Category: CANA News

Belize authorities are advancing discussions on a national robotics education pathway that would connect secondary school students directly to tertiary study, engineering and technology careers, competitive robotics, and emerging industries.

Representatives of the University of Belize, the Ministry of E-Governance, the Belize Robotics Federation, and VEX Robotics, met on Tuesday to explore how existing programmes, training resources and national initiatives can be aligned to strengthen robotics education and workforce development across Belize.

According to a statement issued following the meeting, a key proposal advanced by Belize Robotics Federation President Jamie Lee Usher is to develop a structured high school-to-UB robotics and engineering pathway.

The statement said the initiative would help students who begin developing robotics, coding, and engineering skills in secondary school clearly understand how those experiences can lead into programs at the University of Belize and ultimately into careers in technology, engineering, education, and industry.

‘We do not want robotics to remain only a club activity or something students encounter at a competition. We want students to begin building these skills in high school and already be able to see the next step: UB, engineering, technology, teaching, research, or industry,’ Usher said.

The proposed pathway would build on work already underway at the University of Belize. UB faculty shared that robotics has been incorporated into existing programming and algorithms courses, that the VEX curriculum is currently being used in teaching, and that the University has invested in competition infrastructure while working toward developing a university robotics team.

The partners discussed how these existing strengths could be connected more deliberately to secondary education, teacher training, student recruitment, and national workforce needs.

‘If we want more Belizean engineers, programmers, technicians, mathematics and science teachers and technology professionals, we have to deliberately build that pipeline,’ Usher said, adding ‘robotics gives us an engaging way to bring students into those fields and keep them there.’

The Belize Robotics Federation confirmed its willingness to support UB and participating schools through teacher training, capacity building, and curriculum development. Under its existing partnership with the Ministry of E-Governance, BRF supports robotics education, curriculum development, and Trainer of Trainers programs.

BRF is also working directly with VEX Robotics to access educational resources, technical guidance, professional development, certification opportunities, and competition support.

VEX representative Eli Osornio who joined the meeting virtually reaffirmed VEX’s willingness to support educators as Belize expands use of the platform.

The University of Belize welcomed the opportunity to strengthen collaboration around robotics and emerging technology. Discussions included possible future electives, specialized courses, credentials and academic pathways, subject to UB’s established curriculum development and approval processes.

UB President Dr. Vincent Palacio expressed support for continued partnership and for strengthening the connection between secondary education and the national university.

‘The University of Belize embraces the opportunity for partnership. If we can create stronger connections between what students experience in high school and the opportunities available at the national university, we can strengthen enrolment, develop local expertise and prepare more Belizeans for the areas in which our country will increasingly need skilled people.’

The chief executive officer in the Ministry of E-Governance, Jose Urbina also emphasized the importance of ensuring that robotics education translates into practical national applications.

‘The objective is to ensure that these partnerships lead to national impact. Competition is important because it motivates young people, but we also want to see these skills translated into practical solutions for Belize. Government can help provide the bridge among education, technology and the needs of the country,’ Urbina added.

The statement said that potential areas of application discussed included agriculture, environmental monitoring, automation, sensors, drones, logistics, electronics and other sectors where emerging technologies can support national development.

The Ministry of E-Governance has further supported the initiative by providing a VEX V5 Classroom Super Kit to the Belize Robotics Federation, which will support teacher and facilitator training. This complements the Ministry’s recent provision of a VEX V5 Classroom Super Kit to the University of Belize for its Jaguar Tech Studio.

The Ministry has also indicated its intention to support BRF with a VEX Air Drone system, expanding opportunities for training in autonomous systems, flight programming, sensors and drone technology.

The partners agreed that equipment alone will not build a sustainable robotics program. Training educators, developing clear learning pathways and connecting students to further study and employment will be central to the initiative.

Competitive robotics will also form part of the developing ecosystem. BRF is working to expand VEX competition opportunities in Belize and is encouraging the development of secondary and university teams that can compete locally and eventually at regional and international levels.

The proposed high school pilot would begin by working with schools already introducing foundational robotics, coding and engineering experiences. BRF and UB would explore how those skills can align with relevant tertiary programs while increasing student exposure to the Jaguar Tech Studio, UB faculty and university-level robotics opportunities.

The partners will also explore expanded participation of girls and young women in robotics and engineering, opportunities for UB students to serve as mentors and trainers, and ways robotics can support the development of future STEM educators.

‘The schools cannot do this alone, UB cannot do it alone, and the Federation cannot do it alone. But together we can create a pathway where a student discovers robotics in high school, continues that journey at UB and graduates with skills Belize actually needs,’ Usher added.

The statement said that Tuesday’s engagement marks another step toward building a coordinated national robotics ecosystem in which students can progress from early exposure and competition to tertiary education, applied research, employment and innovation.

The long-term goal is for Belizean students to become not only users of emerging technology, but its builders, programmers, engineers, teachers and innovators.,’ it added.

President Irfaan Ali has urged members of the Amerindian population not to fall prey to persons seeking to exploit them for their own personal and political interests.

‘Do not allow your grievances and aspirations to become somebody else’s escape route for their own legal troubles. Do not allow your concerns to be used as a ticket to avoid jail,’ he told the opening of the Amerindian Heritage Month 2026 at the Amerindian village, Sophia on Tuesday night.

Ali, in an Amerindian head dress, repeatedly warned against those persons whom he did not name, but may be seeking to exploit issues confronting Indigenous people for personal gains.

‘Be careful of some who claim to speak on your behalf, but whose true interests may lie elsewhere. Be wary of those who come among you seeking to sow division, distrust and disaffection. Who seek to turn legitimate concerns into grievances and grievances into political instruments for their own purposes.

‘I call them wolves. There will always be those who seek to use the legitimate aspirations of our indigenous peoples for their own selfish ends. They may speak the language of empowerment, justice, and representation but ask yourselves, whose interests are they really advancing?’ President Ali said.

Ali , who told the ceremony that his administration had made significant investments in indigenous communities, said the population of these areas must be aware of false prophets, especially those who appear in sheep’s clothing.

‘I say to you, our indigenous brothers and sisters, be careful about those who suddenly appear among you when there is a crisis – arriving in fast boats, bearing hampers and expressions of sympathy, presenting themselves as champions of your interests.

‘Be especially careful when people seek to turn your legitimate concerns into a vehicle for their own political or personal survival. Ali said in an apparent reference to Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who recently used one of his own fast boats to visit a number of Amerindian communities. Mohamed and other members of the opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party had travelled to Port Kaituma and Mabaruma where they met with survivors and relatives of the more than 100 people who died when the MV Barima ferry sank on July 18.

They also donated supplies to those affected, warned them against signing government documents in exchange for cash and offered them counselling and legal services.

But Ali told the ceremony that his ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will continue to stand with the people throughout this and eery other disaster.

‘When all is said and done, it is the PPPC administration that will always remain at your side. It is this administration that has stood with you, not only when it is politically convenient, but in times of crisis. It is the PPP government that stands with you through the long journey of development.

‘Walking with you through the difficult days, building with you through the better days and working with you to secure a brighter tomorrow for generations yet to come, it is the PPP/C that will say to you, the work is not done,’ Ali said.

He said over the last five years, the PPP/C Administration invested more than GUY$41.7 billion (One Guyana dollar=US$0.008 cents) in Amerindian villages with GUY$21.7 billion injected into the Amerindian Development Fund.

‘Hydropower, solar farms, household solar. We have made those investments so that your children can become trained teachers right in their villages and thousands of your children are now becoming trained teachers in your villages,’ he said.

‘Look beyond the crisis and ask who still will stand with you when the fast boat has gone because in the final analysis you know who has stood with you for the long haul. You know who has invested in your communities and who has worked with your leaders,’ he said.

Political observers note that the Indigenous Amerindian vote, together with a sway among coastland voters, is crucial in the outcome of any general and regional elections in Guyana.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says vaccines administered during pregnancy can help prevent serious illness in women and protect newborns during their first months of life.

But it notes that maternal vaccination coverage remains uneven across the Americas, including the Caribbean, underscoring the need to expand access to recommended vaccines and strengthen vaccination efforts during pregnancyAn estimated 47 per cent of deaths among children worldwide occur during the neonatal period, the first 28 days of life. Many of these deaths are associated with infections that can be prevented through maternal immunization, including pertussis (whooping cough), neonatal tetanus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

‘Vaccination during pregnancy is one of the safest and most cost-effective public health interventions available. It protects pregnant women while also providing newborns with valuable protection during their first months of life,’ said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of PAHO.

‘Ensuring timely access to recommended vaccines, together with clear and reliable information, is key to expanding these benefits and helping give every child the best possible start in life.’

Experts participating in a regional webinar organized by PAHO, noted that maternal immunisation provides dual benefits. They say it helps protect pregnant women against potentially serious infections while also enabling the transfer of protective antibodies to infants before birth, providing them with protection during a stage when they are still too young to receive some recommended vaccines.

Maternal vaccination also contributes to reducing illness and deaths associated with diseases such as influenza, tetanus, pertussis, and RSV.

PAHO said recommended vaccines during pregnancy vary according to national immunization policies.

Across the Americas, maternal vaccination against influenza, pertussis, and COVID-19 is part of routine immunization strategies, while RSV vaccination during pregnancy has been progressively introduced in a growing number of countries.

In certain circumstances, additional vaccines may also be recommended during pregnancy, including those against hepatitis B, hepatitis A, yellow fever, polio, rabies, and meningococcal disease, depending on individual risk factors and the epidemiological context.

Despite important progress, challenges remain. In 2025, half of the countries in the Americas that reported data recorded influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women of 61 per cent or less.

For vaccines protecting against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, half of reporting countries recorded coverage levels of 77.3 per cent or less. These figures reflect variations in coverage across countries and, in some cases, challenges related to data availability and reporting.

These gaps highlight opportunities to further strengthen protection for two particularly vulnerable populations: pregnant women and newborns.

At the same time, countries across the region have continued to expand the tools available to protect mothers and infants. Currently, 11 countries are using maternal RSV vaccination to help prevent severe respiratory infections among infants during their first months of life.

‘Strengthening maternal immunization requires integrating vaccination into routine prenatal care, supporting health workers in making strong vaccine recommendations, and ensuring that women receive clear, evidence-based information to make informed decisions,’ said Dr. Daniel Salas, Executive Manager of PAHO’s Special Programme on Comprehensive Immunization.

The webinar also highlighted the importance of strengthening information systems to record and monitor vaccination during pregnancy. Limited integration between immunization registries and medical records can result in missed vaccination opportunities, difficulties in tracking vaccination status, and challenges in assessing program performance.

In this context, PAHO said it is promoting tools such as the Perinatal Information System (SIP Plus), which supports the recording, identification, sharing, and monitoring of information on maternal vaccination and contributes to more integrated care for pregnant women and newborns.

The St. Catherine North Police Division has recorded its first murder-free calendar month in 29 months as Jamaica recorded 357 murders for the period January 1 to August 29 this year as compared with the same period last year.

Figures released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) showed that last year, Jamaica had recorded 461 murders representing a 22.6 per cent decline.

The figures showed that nearly all areas including Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary, Kingston Western, St. Andrew South, St. Catherine North and South, had all registered declines in murder cases.

Commanding Officer for St. Catherine North, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hopton Nicholson, said the achievement was particularly significant given the division’s 42 per cent reduction in murders during the period, representing the lowest number of murders recorded since the establishment of the division 30 years ago.

‘For the first time in 29 months since I’ve been the divisional commander, this division recorded a calendar month with zero murders,’ SSP Nicholson said, noting that the achievement should not be viewed merely as a favourable crime statistic, noting that every reduction in murder represents lives potentially saved and families spared the consequences of violent crime.

‘Behind every reduction in murder is a life potentially saved. A family spared unimaginable pain. A child who does not have to grow up without a parent. A community given a greater opportunity to live, to work and to prosper in peace,’ he said.

Nicholson said the results reflect the combined efforts of police personnel, intelligence officers, investigators, operational teams and communities.

He said that the division has intensified public order enforcement in town centres and along major thoroughfares, while deliberately increasing police presence in spaces prone to crime and violence.

‘Our approach is to prevent violence before it occurs,’ he said, adding that the increased police presence is intended to reassure citizens that the police are ‘present, visible and ready to respond’.

The divisional commander said anti-gang operations will also continue, with the police pursuing individuals and groups involved in gang-related activities, with the objectives of disrupting their operations, dismantling networks, degrading their capabilities and bringing those responsible before the courts.

He further highlighted community and stakeholder engagement as an essential component of the division’s policing strategy, noting that effective policing cannot be achieved by the police alone.

‘We build partnerships with our citizens, our community leaders, our business operators and other stakeholders,’ he said, while emphasising the importance of regular and meaningful engagement, while urging residents of St. Catherine North to continue working with the police, highlighting that information, cooperation and a willingness to stand against criminality are critical to maintaining the gains made.

‘We need your continuous partnership. The police cannot be everywhere at all times. Your information, your cooperation and willingness to stand against criminality are critical to our success,’ Nicholson said.

Jamaica recorded 673 murders in 2025, a 43 percent drop compared to 2024, which had 1,147 murders.

Meanwhile, the JCF is also reporting a decline in shootings with 355 cases so far this year as compared with 467 for the same period last year.

Police said that rape cases also declined from 266 to 237 and robbery cases also declined from 489 to 362.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says Dominica will soon sign a US$75 million agreement with a foreign investor for the construction of a new cruise village in the country.

Speaking at a public meeting of the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) on Tuesday night ahead of the September 7 Roseau North by-election, Skerrit said that the investment will present opportunities for residents in Roseau North constituency. ‘Very soon we will sign an agreement for the construction of a cruise village in the Roseau North constituency. The investors coming to invest some 75 million US dollars bringing in money from overseas into Dominican economy.

‘That’s 75 million dollars which will be circulating in the economy of Dominica. But just see how much we are making out of cruise tourism and many people in Roseau North are direct beneficiaries of the cruise industry because they are vendors.’

Skerrit said that as a result of the investment, many more cruise ships and many more cruise passengers will come to Dominica providing for economic benefits for vendors ‘because more people will come and more people will buy from our vendors, more taxi operators will go out on tours, more tour guides will be there…’

Skerrit told supporters that a new school facility is also being constructed in the constituency will also advance skills training in the area.

‘And of course as you know we are building a new school, a massive school, the Goodwill Secondary School.And what we have said we want to do in addition to housing the Goodwill Primary School, we want to transform the Goodwill Secondary School into a centre of excellence for technical vocational education to provide more for young men and women with skills that the economy needs.

The by-election follows the resignation on June 12 of former labour minister and parliamentary representative Miriam Blanchard over health issues.

The ruling party has named business executive Ashma McDougal as its candidate, while the ain opposition United Workers Party (UWP) is hoping that two time parliamentary representative for the constituency, Daniel Lugay, will reverse the results of the last general election.

Sherman Boston is contesting the by-election as an independent candidate.

In the last general election held on December 6, 2019, Skerrit led the DLP to an 18-3 victory for a fifth consecutive victory after the opposition parties boycotted the polls in support of demands for electoral reform.

The by-electipn will be te first since the Dominica Parliament passed measures aimed at modernising the country’s electoral system.

Johnson Charles took full advantage of a controversial decision by the third umpire to power the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to an impressive six-wicket victory over the Barbados Tridents in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League here on Tuesday.

Thanks mainly to Quinton de Kock’s superb century, the Tridents would have fancied their chances of ending their two-game skid when they posted a formidable 217 for four in 20 overs at Warner Park after being asked to bat.

However, Charles, who was given out and then recalled to the field, returned to blast 78 off 45 balls as the home side pulled off the fourth highest chase in CPL history to get up to 220 for four with five balls remaining.

But the talking point of the night was undoubtedly the decision by TV umpire Carl Tuckett to reverse the ruling by the onfield umpires in giving Charles out.

The Patriots got off to a blistering start with Charles and Kyle Mayers putting on 28 runs in the first three overs.

After hitting left-arm pacer Ramon Simmonds for six in the second ball of the fourth over, Charles hit a full toss three balls later to deep midwicket where he was spectacularly caught by Sherfane Rutherford when he was 26 and the score 35.

Despite Charles arguing that the delivery was a waist-high no ball, he was initially given out, but as he trudged off the field, the third umpire reviewed the footage once again and overturned the decision, calling the batsman back to the crease.

It proved to be a decisive moment in the match, as Johnson and Charles put on a further 77 runs to give the Patriots a blazing start during a partnership of 112 runs in just over 10 overs.

During that stand, Charles reached his half century in 29 balls by thumping Mujeeb Ur Rahman through cover point for four.

Rutherford got the breakthrough for the Tridents when he had Mayers run out at the non-striker’s end off his bowling for 29.

Charles eventually perished after hitting seven sixes and six fours, but knocks of 36 from Dasun Shanaka, an unbeaten 22 from Andre Fletcher and Wanindu Hasaranga, who finished unbeaten on 18 off four balls carried the Patriots over the line.

Earlier, de Kock’s 106 from just 57 balls with 11 fours and six sixes put the Tridents in a strong position.

Together with opener Zachary Carter, who smashed 57 off 36 balls and hit seven sixes and one four, they shared a 116-run partnership for the second wicket following the early loss of Brandon King, who made just four.

Hasaranga ended the stand by having Carter caught, but de Kock and Sherfane Rutherford added 70 runs in six overs to see the visitors progress to 189 for three in the 19th over.

De Kock reached his second CPL century off 54 balls by hitting Holder for a six and four off successive deliveries in the 18th over.

It took an unbelievable diving catch by Navin Bidaisee at deep cover to dismiss de Kock, but captain Chris Green finished the innings in fine style by hitting two sixes in his unbeaten knock of 18 off seven balls.

A High Court judge has ordered teachers back to schoolrooms after granting an interim injunction to the Bahamas government against the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union (BEMU).

The parties are due to return before Justice Ellis this week where the union is expected to apply to have the interim order varied or dischargedThe High Court order also requires any BEMU officer or member employed by the Ministry of Education to return to his or her designated workplace when scheduled and prohibits members from taking sick leave without a valid sick certificate.

Justice Darron Ellis also ruled that union officials and members are prohibited from inducing, inciting or intimidating ministry employees in a way that impedes them from attending work or encourages them not to report.

BEMU president Stephen McPhee said his union had been attempting to have a meeting with the government for five months over outstanding promotions dating back to 2018 and was recently told that the earliest date for a meeting is September 14.

‘We are saying as a group … no longer will we allow you to pour new wine in an old wineskin,’ McPhee told a news conference, adding ‘as is written in the word, the bottle shall break.

‘We are at that point. We have begged. We have pleaded,’ he said adding that the union members were ‘standing on our strike certificate.’

Education Minister Chester Cooper, who said that most of the country’s 161 public schools remained open and operational, described the industrial action as ‘precipitous, disruptive and ‘disappointing’.

He denied the union’s claim that the government had failed to engage it, saying he met McPhee in August and that the union president subsequently held a two-hour meeting with the permanent secretary and director.

Cooper said the union submitted a list of concerns on or about August 24 and that he asked for time to work with the Public Service Commission and other government agencies, with discussions expected to resume on September 14.

‘I have an open-door policy for all unions, and when issues arise, particularly those requiring coordination with other government agencies, we commit to addressing them,’ he added.

A senior Barbados government minister is urging Caribbean countries to establish their own monitoring and evaluation systems reflecting the the realities of small island states.

Economic Affairs and Planning Minister, Marsha Caddle, told the inaugural launch of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Caribbean Evaluation Space (CEvalSpace 2026) that the region needed to recognise the particular vulnerabilities of small island states when adopting evaluation frameworks designed for larger, wealthier countries.

The CDB has described CEvalSpace 2026 as the region’s first dedicated platform for strengthening evaluation and evidence-based policymaking across the Caribbean. The conference continues Wednesday with delegates discussing ‘AI, Data, and Power: Shaping the Future of Evaluation in the Caribbean and ‘From Data to Action: Unlocking Evidence Use in the Caribbean.’

Addressing the conference which provides the estimated 150 regional and international participants an opportunity to strengthen evaluation systems and practice across the Caribbean, Caddle said that a results framework copied wholesale from a G20 finance ministry is going to ask the wrong questions of the region’s public service, size, and history, serving populations that are as small, as interconnected, and exposed.

‘We are entitled, and I would say that we are obligated, to build monitoring and evaluation systems that are honestly ours and not borrowed ones that we are quietly hoping will fit,’ she said, noting that the monitoring and evaluation systems needed to belong to the Caribbean.

She said that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita alone does not adequately capture the vulnerability of small island states, especially those exposed to natural disasters.

‘A GDP per capita test on its own tells the world almost nothing about how exposed a country like ours is to a single hurricane wiping out a quarter of GDP in an afternoon,’ Caddle said, reiterating that international measures do not adequately account for small states’ ability to adapt to technological change.

The Economic Affairs and Planning Minister said Caribbean countries have spent years fighting to have their vulnerabilities recognised, including their exposure to natural disasters and other risks.

‘Small island states cannot allow our progress toward these goals to be measured entirely by indicators built for economies many times our size, with none of our exposure. We’ve had to fight for years,’ she said, adding that the CDB has been one of those institutions fighting for years for recognition of ‘our particular vulnerability to a single storm, to a narrow economic base, to a debt structure shaped by decades of borrowing to rebuild the same damaged infrastructure again.’

Caddle said that Caribbean countries could continue to be measured and financed according to standards developed elsewhere if they do not establish and defend their own resilience measures.

‘If we don’t build and defend our own resilience metrics and demonstrate our own capacity to build resilience ourselves and to show the world how to do so, we are going to keep being measured and financed by somebody else’s definition of what counts as vulnerable or what counts as resilience, and reporting our own SDG progress against a yardstick that was never really meant to see us clearly,’ she said.

During her address, she called for an honest evaluation of progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a collection of 17 global targets adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity.

She said such evaluation must be undertaken alongside better metrics designed for small, exposed economies.

‘As we approach 2030, I would ask this space to treat two tasks as equally urgent. First, the honest, rigorous evaluation of where we actually stand against these goals, wherever that evidence is uncomfortable, and second, the harder, longer work of making sure the instruments we use to measure ourselves were actually built with small, exposed, interconnected economies like ours in mind.’

Caddle said Caribbean states also need to build greater regional cooperation, warning against each country developing separate evaluation systems, data infrastructure and resilience indexes.

‘It is distinctly unhelpful to have a dozen or more small Caribbean states each trying to replicate the same institutional endeavour separately, when a shared one would serve us all better. I think that this also applies to evaluation and monitoring capacity, as much as it applies to any other function in a small state government.

‘We don’t each need to build from nothing our own fully independent school of evaluators. Even though we do all need to build into our work the practice of evaluation, but we don’t need to build our own fully separate data infrastructure, our own fully isolated resilience index,’ Caddle said, urging the development of a regional evaluation community.

‘We need a regional evaluation community that shares your methods, your people, and hard-won lessons the way this space is trying to do this week,’ Caddle said, adding that the regional approach could allow successful monitoring frameworks and expertise to be adapted across countries rather than being recreated from scratch.

‘Where a monitoring framework that works in one jurisdiction gets adapted and not reinvented in the next, where an evaluator that has been trained in one island, one small state, can be useful, can work, can bring their knowledge and expertise to be in another, where the region itself becomes a unit of learning, and becomes a space where we demonstrate to the world what works well, not just the sum of a few countries’ separate national efforts.’

She said that this evaluation should not only focus on whether individual projects achieve their intended results, but whether the systems behind them can deliver consistently.

‘Are the frameworks, the mechanisms, the systems that produce these projects and these results year after year actually built to work reliably? This goes back to one of your three core pillars of your strategy, which has to do with the strength of institutions and systems.

‘So, do these systems actually work reliably? Were they built to work reliably, or did this project succeed in spite of a process that could just as easily fail on the next occasion?’

‘A results framework that only ever evaluates individual projects will keep telling you the same reassuring story about the ones that happen to go well, while the mechanism underneath them stays exactly as fragile as it was before.’

Caddle said that data collection must lead to action, arguing that it’s pointless to measure a problem if there is no intention to respond to the findings.

‘Every indicator in a national evaluation framework should be able to answer the question: If this number comes back bad, what am I going to do about it? And if nobody can answer that, the indicator is decoration. It’s not evidence.’

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Wednesday September 2, 2026.

GEORGETOWN – The Commission of Inquiry, appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the July 18 capsizing of the M/V ‘BARIMA’ that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people, says it is committed to conducting its work ‘independently, impartially, thoroughly and expeditiously, without fear or favour’ and in accordance with its terms of mandate.

BRIDGETOWN – A senior Barbados government minister is urging Caribbean countries to establish their own monitoring and evaluation systems reflecting the the realities of small island states.

ROSEAU – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says Dominica will soon sign a US$75 million agreement with a foreign investor for the construction of a new cruise village in the country.

CHARLESTOWN – The Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC) says the island’s geothermal drilling project is moving closer to drilling with a NEVLEC delegation travelling to Iceland as the 272-metric-tonne Drillmec HH-300 ‘Týr’ rig prepares to undergo its final independent acceptance inspection.

NASSAU – A High Court judge has ordered teachers back to schoolrooms after granting an interim injunction to the Bahamas government against the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union (BEMU).

SPORTS:

BASSETERRE – Johnson Charles took full advantage of a controversial decision by the third umpire to power the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to an impressive six-wicket victory over the Barbados Tridents in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League here on Tuesday.

Barbados will host the third Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Conference on Reparations later this month, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat announced on Wednesday.

The September 17-19 conference will be held under the theme ‘Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment’ and will be hosted by the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), the Barbados government of Barbados and the CARICOM Secretariat.

‘This major CARICOM forum on reparations follows the adoption of the landmark United Nations Resolution A/RES/80/250 on 25 March 2026, which declared the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as ‘the gravest crime against humanity,’ the Secretariat said.

It said that the conference will provide practical guidance on implementing the revised CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment, while highlighting new perspectives in reparatory justice emerging from African and Caribbean political discourse.

‘It will assess global progress in the reparations movement, particularly in the context of the 25th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, and the African Union Decade for Reparatory Justice.’

In addition, the organisers said that the conference will strengthen collaboration among CARICOM, the African Union, civil society, and the global African diaspora. It aims to invigorate political, diplomatic, and community participation in the regional and international movement for reparatory justice, ensuring that the momentum for change is sustained and broadened.

The organisers said that the overarching objective of the conference is to re-energise CARICOM’s advocacy through the CRC and deepen solidarity between Africa and its diaspora.

‘A key outcome will be the adoption of a 2027-2031 Action Plan for Reparatory Justice, which will set measurable targets for joint action with partner organisations across the global African community.’

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley; CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett; and CRC Chair, Sir Hilary Beckles, will address the opening ceremony with the organisers saying that among the highlights will be a high-level session featuring CARICOM leaders, members of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, and representatives of the African Union.

The conference will also bring together CARICOM ministers responsible for reparatory justice, National Reparations Commissions and Committees, Associate Members and the United Nations. Global reparations activists from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, and Latin America will also participate, alongside scholars, civil-society leaders, cultural figures, and youth delegates.

The first two CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations were held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua d Barbados in 2013 an 2014 respectively.