshall fell perfectly into the path of striker Garvin Reggie. Reggie, who already boasted six goals this campaign, neatly evaded two Anse La Raye defenders and slotted home what would have been his seventh goal of the season — a tally that would have put him alone atop the league’s scoring charts.

    But the celebrations were cut short. The assistant referee raised his flag for offside, and the goal was immediately ruled out. Replays and on-pitch observations later confirmed the error: the offside call was mistakenly made against Dennery captain Elijah Joseph, who was out of play, while Reggie, the goalscorer, was clearly onside when he received the ball.

    The controversial decision only amplified tensions that had been building along the touchline even before the first whistle blew. Dennery’s technical staff was put on notice for dissent ahead of kickoff, and referee Junior George issued a yellow card to head coach Sabbatus Hunte in the 17th minute as tempers continued to fray. The situation boiled over in the 87th minute, when both Sabbatus Hunte and assistant coach Hiram Hunte were given straight red cards for repeated verbal dissent against the officials’ calls.

    Discipline slipped on the pitch as well, with five players picking up yellow cards across the two sides. For Dennery, Macgyver Raymond was cautioned in the 31st minute, followed by captain Joseph in the 71st. Anse La Raye also saw three of their players enter the referee’s book: Brandon Williams in the 10th minute, Dahmanii Berthier in first-half stoppage time, and Shanic John just after the hour mark.

    Earlier in the matchday, a separate fixture between Canaries and Central Castries never got underway, ending in a walkover win for Canaries. Central Castries was unable to fulfill the fixture requirement after failing to bring their official match uniforms. After a 30-minute wait past the scheduled 7:00 p.m. kickoff, match referee Renlee Napoleon, acting on guidance from the match commissioner, officially called the match off, and three points were awarded to Canaries per league rules.

    The final scoreless result leaves Dennery stuck in third place in the Tier 1 standings after eight matches, holding 14 points. They remain behind two-time defending champions La Clery, who sit second on 15 points, and league-leading Vieux Fort South, who hold a three-point advantage at the top with 17 points. Anse La Raye stays in ninth position with six points. As a result of their walkover win, Canaries climbs to fourth in the table, while Central Castries remains in seventh.

  • ‘You’ll tell the US no?’ Pierre defends third-country deportees deal

    ‘You’ll tell the US no?’ Pierre defends third-country deportees deal

    The leader of Saint Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, has openly characterized a new bilateral agreement with the United States that permits the deportation of third-country nationals to his Caribbean nation as among the most challenging policy choices his administration has ever had to make. Despite the controversy surrounding the deal, Pierre asserts that after multiple rounds of extended negotiations with U.S. officials, Saint Lucia secured the most favorable terms possible under the existing geopolitical and diplomatic circumstances.

    In an interview aired Thursday on the Radio 100 current affairs program *What Makes You Mad*, Pierre outlined how the final terms of the agreement differ substantially from the initial proposal put forward by U.S. negotiators. Under the finalized text of the deal, Saint Lucia will accept a maximum of 10 third-country deportees every three months. This capped quota represents a significant shift from the original draft, which contained no numerical limits – a structure that would have allowed the U.S. to send an unlimited number of deportees to the small island nation.

    Pierre emphasized that rejecting the agreement entirely was never a viable strategic option for his government, given the asymmetric diplomatic and economic relationship between small island developing states like Saint Lucia and global powers like the United States. When pressed on why the government did not simply walk away from the negotiations, he posed a rhetorical question to critics: “If you’re a Prime Minister of a country, you’ll tell the United States no?”

    The Prime Minister also walked through the logistics of how the agreement will operate on the ground after deportees arrive in Saint Lucia. For the first seven days following a deportee’s arrival, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will cover all costs for accommodation and food. After this initial week, responsibility for the deportees’ care transfers to the government of Saint Lucia.

    Pierre also provided new details on the first cohort of deportees to arrive under the agreement. Of the initial six third-country nationals, four have opted to remain in Saint Lucia, while the other two have requested repatriation to their countries of origin. To support the four who chose to stay, the government has appointed a dedicated liaison officer, whose core responsibilities include maintaining regular check-ins with the group, facilitating contact between the deportees and their respective home countries’ embassies in Saint Lucia, documenting any professional or technical skills the deportees possess, and tracking any changes in their preference to return home in the future.

    While the U.S. has provided an initial financial contribution to support Saint Lucia’s efforts to host the deportees, Pierre confirmed that negotiations over a full long-term financial package are still ongoing. No further details on the size or scope of the potential U.S. funding were released.

  • ‘No safe zone’ for Eastern Caribbean children

    ‘No safe zone’ for Eastern Caribbean children

    A groundbreaking child-focused climate risk assessment has delivered a stark warning for the Eastern Caribbean: already one-third of the region’s children live in zones vulnerable to at least three overlapping climate hazards, and that number is on track to surge to more than 90 percent by mid-century under current high-emissions trends. Released in 2026 following research completed in late 2025, the first-of-its-kind study was conducted by Meru Labs for UNICEF’s Eastern Caribbean Area Office, covering six island nations — Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines — and encompassing a total of approximately 176,000 children. This high-resolution spatial analysis combines historical climate data, mid-century climate projections, and local socioeconomic data to map risk specifically for children, their schools, critical health infrastructure, and supporting community livelihoods, filling a longstanding gap in regional climate research that has often sidelined child-specific vulnerability. Irina Bird Reddiar, a consultant researcher at Meru Labs who presented the findings at a resilience workshop hosted at Saint Lucia’s Bay Gardens, emphasized that no part of the region remains untouched by climate risk. “There is no safe zone in the region and the question is not whether children will be affected, but how severely and how often,” Reddiar stated. Beyond the headline projection, the study lays bare the current scope of risk: 100 percent of children, schools, and health facilities across the six study countries sit within 100 kilometers of the path of at least one Category Three or stronger hurricane recorded since 1980. Additionally, seven percent of the region’s children, 12 percent of local schools, and 22 percent of hospitals and clinics are located in low-elevation coastal zones less than 10 meters above sea level, leaving them directly exposed to accelerating sea-level rise, destructive storm surge, and chronic coastal erosion. The analysis also highlights dangerous overlapping risk patterns that exacerbate harm: peak annual heat and the Atlantic hurricane season both run from August to October, which coincides with the start of the academic year for regional schools, raising the chance of immediate learning disruptions at the opening of each school term. Researchers detail the cascading harms that climate shocks inflict on children beyond immediate physical danger, ranging from school closures, learning loss, and higher dropout rates to increased illness, childhood malnutrition, psychosocial distress from displacement and trauma, and long-term reduced lifetime earnings due to interrupted education and unstable childhoods. The study’s findings were presented at the opening of a two-day workshop in Saint Lucia organized jointly by UNICEF and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Agency (CDEMA), which brought together regional journalists and public information officers to build capacity for covering climate change, disaster risk, and child-specific impacts. Keith Goddard, CDEMA communications specialist who spoke on behalf of CDEMA Deputy Executive Director Kester Craig, said the findings reinforce an urgent need for the region to shift its longstanding disaster management approach away from purely post-event response and toward proactive, pre-disaster risk mitigation. “Our regional disaster management system cannot focus only on responding after an event. We must increasingly anticipate risk, understand its social consequences and use evidence to guide decisions before disaster strikes,” Goddard explained. He added that the new analysis provides actionable data to help regional governments and development partners target investments to the communities and services where children face the greatest risk, and upgrade the resilience of schools and critical public infrastructure. “When a disaster damages a school, a child loses more than a building. They can lose access to education, a safe space, social support and a sense of normalcy,” Goddard said. He also challenged participating journalists to translate the study’s complex technical data into accessible public knowledge and drive collective action, noting that media play a critical role in centering vulnerable groups like children in broader climate conversations. In total, the study outlines 49 targeted recommendations to cut child-focused climate risk, spanning pre-disaster anticipatory action, immediate post-disaster support for children and families, long-term investments in climate-resilient infrastructure and livelihoods, and reforms to climate and disaster financing frameworks. Clive Murray, UNICEF Programme Specialist, framed the launch of the research as a starting point for action rather than a conclusion to the research process. “The evidence is now before us. Our task is to use it to strengthen policies and systems, invest in anticipatory action, build more resilient services, and mobilise climate financing that puts children at the centre,” Murray said. Lisa Jawahir, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Sustainable Development of host nation Saint Lucia, echoed the call for urgent translation of findings into policy and investment. “We must move from evidence to policy, from policy to investment, and from investment to measurable improvements in the lives of our people,” Jawahir said. She also pushed back against framing children as only passive recipients of aid, emphasizing their critical role as active participants in building long-term regional climate resilience. “Their voices matter. Their security matters. Their ideas matter, and of course their future matters,” she added. Maryam Abdu, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area Office Representative, reinforced the call for increased investment in climate adaptation, resilient schools and health systems, stronger social protection, and targeted resourcing for the highest-risk communities. “Data must lead to decisions. Decisions must lead to investment, and investment must lead to greater resilience for people and communities,” Abdu said. Echoing Jawahir, she stressed that children must be included in all climate decision-making processes, noting that they have a unique and direct stake in the choices made today. “They bring ideas, they bring urgency, and they bring a clear stake in the decisions we make today. Nothing about their future should be decided without listening to them. A resilient Caribbean begins with resilient children. Let us place them at the centre of our climate response. Let us invest in their future. And let us act with the urgency this crisis demands.”

  • Louis takes over as SLFA technical director

    Louis takes over as SLFA technical director

    The Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) has announced a key leadership change for its technical division, confirming that Miran Louis will take up the post of technical director starting September 1. Louis fills the vacancy left by former director Cyril “Ces” Podd, and his core mandate will encompass oversight of all SLFA technical initiatives, with targeted development work for players, coaches, referees and other technical personnel across the island nation.

    SLFA President Lyndon Cooper formally welcomed Louis to the association’s leadership team, emphasizing the critical importance of the technical director role as the governing body works to raise the overall standard of football in Saint Lucia. “This is a critical role within the association, and we look forward to working closely with him to strengthen our technical programmes and create greater opportunities for the development of our players and coaches,” Cooper stated in his remarks. “We believe this appointment will contribute significantly to the continued advancement of football.”

    Louis enters the new position with a robust combination of professional credentials and deep cross-sector experience spanning both domestic and international football circles. A holder of the UEFA B Licence, he earned a first-class Bachelor of Science degree in football coaching and performance from Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom. His additional professional qualifications include Concacaf Team Administration certification and introductory talent identification credentials from the Professional Football Scouts Association.

    Louis has already built a track record of success in Saint Lucia’s domestic football scene: in April 2025, he led GMC United to claim the club’s first-ever SLFA Senior Men’s Club Championship title after a 1-0 victory over Platinum FC in the final. A native of Babonneau, Louis previously held coaching roles at New Generation FC, and spent seven years working as an information technology teacher and school football coach at Ciceron Secondary School.

    Over the past nine years, Louis has steadily advanced through the ranks of Saint Lucia’s national football system. He previously served as SLFA’s Head of Coach Education, and held coaching roles with both the men’s under-17 national squad and the women’s under-17 national team, which he accompanied to Honduras for the Concacaf Championship. Outside of the Caribbean, his experience includes stints as an academy analyst and coaching intern at England’s Port Vale Football Club, lead coach at Stoke RTC in the Junior Premier League, and head coach with UK-based First Kick Football.

    In his new capacity as technical director, Louis will collaborate closely with the SLFA Executive Committee, regional district leagues, club-level coaches and local educational institutions. His key priorities will include unifying coaching frameworks across all levels of the sport, and building clear, structured development pathways that nurture talent from grassroots community football all the way through to the country’s elite national squads.

  • Jawahir: Climate change already affecting Saint Lucia’s food, water

    Jawahir: Climate change already affecting Saint Lucia’s food, water

    For small island developing states across the Eastern Caribbean, climate change is not a distant hypothetical threat—it is a daily reality reshaping core industries and endangering the most vulnerable populations, according to Saint Lucia’s top agriculture official.

    At a Wednesday event held at Rodney Bay’s Bay Gardens Hotel, Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Sustainable Development Minister Lisa Jawahir shared how shifting weather patterns have already upended local food systems, delivering stark warnings ahead of the launch of a groundbreaking UNICEF-commissioned climate resilience study. The new analysis, conducted by research firm Meru Labs, spans six Eastern Caribbean nations: Saint Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. It focuses on the understudied impact of climate hazards on children, a group disproportionately affected by rising global temperatures despite contributing the least to emissions.

    Jawahir outlined the cascading harms Saint Lucia is already facing: more intense extreme rainfall that triggers devastating flooding, longer and more severe dry spells that drain water reserves, accelerating coastal erosion that erodes critical marine habitat, and steadily climbing average temperatures. These shifts do not stay confined to environmental systems, she emphasized—they ripple through households and communities, hitting low-income families hardest. “When drought reduces agricultural production, the consequence can reach the dinner table of a family already struggling to make ends meet,” Jawahir said. “When water becomes scarce, households must make difficult choices about how that limited resource is being used.” Disruptions to climate-sensitive sectors from farming and fishing to tourism, she added, generate widespread economic pressure that destabilizes home life for generations. “Our vulnerability is therefore not only environmental, it is social, developmental, and intergenerational,” she noted.

    The groundbreaking Child-Centered Climate Analysis for Building Resilience paints a sobering picture of current and future risk for children across the region. The study cross-references climate hazard maps with local socioeconomic data to map how climate change impacts children, their schools, local health facilities, and household livelihoods. Right now, more than one-third of all children, schools and health clinics in the six study countries sit in zones exposed to at least three separate climate hazards. Under a high-greenhouse gas emissions scenario that follows current global emission trends, that proportion is projected to jump to more than 90 percent by the middle of this century.

    Jawahir explained that the child-centered framework used in the research fills a critical gap, making visible how climate vulnerability overlaps with existing systemic inequities across poverty, education, health care, food and water security, housing, livelihood support and social protection. “Climate resilience, food security, and sustainable development are inseparable,” she stressed. Investing in climate-smart agricultural practices, secure water infrastructure and climate-resilient public systems is not just about protecting national economic sectors—it is about protecting families, communities, and the future of the region’s children, she argued.

    The minister stressed that the research’s findings must not remain unused, gathering dust on government shelves. Instead, the data should be leveraged to pinpoint unaddressed gaps in existing resilience efforts, challenge outdated policy assumptions, strengthen national climate planning, and guide targeted investment from both national governments and international development partners. She doubled down on this call during a post-presentation question-and-answer session, noting that governments hold a particular responsibility to vulnerable children to act on the clear evidence the study provides. To turn these findings into tangible protection, Jawahir said, climate action priorities must be embedded in formal government strategies, policies, and annual national budget deliberations. “We need to make sure when there are budget discussions, some of these issues on climate are reflected as something that the Ministry of Finance should see the need to say, you know what, we need to put money now on a yearly basis so that we don’t get our children to that place,” she said.

    Using a simple, vivid metaphor to illustrate the urgency of pre-emptive investment, Jawahir compared proactive climate preparation to having an umbrella ready before a storm hits. “So that our children will have umbrellas when the rain starts, not buying the umbrella when it’s raining,” she explained.

    Beyond calling for targeted investment and policy change, Jawahir pushed for a shift in how children are positioned in climate action. Too often, she said, children are framed solely as vulnerable groups in need of assistance, but they have a critical role to play as active contributors to resilience building. “Our children must not be viewed only as vulnerable recipients of assistance. They must be recognised as participants, innovators, and partners in building resilience,” Jawahir said. “Their voices absolutely belong in this conversation.”

    Closing her remarks, Jawahir reaffirmed Saint Lucia’s commitment to collaborating with regional and international partners to boost climate resilience across the Eastern Caribbean. She emphasized that the new data now demands urgent translation into tangible action. “We must move from evidence to policy, from policy to investment, and from investment to measurable improvements in the lives of our people,” she said.

  • Years after Schneik Phillip vanished, DNA confirms remains are hers

    Years after Schneik Phillip vanished, DNA confirms remains are hers

    After months of lingering uncertainty following the discovery of unidentified human remains along Pigeon Point Beach, authorities in Saint Lucia have confirmed that the bones belong to 33-year-old Schneik Phillip, a man reported missing in late 2023. The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) made the formal identification announcement this Wednesday, after weeks of waiting for results from forensic DNA analysis.

  • Police warn against false reports as two held in Auguste case

    Police warn against false reports as two held in Auguste case

    Amid a surge of unconfirmed circulating claims about missing persons and attempted kidnappings across social media and private messaging platforms, the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) has issued a urgent public appeal urging citizens to refrain from sharing unvetted information. The police force emphasized that unfounded rumors not only trigger widespread unnecessary panic across the island nation, but also create significant barriers to active, ongoing criminal investigations.

    The official public statement, released Wednesday, addressed growing concerns about unregulated information spreading through digital channels, covering everything from unconfirmed reports of missing people to false allegations of kidnapping attempts. RSLPF underlined that only information officially confirmed and released by the department should be treated as fact by the public.

    Alongside the warning, police released a formal update on the status of missing persons reports filed between the start of August and September 14. In total, 11 missing person reports were submitted to the department over this six-week period. Nine of these cases have already been successfully closed, with all missing individuals located and returned to safety unharmed. Only one open case remains active: 59-year-old James Hunter Noel, commonly known by the nickname “Ti Jame” and a resident of Fond Joyeux in Vieux Fort, is still unaccounted for.

    Police also confirmed the identity of a body recovered along the Millennium Highway on September 11: the deceased was 21-year-old Merissa Auguste, who had been reported missing just 24 hours before the discovery. A post-mortem examination conducted on September 14 determined that Auguste’s cause of death was strangulation. To date, two people of interest have been taken into police custody, and are currently assisting the department’s Major Crimes Unit with their ongoing probe into the death.

    Beyond the case updates, RSLPF detailed the scope of the misinformation it has observed in recent days: unauthenticated voice notes, wildly exaggerated claims about criminal activity, and statements falsely presented as official police communications have all spread widely across local digital networks. The department explained that this unvetted sharing does more than stoke public fear: it can put community members at unnecessary risk and compromise the integrity of active investigations by compromising witness testimony or alerting suspects to investigative strategy.

    To curb the spread of harmful misinformation, police are urging all residents to cross-check any information related to crimes or missing persons with RSLPF directly before sharing it to personal or public networks. They also warned members of the public against confronting anyone suspected of criminal activity based solely on unconfirmed online claims, as this could put both the individual and the community in danger.

    The department also noted that some forms of false sharing may violate Saint Lucia’s Computer Misuse Act, and warned that formal legal action could be pursued against individuals found to have knowingly shared harmful, unlawful misinformation. For community members with legitimate information related to ongoing criminal cases or suspicious activity, RSLPF encouraged reports through official, established channels, including the dedicated Crime Hotline at 555.

  • Building on a dream: Bonita Bart heads to world-leading architecture school

    Building on a dream: Bonita Bart heads to world-leading architecture school

    Long before Bonita Alicia Bart could correctly spell the word “architect”, a childhood passion for designing spaces had already cemented her career path. As she recalls, it was her father who first helped her put letters to the dream that would shape her entire academic and professional journey. Today, decades after that childhood conviction, the young Vieux Fort native is preparing to join one of the world’s most prestigious architecture programs, carrying a mission that extends far beyond her own academic success.

    On September 20, Bart will depart the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia for the United Kingdom, taking up the country’s sole Chevening Scholarship spot for the 2026/27 academic year. She will pursue a master’s degree in architectural history at University College London’s globally renowned Bartlett School of Architecture, a milestone that still feels surreal to the young scholar. She first received the life-changing news over a routine lunch break, when a congratulatory email popped up on her phone. “I remember putting the phone down and being like, this can’t be real,” she said of her initial reaction.

    Instead of jumping into immediate celebrations, Bart confronted a quiet, common struggle for high achievers: imposter syndrome. For a period, she worked through the internal hurdle of accepting that she had earned the prestigious award through her own hard work and merit. “Sometimes we work hard and we don’t accept when good things happen,” she explained. “So, it was a good personal process for me as well.”

    Bart’s award makes her Saint Lucia’s only representative among a small cohort of just five Chevening Scholars from the entire Eastern Caribbean region. Initially, the knowledge that she was the sole recipient from her home country left her feeling isolated, especially after learning just how fierce the global competition for Chevening awards is. But the cross-disciplinary group of Eastern Caribbean scholars, whose fields range from medicine and media to logistics and Bartlett’s own architectural history, quickly formed a tight support network. After meeting in Barbados, the group made a commitment to stick together through the challenges of studying abroad, easing much of Bart’s early anxiety. “So, I’m not too scared anymore,” she said.

    Bart’s path to the Bartlett grew from a lifelong passion that first emerged in small, childhood moments. She remembers being fascinated by the annual rearrangement of her family home during the Christmas season, eager to weigh in on where every piece of furniture and decor should go. As she grew older, her knack for drawing helped turn that early instinct for spatial planning into a clear professional goal. It was during her undergraduate studies in Jamaica that her focus narrowed to architectural history and theory, sparking a critical observation that would become the core of her work: many Caribbean people do not recognize the unique cultural value of the architecture that exists in their own communities.

    “ We think of it as a big capital A of skyscrapers in Dubai and in the US,” she said. “But we’re not thinking about the bioclimatic approach that people have taken with getting houses. And having houses that fit the Caribbean context and the colours and our own cultural history with it.”

    Four years ago, Bart turned that observation into action, launching the Caribtecture Research Project to document and analyze the distinct identity of Caribbean architecture through a combination of written research and visual documentation. Within that broader initiative, she created Luciantecture, a focused project centered specifically on recording and examining Saint Lucia’s unique built heritage. For Bart, studying a historic Saint Lucian building means looking far beyond its physical facade: she explores the cultural and social influences that shaped its design, the communities that built and lived in it, and the irreplaceable character that could be lost if the island modernizes without intentional heritage preservation. Among the elements at particular risk are Saint Lucia’s distinctive French colonial architectural legacies, including traditional fretwork and stonework craftsmanship. While some efforts are underway to pass down the trade skills needed to maintain these features, Bart argues that preservation ultimately requires public buy-in: many locals now favor modern glass and luxury cladding over the island’s traditional architectural character.

    Her greatest concern is that rapid unplanned modernization will erase Saint Lucia’s unique cultural identity, turning the island into a generic copy of developed nations rather than celebrating its one-of-a-kind heritage. Beyond the cultural loss, she warns this shift could also harm Saint Lucia’s key tourism sector, which relies on the island’s unique natural and cultural identity to attract visitors.

    Preservation is not Bart’s only focus. She also points to climate change as an urgent, growing challenge for Caribbean architecture. Much of Saint Lucia’s housing, infrastructure and economic activity is concentrated along vulnerable coastlines, requiring difficult conversations about sustainable development, adaptive infrastructure and even the managed relocation of at-risk coastal communities. For Bart, these decisions cannot be left only to engineers and developers. Relocating entire communities disrupts intergenerational social ties, livelihoods and cultural patterns that are deeply tied to place, and local people deserve a seat at the table in these decisions. “ The social, political and economic aspect of architecture to me is often ignored,” she said. “And I think we don’t bring the public into that conversation as much as they should be a part of that conversation.”

    This focus on the interconnectedness of people, place and power is exactly what drew Bart to the Bartlett School of Architecture’s program. The program’s framework examines both rural and urban spaces through social, economic and political lenses, tracing the historical forces that shaped built environments and exploring the impacts of change. That academic training is exactly what she needs to advance her work with Caribtecture and Luciantecture. When she returns to Saint Lucia after her studies, she plans to expand her research in collaboration with local writers, artists and fellow architects to build a comprehensive, accessible public record of Caribbean architectural history.

    For now, though, Bart is wrapping up preparations to leave the only home she has ever known for the busy streets of London and the rigors of postgraduate study. When she departs on September 20, she will step into an experience that will almost certainly reshape her understanding of architecture – and ultimately, change how she sees the Caribbean home she plans to preserve.

  • Sports minister urges more private sector support for netball

    Sports minister urges more private sector support for netball

    Saint Lucia’s national netball team has stunned local sports fans by withdrawing from the 2027 Netball World Cup Americas Qualifier scheduled to take place next month in Barbados, a decision rooted in persistent funding gaps that sports officials and government leaders say can only be fixed through expanded private sector support. The country’s Youth Development and Sports Minister Kenson Casimir laid out the government’s position during Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, aligning fully with the stance of Netball Saint Lucia, the sport’s local governing body.

    In an exclusive conversation with local outlet St Lucia Times, Netball Saint Lucia president Sanya Antoine explained that the federation exhausted all efforts to raise the capital needed for travel and event participation but fell well short of the required target. She issued a public call for stepped-up engagement from Saint Lucia’s business community, a plea that Casimir has publicly backed. Minister Casimir emphasized that securing long-term, reliable sponsorship and financing for any national sport depends on building broader public and private buy-in, a challenge that netball in particular has yet to overcome.

    “Right now, our biggest hurdle is getting more leaders from the commercial sector, and even everyday Saint Lucians, to actively invest in and support netball,” Casimir told reporters. “Our moving forward will focus on expanding the commercial footprint of the sport – to put it plainly, we need to make netball more attractive to draw the sustained private investment we need to compete internationally.”

    Antoine echoed this framing, noting that private investors expect clear returns when they back a sporting property, and that the federation’s core priority right now is building that marketable product. “If an investor puts money into netball, they need to see what value they gain from that partnership,” she explained. “It is our job to build that valuable product, and that is exactly what we are working to do right now.”

    Casimir pushed back against any assumption that the national government can cover the full cost of sending every national team to every international competition, pointing to the 2024 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games as a recent example of the government’s existing commitment. While the CAC Games were organized by the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee, the government contributed significant funding through the National Lotteries to support the national delegation, which went on to secure a historic bronze medal – a result Casimir said the entire country is proud of.

    “Honestly, government simply cannot cover 100 percent of the costs for every team that wants to compete in every international event,” Casimir said. “We would love to be able to give every athlete the chance to compete on the global stage, but we have not been able to establish a steady, consistent revenue stream that allows us to fully fund every national team to the level they need.”

    Looking ahead, the minister confirmed that his ministry is ready to partner with national governing bodies for underfunded sports including netball, basketball, and volleyball to help them build more appeal for commercial sponsors. While he promised the government will continue to contribute as much as it can, he repeated that a mixed funding model with substantial private sector support is the only sustainable path forward for growing these sports and supporting international competition. The withdrawal from the 2027 World Cup qualifiers has put a renewed spotlight on the need for systemic change to support niche national sports in Saint Lucia.