Category: CANA News

President Irfaan Ali Friday said that the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, at her own request, would be proceeding on pre-retirement leave from October 27.

‘Today, Madame Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards requested my approval to proceed on pre-retirement leave with effect from Monday, October 27, 2025 and on early retirement. After due consideration, I acceded to this request’ ‘I take this opportunity to thank Madame Justice Cummings-Edwards for her long service to the Judiciary and the people of Guyana. I express my personal appreciation for her many years of public service, I wish her God’s blessings and that of the people of Guyana,’ President Ali said in a video statement released by the government’s Department of Public Information. (DPI).

Following two months of leave, Justice Cummings returned to her Chambers at the Court of Appeal this week as Chancellor of the Judiciary where Justice Roxane George had been acting in her stead.

Ali said that Justice Navindra Singh would continue to act Chief Justice and that he was earlier Friday sworn in as a member of the Judicial Service Commission.

The opposition People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is on record as expressing concerns about the political neutrality of Justice Singh.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is observing World Polio Day on Friday, urging the Americas, including the Caribbean to take decisive action to keep the region polio-free.

PAHO said that it is celebrating over three decades without wild poliovirus cases in the Americas and continues to highlight the importance of strengthening vaccination coverage to prevent a possible resurgence of this preventable disease. ‘A few decades ago, parents lived in fear for their children’s health, sudden fever, pain, muscle weakness, and sometimes permanent paralysis. That was polio, an incurable disease that could cause lifelong disability or even death,’ said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. ‘Thanks to vaccines and a tremendous collective effort, it has now been 31 years since wild poliovirus last circulated in our region. This is an extraordinary public health achievement.’

PAHO said polio affected thousands of children across the Americas until the early 1990s. In 1975, nearly 6,000 cases were reported, and the last case of wild poliovirus was detected in Peru in 1991. This milestone led to the certification of the Americas as the first region in the world to be declared polio-free in 1994.

However, PAHO said that maintaining this status requires renewed commitment and sustained action.

It noted that last year, only 83 per cent of children in the Americas received the third dose of the polio vaccine, well below the 95 per cent coverage recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure herd immunity.

It said poliomyelitis is a viral disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis, mainly in children under five years of age. Most cases are asymptomatic, but one in every 200 infections results in paralysis, and between five and 10 per cent of those affected may die due to respiratory paralysis.

PAHO said globally, polio cases have decreased by more than 99 per cent since 1988, when an estimated 350,000 cases occurred annually in more than 125 countries. It said currently, only two countries continue to have endemic circulation of wild poliovirus.

PAHO said risks remain in areas with low vaccination coverage, where vaccine-derived polioviruses can mutate and spread in unvaccinated communities, leading to outbreaks similar to those caused by wild virus. Robust epidemiological surveillance and the strategic use of a variety of vaccine formulations mitigate this risk while maintaining focus on the global eradication goal.

‘Protecting, strengthening, and following immunization program recommendations is an act of love, solidarity, and shared responsibility among governments, health workers, communities, and each of us,’ Dr. Barbosa said.

PAHO said it is urging all sectors and social actors to take decisive action to keep the Americas polio-free and that parents, caregivers, and guardians should check children’s vaccination records and visit health services if in doubt.

It is also calling on health workers and community leaders provide clear information, counter misinformation, and continue being trusted sources in their communities and that governments and decision-makers should ensure sufficient resources to strengthen national immunization programs and maintain active surveillance.

‘On World Polio Day, PAHO reaffirms its commitment to the global eradication of this disease and to protecting future generations from preventable health threats.’

The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) Friday said it remains ‘undeterred in carrying out its mandate’ after Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar said she had ‘no regard for the eat-ah-food filth in the hierarchy’ of the organization.

Persad-Bissessar was critical of the body after it issued a statement on Thursday in which it voiced its its unease over what it described as the ‘hastened and truncated’ process that led to the elevation of Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh to the position of Chief Justice on Wednesday. In its statement on Thursday, the LATT praised Boodoosingh’s ‘tremendous contribution to the nation’s jurisprudence’ and his years of dedicated service as a lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School, while also paying tribute to outgoing chief justice Ivor Archie and thanking him for his long service to the Judiciary.

But the LATT, which said that its mission is maintaining and improving the standard, conduct and proficiency of the legal profession here, expressed concern that the constitutional process which governs the appointment of a Chief Justice may not have been properly observed.

LATT said that while the appointment itself was lawful, it could not be satisfied that a ‘proper and reasonable consultation was undertaken’ between the Office of the President and the key constitutional stakeholders, namely the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, as required by Section 102 of the Constitution.

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles told reporters Friday that she remains convinced there was not sufficient consultation before the appointment of the new chief justice insisting that her issue was with the time line of the appointment, not the choice of Justice Boodoosingh to fill the post.

‘The issue is that I laid out very clearly the time frame: 6.30 in the evening while I am in Parliament to bring a letter that had some errors, 8.30 in the morning you seek to deal with that error and 2 pm you appoint. I don’t think it is unreasonable for me to say that is not sufficient consultation.

‘I don’t think anybody disputes that CJ Boodoosingh is someone that is competent. He has been a teacher at the University of the West Indies (UWI) teaching ethics. I don’t think anyone queries his qualification,’ she added.

Boodoosingh was selected and sworn in by acting president Wade Mark on Tuesday, one day after Archie announced he was retiring after 18 years in the position.

Asked by reporters to comment on the LATT statement, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said ‘I have no regard for the eat-ah-food filth in the hierarchy of the Law Association, so their comments mean nothing to me. The Law Association is a defiled and discredited organisation. It is a mouthpiece for lazy, dunce, hungry-mouth PNM(opposition People’s National Movement) senior counsel who loot the treasury’.

She defended the decision by the acting President to move ahead with the appointment of the new chief justice saying ‘Ivor Archie was appointed chief justice one day after Sat Sharma resigned in 2008. CJ Sharma resigned on January 23, 2008, and CJ Archie was appointed on January 24, 2008’.

She also said that in her letters to Mark she made it clear that she had no preference as to whom he selected as Chief Justice.

‘My letters to the acting President are clear. I had no preference,’ she said.

In its statement on Friday and signed by its President, Lynette Seebaran-Suite SC, LATT said it ‘notes the recent comments’ made by the prime minister to its statement on the appointment of the new head of the judiciary.

‘The LATT reaffirms its statutory responsibility to comment on matters affecting the administration of justice and the rule of law. In fulfilling this duty, the Association acts independently, without fear or favour, and in accordance with the highest traditions of the legal profession.

‘The Association emphasises that public discourse on legal and constitutional matters, particularly among holders of high office, should be conducted with mutual respect and regard for the institutions that safeguard our democracy.’

LATT said that it ‘values constructive engagement among all branches of the State’ and that it ‘remains undeterred in carrying out its mandate and will continue to serve the public interest by providing fair and principled guidance on issues affecting the rule of law, while maintaining the dignity befitting its role in national life’.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told public servants that they can expect to receive the payment of arrears owed to them by December.

Speaking at a town hall meeting on Thursday night, Browne, who is also Finance Minister, said that his administration intends paying also another salary increase to public servants next year, along with a planned rise in the national minimum wage. ‘I guarantee you that life is getting better for the majority of the people of Antigua and Barbuda, and we will continue to make sure that we empower the people of Antigua and Barbuda,’ he told the meeting.

‘In fact, this year we will certainly make sure we do a back pay hopefully by December for public servants. Next year you’re getting another increase again.

‘And by the way, next year, (we will) increase the minimum wage because we can’t brag that the country growing and developing and you don’t increase minimum wage, we working for you,’ Browne told meeting.

As of January 1, this year, the national minimum wage is none EC dollars (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) per hour.

Browne did not provide specifics with regards to the payment of the back pay, but said that the additional details would be revealed in the coming days.

Last month, the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association (ABPSA) had called on the government to sign the long-overdue collective bargaining agreement and resolve outstanding payment issues by mid-October, or face picket action.

The union said that the agreement has been awaiting legal review at the Establishment Division, and the delay is unacceptable given that a new negotiating period for 2024 to 2026 should have already started.

Public servants had received a 14 per cent salary increase two years ago.

A High Court judge has set November 9 next year as the date for the start of the trial of a preacher and his wife, accused of sexually molesting their child over a three year period.

Justice Renae McKay Thursday set the date for the pair, whose names have been withheld to conceal the child’s identity. They remain on bail. Prosecutors allege that the 45-year-old preacher molested his stepdaughter along with the child’s biological 42-year-old mother in New Providence.

Allegations are that the man allegedly began abusing his wife’s then-15-year-old daughter in 2022, and the molestation allegedly continued until February 10, this year.

Prosecutors say the child’s mother participated in the sexual assaults on her daughter in 2024 and 2025.

The Belize government says it intends to make public, the agreement its signed with the United States to act as a ‘safe third country’ for migrants as they seek asylum in the North American country.

Prime Minister John Antonio Briceño said the two-year deal, which still needs approval from the Belize parliament, will mean that migrants deported from the US could apply for asylum here instead of returning to their home countries. The US State Department called the agreement ‘an important milestone in ending illegal immigration’ and ‘shutting down abuse’ of the US asylum system.

The agreement applies to Central American and Caribbean nationals, except Guatemalans, and human rights groups in the US and abroad have strongly criticised such deals, saying migrants face the risk of being sent to countries where they could be harmed.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Francis Fonseca, said the document has already been shared with the clerk and Senators, insisting ‘it’s not a secret document.

‘They will be able to have that and debate it. I already made the point that there’s a process that this has to follow. We sign the agreement. But it has to be ratified by the Senate. So there will have to be tabled, it’ll have to be tabled at the Senate.

‘We’ve already sent it over to the Senate. It’ll have to be debated there. We will have to respond to any questions and concerns raised by the Senators, but there’s also another limb which will require that we amend our domestic legislation, right?’

Fonseca said, for example, the Refugees Act will have to be amended and that it will have to be taken to Parliament and ‘we will present that amended bill, and we’ll have an opportunity to debate that and discuss that.

‘So it’ll be a very open, transparent process. And then the final point is that, as I have said, and I said in my statement in the House on last Friday, this entire agreement will be underpinned by what we call operational procedures.’

He said that the signing was just the beginning of the process, and government has to finalise those operational procedures with the United States ‘and only when we have finalised that, when it has been ratified, when we have done the domestic legislation.

‘And we have finalised and agreed upon the operational procedures. Only then will the agreement take effect. So those steps have to be followed, and all of those steps will be very open and transparent.’

Fonseca said that this position is very clear in that ‘we have a statement of principles that govern our position as it relates to the operational procedures, which means that we will determine where, which countries of origin these people will come from for that.

‘In our case, it’ll be people from Central America and the Caribbean in Central America, with the exception of Guatemala, for obvious reasons. And then we will place a cap on the number of people who will be able to be transferred to Belize. And our position is that number should not be more than 10 people per annum.’

Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on social media that the agreement ‘includes strict security measures to protect Belize’s national security and sovereignty’.

‘The agreement gives Belize full authority to approve or reject transfers, limits eligibility to specific nationalities, and ensures comprehensive background checks, among other measures,’ it said.

Briceño said that for Belize it will be ‘more like a job programme, whereby people with certain qualifications can come to Belize’ and ‘participate meaningfully in our economy’.

But Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar Panton expressed ‘grave concern’ about the deal, saying it ‘could reshape Belize’s immigration and asylum systems, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers, and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security’.

She said that the agreement will take effect after ratification in the Senate and not after the debate in the House of Representative.

‘However, there are critical omissions that raise more questions than answers. Again, I wish to reiterate the lack of transparency and accountability by this Briceno administration. This has become its hallmark, the same administration who promised to establish and uphold the gold standard for transparency and accountability in government.

‘The full text of the agreement has not been disclosed. The preamble to the agreement and some of the recitals has recently been shared with members of the Senate, however, the full text, the comprehensive text, including the annexes, transitional arrangements, technical assistance and cost sharing commitments have not been disclosed. The annual cap on numerical limits also remain unknown. How many asylum seekers will Belize be accommodating?,’ she added.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is warning of the possibility for catastrophic flooding and landslide impacts particularly in Haiti and Jamaica as a near stationary Tropical Strom Melissa moves closer towards these countries.

KINGSTON -Ten former Caribbean Community (CARICOM)leaders have reiterated the need for the Caribbean to be maintained as a zone of peace, saying that they are impelled to urge a pull back from military build up to avoid ‘any dimunition of peace, stability and development within our regional space that has the potential to pull the region into conflicts which are not of our making’.

ST. GEORGE’S – Former Grenada prime minister, Tillman Thomas, Friday said he believes that the Dickon Mitchell administration will make the ‘right decision’ as it contemplates a request from the United States to temporarily install a radar at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) and the deployment of US military assets on or near the island.

BELMOPAN – The Belize government says it intends to make public, the agreement its signed with the United States to act as a ‘safe third country’ for migrants as they seek asylum in the North American country.

ST. JOHN’S – Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told public servants that they can expect to receive the payment of arrears owed to them by December.

PORT OF SPAIN – The Canadian-based world’s top potash producer, Nutrien, shut down its operations here on Thursday, even as last minute negotiations to prevent the action failed, resulting in 600 workers being sent home.

SPORTS:

BOSTON – Bahamian VJ Edgecombe began his NBA career in historic fashion with a standout performance for the Phildadelphia 76ers that led them past the Boston Celtics here on Wednesday.

The authorities Friday said they had suspended the search for a boat captain, Philippe Daniel Jules, who went missing after reportedly falling overboard while sailing from Antigua to Dominica on Tuesday night. The Coast Guard said that the boat with five crew members and six passengers, had cleared Customs here on Tuesday and was moving towards Dominica ‘and somewhere between six and ten nautical miles northeast of Guadeloupe.Jules was either struck by the mast of the sailing vessel or he fell overboard as a result of trying to avoid being struck’.

The vessel was diverted to Guadeloupe, where it remains docked as authorities carried out search-and-rescue operations across nearby waters.

But after several days of aerial and marine searches, officials have now confirmed that the effort to locate Jules has been suspended.

The Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) Coast Guard has expressed regret that official notice of the incident was received only during the early daylight hours the following morning, resulting in a delayed response and reduced likelihood of a swift recovery.

FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president, Victor Montagliani along with a six-member delegation from CONCACAF, touched down here on Friday for a one-day visit to the island.

While there, Montagliani and his team met with the Executive of the Dominica Football Association (DFA) and also paid a visit to the DFA’s Technical Centre in Stockfarm.

They also paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, where discussions were held regarding the need to work together to help develop football locally and regionally. Speaking during a welcoming reception, Montagliani said he was impressed to see the progress being made in football in Dominica.

‘.What’s really inspirational is when I come and visit my members, my football family, and see the tremendous amount of work that you do.

‘I know it’s not easy. We all know it’s difficult to keep pushing the envelope, whether its issues of infrastructure, resources, but you are moving the needle,’ Montagliani said.

‘.I see the results. Results are not about winning the World Cup or going to the World Cup, sure of course everybody wants to do that, but the reality is that what football really is, is a journey of a human experience and nothing embodies that more than your president.’

President of the DFA, Glen Etienne said the country was deeply honoured to host Montagliani and his team

‘Your leadership at CONCACAF has been outstanding and visionary under your stewardship.

‘Dominica has received tremendous support from developmental programmes and coaching education initiatives, to assistance in strengthening our competition and improving our football infrastructure,’ Etienne said.

‘You have been a true partner, one who continues to inspire us to build a football system that not only develops talent but also contributes to national pride, unity and community development.’

The main opposition Free National Movement (FNM) which has been urging the government to set a date for the next general election rather than hold a by-election, says it will decide later whether to contest the by-election set for November 24.

Earlier this week, National Security Minister, Wayne Munroe, said the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP), has already decided on Darron Pickstock as its candidate for Golden Isles constituency that had been represented by Vaughn Miller since 2017 until his death earlier this month. He will be buried on Friday. Prime Minister Phillip Davis has said he wants the PLP to regain the seat ‘to continue doing what we have been doing.

But FNM leader, Michael Pintard told reporters that the party will soon ‘make an announcement’ on whether it will contest the by-election.

‘Out of respect for our brother, Vaughn, we have been careful with the kinds of events that we have done, but we will resume on Saturday, after we’ve laid our brother to rest,’ said Pintard, who had previously called on the government to call an early general election instead of spending money on a by-election.

‘In due course we are going to make an announcement,’ Pintard said when asked if the FNM will contest the by-election.

He said Brian Brown has been working the ground for nine years, describing him as ‘a remarkable community worker.

‘People have fallen in love with him. He and his team are revving to go, and while we know that the government has a difficulty going to a general election now to ask for a new mandate, though we believe they need one, we are going to make an announcement in short order, but our people are in Golden Isles, and they are on the ground.’

Nomination Day for the by-election has been set for October 31.