Category: CANA News

The Netherlands-based deepwater ocean-infrastructure expert, SBM Offshore, says it has completed a transaction with ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd, for the purchase of FPSO ONE GUYANA.

In a statement, SBM Offshore said that the agreement with the affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation, comes ahead of the maximum lease term which would have expired in August 2027.

FPSO ONE GUYANA is the fourth and largest FPSO that SBM Offshore operates in Guyana and builds on the excellent operational performance of FPSOs Liza Destiny, Liza Unity and Prosperity.

‘The transaction comprises a total cash consideration of US$2.32 billion. The net cash proceeds have been primarily used for the full repayment of the US$1.74 billion project financing and as such materially decreased SBM Offshore’s net debt position.’

SBM Offshore said that the FPSO ONE GUYANA has been on hire since August 2025 and that ‘it will continue to be operated through the integrated operations and maintenance model, combining SBM Offshore’s and ExxonMobil Guyana’s expertise and experience, and delivering outstanding operational performance.

‘The impact of the transaction will be included in the Company’s 2026 guidance as part of the Full Year 2025 Earnings release, scheduled for February 26, 2026,’ SBM Offshore said.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says ‘powerful countries’ including the United States, should take use China as an example in treating with small vulnerable countries as he praised the Asian country for its ongoing relationship with Antigua and Barbuda.

Browne, speaking at a ceremony marking the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Horse on Sunday night, said that the geopolitical shifts that have taken place within this hemisphere have resulted in countries being intimidated.

‘I think it is an example of how powerful countries should treat with small vulnerable countries. China is not intimidating us; China has never made any demands of Antigua and Barbuda to do anything that is not in our self-interest.

‘You would also recognize that above and beyond the cooperation that is taking place at the governmental level, they are also enhancing people-to-people exchanges. For example, nearly 300 Antiguans and Barbudans have been given an opportunity to travel to China to experience the Chinese culture and to seek to have a formal cultural integration and diversity,’ Prime Minister Browne told the ceremony that was also attended by Governor General, Sir Rodney Williams.

Browne said that China remains ‘very respectful’ of Antigua and Barbuda as a sovereign country despite the differences in size, adding ‘I think this is a good example of how countries, including the United States, should treat small vulnerable countries.

‘China does not have any restrictions on Antigua and Barbuda; not even visa restrictions as we now have visa-free access to China. China does not have any sanctions on Antigua and Barbuda and I think this is how small and large countries should cooperation,’ he added.

Prime Minister Browne said that given the current frosty nature of the relationship between countries, he would not be surprised if sometime in the future Antigua and Barbuda is called upon to distance itself from China.

‘I say to you this must not happen. We must continue to stand with China; if not out of gratitude, then in the interest of international cooperation,’ he said, adding that he is also mindful that there are constant shifts in the international relationship and nations fall in and out of favour from time to time.

‘What happens if we choose sides and then the parties become friends again; we would be left out in the cold,’ Prime Minister Browne said, reiterating that Antigua and Barbuda’s foreign policy mantra is ‘Friends of all, enemies of none’.

In his remarks, the Governor General spoke of the enduring relationship between the two nations, a relationship built on mutual respect, cooperation and shared aspiration for development, prosperity and friendship.

‘Antigua and Barbuda values highly its friendship with the People’s Republic of China. We appreciate the many areas of cooperation that have strengthened our ties over the years, in infrastructure, education, health, culture and people to people exchange,’ he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister, E.P Chet Greene described the friendship between the two countries as a bridge across the vast Pacific, connecting citizens here with their Chinese counterparts in the common pursuit of development and dignity.

‘We reflect with profound gratitude. The generosity of the Chinese people, mirrored in tangible cooperation, has been a catalyst for social and economic advancement across our Antiguan and Barbudan society.

‘From empowering infrastructure that connects our communities, to investments in human capital and cultural dialogue, this partnership is a cornerstone of our progress. For this steadfast collaboration, we offer our deepest and most abiding appreciation,’ Greene stated.

Chinese Ambassador, Jiang Wei, told the ceremony that last year, cooperation between China and Antigua and Barbuda had deepened.

‘Chinese float was showcased in Carnival’s parade. Agricultural experts cultivated delicious fruits and vegetable. Booby Alley Housing Project has taken shape. Nearly 300 people from Antigua and Barbuda went to China for training, and beautiful beaches in Antigua and Barbuda have attracted more and more Chinese tourists.

‘We are deeply impressed by the long-standing friendship between China and Antigua and Barbuda, and proud of the achievements of this bilateral relationship,’ the diplomat said.

President of the Chinese Association of Antigua and Barbuda Li Yucheng, who said he has been living in Antigua and Barbuda for more than 30 years said he has witnessed the relationship between Antigua and Barbuda gets stronger with each passing year.

‘Because of that relationship, we have seen the Big Creek Bridge, the Multi-Purpose Cultural Centre, the new terminal at the VC Bird International Airport and the recent developments at the St. John’s Harbour. We also have visa-free travel. I am happy to see all those developments.’

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Monday said that the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) continues to provide a strong anchor for macroeconomic stability in a shock-prone region.

The independent member countries of the ECCU are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

An IMF delegation has ended a visit to the sub-region, indicating that the post-pandemic growth has been supported by tourism and construction, while inflation has moderated in line with global trends.

‘Over the medium term, ECCU economies are expected to converge toward modest pre-pandemic average growth, with downside risks dominating amid elevated global uncertainty,’ the delegation said, adding that to manage these risks while supporting resilient long-term growth and safeguarding the quasi-currency board, policies should prioritise stronger fiscal sustainability and accountability aligned with the regional debt target, alongside measures to strengthen financial system resilience and intermediation.

It said structural reforms should focus on improving trade connectivity and competitiveness, addressing skills mismatches, enhancing regional frameworks to scale up transformative capital investment, and strengthening regional data provision to support evidence-based policymaking.

According to the IMF delegation, the ECCU region has sustained a robust post-pandemic expansion.

It said strong tourism arrivals and ongoing infrastructure investment supported regional growth at an estimated three per cent in 2025. Inflation further moderated in line with global fuel and food trends, with so far limited direct impact from shifts in United States trade policies. Fiscal outcomes, however, have lagged economic performance. With union-wide public debt reduction stalling, partially reflecting the impact of recurring external shocks, several members are increasingly at risk of not meeting the 60 per cent of gross domestic product regional public debt target by 2035.

The IMF said that the financial system remains broadly stable, but there are legacy bank balance-sheet weaknesses, and vulnerabilities in the nonbank sector, where supervision remains fragmented.

‘The ECCU’s external position is assessed as weaker than the level implied by fundamentals and desirable policies, while financing of persistently elevated current account deficits remains heavily dependent on continued foreign direct investment inflows,’ the IMF said, adding ‘nonetheless, the ECCB’s reserve position has remained stable and the currency-backing ratio high, supporting confidence in the union’.

It said looking ahead, economic momentum is expected to moderate, with risks tilted to the downside.

With tourism operating near full capacity, average regional growth is expected to slow to around 2.5 per cent over the medium term amid persistent productivity constraints, adverse demographic trends, and limited fiscal space for public investment.

‘The outlook is subject to sizeable downside risks as evolving trade and travel barriers and ongoing geopolitical tensions amplify the region’s long-standing vulnerabilities, notably its heavy dependence on tourism and imports, exposure to natural disasters, persistently high public debt, and reliance on uncertain Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) inflows,’ it added.

The IMF said that uneven progress in debt reduction underscores the need to strengthen union-wide institutional mechanisms to reinforce fiscal sustainability and resilience.

It said ECCU-wide attainment of the 60 per cent of GDP regional debt target remains elusive and increasingly at risk by the 2035 target date.

‘While this partly stems from the region’s high exposure to recurrent external shocks and sizeable social and development investment needs, it also reflects that most ECCU members have not yet operationalized national fiscal frameworks that effectively align their annual budgets with the regional debt target.

‘A union-wide, time-bound commitment to implementing such rules-based frameworks, grounded in harmonized design principles, would strengthen fiscal discipline, support sustained debt reduction, and better equip the union to navigate future shocks.’

The IMF said that this should be complemented by more robust peer reviews of members’ fiscal performance and debt reduction strategies at the ECCB Monetary Council, strengthened public accountability through the establishment of independent oversight committees, a clearer specification of the public debt target perimeter, and collaborative efforts to address data gaps and strengthen technical capacity underpinning macro-fiscal projections.

It said that deeper policy coordination would help preserve space for priority investment amid ongoing debt reduction and recurrent shock-related spending pressures.

Priorities include scaling back costly tax exemptions, especially in tourism, and strengthening social safety nets to reduce reliance on distortionary, untargeted fiscal responses to shocks. The effectiveness of the layered post-disaster financing frameworks after Hurricane Beryl in 2024 offers important lessons to strengthen the union’s collective fiscal resilience to natural disasters.

In the longer term, further centralisation of fiscal accountability, funding and risk-contingency mechanisms would future proof the union’s resilience and development prospects.

‘Over time, as sovereign funding structures mature and impose greater market discipline on public finances-including through a transition toward market-based debt issuance-moving to a centralized fiscal oversight and accountability framework would help underpin confidence.

‘This could open avenues for pooled financing to help overcome constraints stemming from members’ small scale and high vulnerability to shocks, including in rebuilding access to international capital markets. Similarly, a regional stabilisation fund could reinforce national contingency frameworks and safeguard fiscal continuity in periods of stress,’ the IMF added.

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls were dominated by the Australia Diamonds for the second straight match to concede their netball series here on Sunday.

The number one ranked Australians secured a comfortable 73-41 victory over the third ranked Sunshine Girls at Perth’s RAC Arena, to assume an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match series.

It followed Thursday’s victory by the Aussies, who romped to a 72-41 win in the opening match.

Gezelle Allison led the scoring for the Sunshine Girls with 16 goals from 18 attempts, while Simone Gordon added 13 from 19. Captain Shanice Beckford finished with 11 from 15 and Kestina Sturridge chipped in with one from one.

Australia took charge from the opening whistle, rushing out to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended their advantage to 15 (35-20) by the half.

The hosts control the contested thereafter, outscoring Jamaica 19-13 in the third period to take a commanding 54-33 lead heading into the final quarter.

Sunshine Girls head coach, Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright pointed to a slow start as a major factor behind the heavy defeat.

She, however, maintained that the team had made some progress from the first game.

‘I think the girls gave a much better performance than they did in game one, but we still fell short of the objectives that we set out for in this game.

‘We really wanted to hit some scoring marks for our quarterly scores but, unfortunately, we didn’t meet those targets. We really wanted to limit Australia to under 15 goals in each quarter and we only achieved that once,’ Henry-Wright said.

‘We also wanted to score more goals than we did in the first game, but I think our start is an issue and we definitely want to work harder on that.’

The Suriname Association of Journalists (SVJ) has implemented its first ever accreditation badges to professional journalists in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country that it says is ‘a huge step for Surinamese journalism’.

SVJ president, Naomi Hoever said that the initiative is intended to help protect and maintain journalistic standards, especially at a time when press freedom and trust in the media are under pressure.

‘This step is in line with that. It shows that we, as a profession, are taking responsibility,’ she told the ceremony on Sunday night.

‘In the past, there was less proliferation. However, in recent years, we’ve seen a lot of people consider themselves journalists, so as an association, we had to draw the line somewhere,’ Hoever said, noting that although the SVJ has been in existence for 35 years, this is the first time a formal accreditation system has been introduced.

The accreditation badges are the result of more than three and a half months of intensive work by the Accreditation Preparatory Committee, and at the inaugural phase only members of the SVJ were accredited.

‘The profession is bound by rules and standards that have been agreed upon worldwide. With this accreditation, we give professional journalists a seal of approval that makes it clear: these people work according to those rules,’ Hoever said.

‘When something goes wrong, the entire profession gets a bad name, while sometimes it’s just people who aren’t journalists, but just happen to be holding a microphone’ she said, noting that with the accreditation system, the SVJ therefore explicitly wants to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff.’

The accreditation is primarily aimed at members of the SVJ with a key criterion being that journalism must be the primary profession.

‘You can’t have a side job where journalism is a side issue. It has to be your primary source of income,’ Hoever said, describing the introduction of accreditation as ‘a huge step for Surinamese journalism’.

President of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), Harvey Panka, who is also a SVJ member, said the ‘SVJ is one of many ACM members, but organizations that last 35 years are not often seen,.

‘We see organizations come and go. The fact that the SVJ has survived through it all deserves respect,’ he said, praising the association’s role in informing society and continuing to train journalists.

Whenever it is Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, there must be some form of controversy.

And this time, the Archbishop of Port of Spain, Jason Gordon, is urging the members of the public to make their positions known after one of the popular masquerade bands has decided to hand out an adult sex toy in the carnival goodie bags given to women masqueraders.

The Archbishop, speaking at a daily service at the Archbishop’s Chapel, said the Tribe Carnival band has pushed the envelope too far and that carnival has reached a level of ‘hedonism’ .

He said citizens may have to call on the government to intervene. Watch video

The Roman Catholic Church leader said that two years ago when he wrote the book ‘Rekindling our Carnival Rhythms’, tracing the history of carnival from before slavery it reflected the social history of the twin island republic.

‘Whereas I started to write a rant about what was happening, I realised there were so many beautiful pieces of Carnival – you know, the Canboulay Riots, the Dimanche Gras show, the pan, the Moko Jumbies. There are so many amazing things about Carnival, so many amazing things.’

But Archbishop Gorn said that last year he wrote another book in which he selected seven songs from the 2025 Carnival to show how they tell a story of nation-building, unlike anything he said he had seen before in his life.

But he said said that if there is a covenant of love between the people and the city, then society must also be push back against carnival when it is going astray.

‘The only times actually Carnival evolved into more artistic forms is when it got pushed back. For many years, two or three decades now, Carnival has been encroaching, encroaching, encroaching – not all of it. I want to be real clear: I’m talking about Carnival Monday and Tuesday, and I am talking about the fete industry, and I am talking about an industry.

‘It is owned by one or two people, and most of our big bands that are pushing hard in the wrong direction are owned by one or two people. This is business. They are no longer where people used to gather and make Carnival costumes as a community and celebrate as a community and have community. No, this is big business – very big business.’

The Archbishop said that this year that Tribe Carnival has gone too far, saying ‘just as I have asked the government to regulate social media for the sake of our children, if Tribe cannot pull back on its own, I think the government would have to regulate it. Hashtag Tribe gone too far,.

‘If you think that Tribe has gone too far, you know where their Facebook is and you know where their website is. Please – handing an adult sex toy to every female buying a costume – hashtag Tribe gone too far,’ Archbishop Gordon said, adding that a small number of people were responsible for creating events that corrupt the youth.

‘Our country is not for sale and our young people are not for sale. We, the good citizens of this beautiful country, have to start putting guardrails for our children.’

The Trinidad and Tobago-born Roman Catholic Archbishop said he is a lover of carnival and ‘last week I was in Renegades (Steel band).

‘I love Carnival. I go to all the pan sides. There is so much beauty about this Carnival that has come from the bowels and belly of our nation. But what we are seeing here is big business, like what happened in the newspapers where you have to sensationalise to get people to come back again and again, and you have to take that sensation up and up and up. Hashtag has gone too far,’ Gordon said.

But he insisted that the country has to stop this descent.

‘We have to stop. We have to stop this. We have to dial it back. We have to bring Carnival back to what it has always been: a celebration of the life, vitality, and creativity of Trinidad and Tobago.

‘Whatever happens in Trinidad Carnival goes to Barbados, it goes to Grenada, it goes to St Vincent, it goes all up the islands. We cannot be the people exporting this level. What we have now reached to is hedonism. That is where we are. We have to dial this back, and if the company is unwilling to dial it back, then the citizens have to ask the government to put regulations.

‘So one way or the other, we have to do something different. We have been heading down the wrong road here. Now let’s pull back. Let’s get back to safety for our young people who want to play Carnival, safety for our young people who want to enjoy this great festivity that we have. Amen,’ Archbishop Gordon said.

But in defending the Tribe’s decision to include the adult toy in the goodie bag, the chief executive officer of Tribe Carnival, Dean Ackin told the Trinidad Express newspaper ‘You know Tribe- we’ve never been afraid to lead from the front.’

Ackin said the idea originated during a discussion about giving roses (the flower) for Valentine’s Day, coinciding with Carnival Saturday this year.

‘We also recognise that in business, it’s the personal touch that matters.

‘Carnival is about freedom, expression, fun and a little mischief, and as pioneers of the modern mas experience, we’re always looking for ways to keep things fresh, playful and memorable,’ he said.

Ackin said that over the years, Tribe has built its reputation on innovation and pushing the boundaries of what a Carnival band can be.

‘We don’t just deliver costumes and drinks-we deliver an experience. And if that experience occasionally comes with a cheeky surprise that keeps people smiling and talking, well.that’s very much on brand for us,’ Ackin said, adding ‘the reaction so far has been exactly what you’d expect: laughter, excitement and plenty chatter. Our masqueraders understand that with Tribe, there’s always an element of joy, pleasure and unforgettable memories-to keep them coming again and again,’ he said.

The Rose is a palm-sized, clitoral suction toy that’s shaped like a flower.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) will from Tuesday host a three day Africa-Caribbean Higher Education summit that it says marks a key moment for higher education partnerships between the two regions.

The event will be held under the theme ‘Bridging Continents, Building Futures,’ and the organisers said that it marks a historic engagement between the UWI and the umbrella organisation, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), ‘signalling the deepening of higher education partnership between Africa and the Caribbean’.

They said the initiative is aimed at strengthening collaboration in research, innovation, leadership development, and global impact, while advancing a shared vision for South-South cooperation in higher education.

UWI said that the summit underscores its commitment to global engagement, regional leadership, and meaningful Africa-Caribbean partnership, advancing higher education as a driver of shared development and transformation.

‘This summit brings together senior university leaders from the two sides of the Atlantic for a purposeful exchange. Through a series of high-level working sessions, we are exploring practical pathways for collaboration and leadership that transform our shared heritage and complementary strengths into concrete, time-bound initiatives for global impact,’ said UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Mona Campus, Professor Densil Williams, as well as Sir Hilary and Mrs. Bintu Bwala Ekikor, Chargé d’Affaires for the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Jamaica and Professor Andrew Haruna, Secretary General and head of the CVCNU delegation will address the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Police have detained two people following a high speed chase that netted more than 18 pounds of cocaine on Sunday.

The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) said several of its vehicles were damaged during the operation and that a box containing the 18.135 pounds of cocaine had been found after it was hurled out of the car being chased.

CANU said that two people, including Shaquille Gordon, who was driving the car and and Ravindranauth Persaud, the driver of a minibus were detained. CANU did not specify the role minibus driver was involved.

But it said when they attempted to intercept the car, the driver fled the scene at high speed, prompting anti-drug agents to chase that vehicle.

‘During the chase, the driver attempted to evade the officers, resulting in a collision involving several CANU vehicles,’ it said, adding that the motor vehicle was subsequently intercepted at at an intersection in the capital and that Gordon was the lone occupant at the time.

CANU said as its officers were pursuing the car they observed a brown cardboard box being thrown from the said motorcar.

‘Several officers stopped to retrieve the box, while others continued the pursuit, and they later showed the car driver and the bus driver the box.

‘The brown cardboard box recovered during the pursuit was shown to the suspects at the scene. A search of the box was conducted in their presence, during which seven brick-like parcels, suspected of being cocaine, were discovered,’ CANU added.

Gordon and Persaud were taken to CANU headquarters where the brick-like objects were tested positive for cocaine. CANU gave no street value for the drugs.

The Dominica government says with the exception of three primary schools, teachers at government-assisted schools are not public servants and that the ‘handling of salary payments is managed by the respective school authorities’.

The Roosevelt Skerrit administration made the statement indicating that it wanted to clarify the situation ‘in the interest of accuracy and public understanding’ following the circulation of a letter by staff of one of the island’s main secondary schools, the St. Mary’s Academy earlier this month.

Teachers had staged a brief industrial action on February 2, after salaries for January failed to be disbursed by the Ministry of Education. They said the protest was intended to highlight what they describe as long-standing inequitable treatment of educators at government-assisted schools.

According to a formal statement issued by the staff, salaries that were once reliably paid on time have faced persistent delays since December 2018.

The teachers said the issue is not unique to St. Mary Academy but affects assisted-school educators island-wide. They warned that late payments create financial hardship, leaving teachers unable to meet obligations such as loan repayments, which often incur penalties and additional interest charges.

‘The payment of salaries at the last hour-or after the end of the month-should not be normalized,’ the statement read, noting that teachers at assisted schools remain excluded from the timely arrangements afforded to other educators.

They said that while some public officers receive salaries in advance of national holidays such as Creole Day and Christmas, assisted-school teachers are consistently disadvantaged.

They said despite the challenges, St. Mary Academy has achieved a strong academic record, with consistent 100 per cent pass rates in several subjects and frequent top rankings both nationally and regionally.

‘Government-assisted schools operate as independent institutions and receive a monthly grant from the Government to assist with the payment of staff salaries,’ the statement said, adding that with the exception of the three primary schools ‘teachers at Government-assisted schools are not Government employees, and the handling of salary payments is managed by the respective school authorities.

‘Notwithstanding, through the Ministry of Finance, Government maintains an established practice of ensuring that grants to government-assisted schools are paid no later than the last business day of each month, once all requirements are met.

‘While staff employed at these schools are not public officers, the Government has consistently supported them through the salary grants and the facilitation of salary increases and back-pay, including the recent three per cent and two per cent adjustments negotiated with the Dominica Association of Teachers.’

The government said that it recognises the ‘important role played by government-assisted and private schools in the national education system’ and that as independent institutions receiving government assistance, ’employers are encouraged to collect grants promptly once they become available to facilitate timely payment to staff.

‘The Government of Dominica remains committed to supporting education across all sectors and encourages continued dialogue and cooperation to ensure that concerns are addressed constructively and in the best interest of students and teachers.’

Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy Antoine said the February 13 meeting of the ECCB’s Monetary Council will further discuss an initiative aimed at doubling the economies of member states.

He said that the Council will deliberate on ‘The Big Push Initiative,’ which ‘is a call for a decade of transformative actions that will double the GDP (gross domestic product) of the economies of the ECCU (Eastern Caribbean Currency Union) and elevate the quality of life of the people of ECCU’.

The ECCU groups the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Montserrat.

Antoine said that Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Gaston Browne, will present the Report on Monetary and Credit Conditions in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) at the meeting.

The Council will also receive the reports from the Technical Core Committee on Insurance, Eastern Caribbean Asset Management Corporation and the Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The Monetary Council is the highest decision-making body of the ECCB, consisting of the eight Ministers for Finance from ECCB member countries.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank was established in October 1983 .