Category: CANA News

The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors by nine wickets in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League Qualifier 1 at Kensington Oval here on Thursday.

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS 76 in 15 overs (Glenn Phillips 16, Shai Hope 16, Romario Shepherd 14 not out; Sufyan Moqim 4-13, Shadab Khan 4-16)

ANTIGUA and BARBUDA FALCONS 77-1 in 5.2 overs (Rahkeem Cornwall 49, Evin Lewis 23 not out, Amir Jangoo 4 not out; Imran Tahir 1-20)

The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is demanding that the Government immediately table in Parliament the full memorandum of understanding (MOU) governing the admission of Third Country Nationals (TCNs) to Jamaica.

Fitz JacksonIn a statement Thursday, the PNP said the Government’s latest update on the arrangement confirms that it is moving ahead while withholding key details from the Jamaican public.

The party in a joint statement from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and National Security and Peace announced that operating procedures and safeguards had been finalised, but provided no details on the arrangements.

According to the PNP, the Government has not disclosed how many TCNs will enter Jamaica, where they will be housed, how long they will remain, who will finance the programme or how criminal records will be verified.

Opposition spokesman on National Security Fitz Jackson said the Government was asking Jamaicans to trust an agreement that has not been made public and which, he argued, has implications for national security, communities and public services.

‘This is not an update. It is an announcement that the Government has decided and the people will be told nothing,’ Jackson said.

He also accused the Government of disregarding Parliament and democratic oversight, alleging that similar arrangements elsewhere have involved questions about payments and oversight.

The PNP is calling on the Government to publish the MOU and operating procedures, disclose all funding sources and any benefits to Jamaica, and explain the vetting process for TCNs.

The party is also demanding clarification on what would happen to the TCNs if the threshold of 10 asylum applications that would trigger suspension of the arrangement is reached.

The Opposition said Parliament should debate the agreement before any TCN arrives in Jamaica. ‘Silence is not governance,’ Jackson said.

The Ministry of Education has established an independent oversight committee to monitor the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools affected by Hurricane Melissa. The Hurricane Melissa School Infrastructure Recovery and Resilience Oversight Committee will serve as a one-year oversight mechanism aimed at strengthening accountability, quality assurance and transparency throughout the school recovery programme.

According to the ministry, the committee will provide the education minister and the public with independent assessments of the progress of recovery efforts.

Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon said the establishment of the committee forms part of the ministry’s efforts to ensure the extensive reconstruction programme is carried out with urgency, quality and accountability.

‘The scale of the work before us demands rigorous oversight. We have to ensure that what is being reported truly reflects what is actually happening on the ground, that delays and quality concerns are identified early, and that the necessary corrective action is taken quickly. The education system deserves nothing less. Our objective is straightforward: schools must be repaired and rebuilt properly, projects must move at an acceptable pace, and the public must be kept informed about the progress being made and the challenges that remain,’ she said.

The committee will receive and interrogate regular reports from the National Education Trust and the ministry’s Technical Services Unit covering project schedules, expenditure, physical progress, quality, safety, defects, risks and contractor performance. It will also undertake risk-based reviews and targeted site verification.

The ministry said that where concerns arise, the committee will be able to request additional information and corrective-action plans, monitor agreed actions through completion and engage contractors and delivery partners through the relevant contracting or technical authorities.

Material or unresolved issues may also be escalated to the minister.

Particular attention will be paid to significant safety or quality concerns, major delays, repeated contractor underperformance and discrepancies between reported project progress and conditions observed on the ground.

In addition to providing routine reports to the minister and the public, the committee will facilitate monthly briefings with representatives of key education and stakeholder groups.

These include the National Parent-Teachers’ Association of Jamaica, the Association of Principals and Vice Principals, the Ecumenical Education Committee, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors post 76 in 15 overs, after being sent in by the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League Qualifier 1 at Kensington Oval here on Thursday.

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS 76 in 15 overs (Glenn Phillips 16, Shai Hope 16, Romario Shepherd 14 not out; Sufyan Moqim 4-13, Shadab Khan 4-16)

Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean is no longer only a matter for the police. It is weakening societies, draining economies and obstructing development. It is also testing public confidence in courts, governments and democratic institutions. The figures are alarming. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reports that the region, with only about 9 per cent of the world’s population, accounts for almost one-third of all homicides. In 2021 alone, at least 89,100 people were killed with firearms.

Behind every statistic is a human tragedy: a child without a parent, a mother mourning a son, a woman trapped with an abuser, or a family driven from its community. Fear changes how people live. Children are kept indoors. Businesses close early. Witnesses remain silent. Communities retreat behind bars and locked gates.

Killings are not isolated acts. They are the visible result of a larger system involving illegal weapons, criminal finance, compromised institutions and persons who profit without approaching the scene.

For women and children, institutional failure is especially dangerous. When complaints are disregarded, investigations are delayed and protective orders are not enforced, vulnerable persons are left within reach of their abusers. Impunity then becomes an invitation to repeat the offence.

The criminal justice system is a chain. Police, prosecutors, courts, prisons and rehabilitation services are all links in it. When any link breaks, the entire system is weakened.

Public impatience is now producing open confrontation between political leaders and the judiciary. In Costa Rica, where drug-related violence has risen sharply, President Laura Fernández has accused the judiciary of being infiltrated by organised crime. Her Security Minister has said that only 38 per cent of homicides result in convictions.

Judicial authorities have denied the allegations and warned that budget reductions will further weaken their capacity. That dispute contains a lesson for the entire region. Courts cannot retain public confidence if criminal cases collapse, convictions are rare and allegations of corruption are not credibly investigated. But governments have to demand accountability while providing courts with resources and maintaining judicial independence, consistent with clear rules.

In Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne recently expressed strong concern about what he regarded as an unduly lenient judicial approach in a firearms case. His intervention reflected a wider public anxiety across the Caribbean: persons accused of serious firearms offences must be dealt with firmly and expeditiously, in accordance with law.

Criminal justice systems must demonstrate that unlawful possession and trafficking will attract consequences capable of deterring others. That requires clear laws, competent police investigations, forensic services, effective prosecution and courts equipped to dispose of cases promptly. Every part of the system must function if public confidence is to be maintained.

The 2023 Caribbean Firearms Study, jointly produced by CARICOM IMPACS and the Small Arms Survey, found that the Caribbean’s violent-death rate was almost three times the global average. Firearms were used in more than half of all homicides and, in some countries, in about 90 per cent.

Technology must also become a much stronger part of the region’s defence. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in its World Drug Report 2026, shows that land and maritime routes dominate the movement of illicit drugs by volume, depending on the substance. Caribbean seaports, airports and unofficial landing points are therefore front lines in the struggle against organised crime.

Governments should invest in cargo scanners, container-tracking and surveillance systems, automatic number-plate recognition, canine units and advance passenger and cargo information. But machinery must be supported by intelligence-led risk assessment, trained and vetted officers, secure port access and regional information-sharing. A scanner within a compromised system will detect only what criminals permit it to find.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, the direct costs of crime and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to approximately 3.4 per cent of regional GDP in 2022. That was equivalent to 78 per cent of all public spending on education across the region. Businesses lose sales, governments spend scarce resources on policing, prisons and emergency health care, and families lose income when breadwinners are killed or disabled.

Tourism and investment are not automatically destroyed by every increase in crime. But once international headlines, travel advisories and social media create an image of uncontrolled violence, tourists, airlines, insurers and investors reconsider their exposure. For small economies heavily dependent on tourism, the consequences could be unemployment, falling revenues and deeper poverty.

The guns themselves also tell only part of the story. A young man in a poor community does not manufacture an assault rifle, import ammunition, arrange international drug shipments or launder large sums of money. Someone finances these operations. Someone supplies vehicles, safe houses, communications equipment and protection. Someone converts criminal proceeds into apparently legitimate wealth.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, recently warned that the fight against crime must extend beyond street gangs to wealthy and influential persons suspected of facilitating organised criminal activity. She alleged that drug and firearms networks operate from affluent communities and that businesses and financial intermediaries may be involved in moving and laundering criminal proceeds.

Haiti shows how gangs can become economic and territorial powers when criminal finance, political protection, illegal weapons and institutional weakness converge. Ecuador shows how ports, prisons and local gangs can be absorbed into international cocaine networks. Trinidad and Tobago shows that substantial national resources offer no immunity when firearms, narcotics, gangs and illicit finance reinforce one another.

Governments cannot end this crisis by pursuing only the gunmen. Every major investigation involving gangs, drugs, firearms or contract killings should include a parallel financial investigation. Authorities must identify the beneficial owners of companies, scrutinise suspicious transactions, strengthen tax and customs enforcement, freeze criminal assets and cooperate across borders.

At the same time, justice systems must be strengthened. Police need training and forensic resources. Prosecutors require manageable caseloads. Witnesses must be protected. Courts must dispose of cases promptly and explain their decisions clearly. Judges must remain independent, but judicial independence cannot mean immunity from transparent standards of competence, integrity and accountability.

Crime is not separate from development. A society cannot achieve sustainable development when citizens are afraid, businesses are burdened by security costs, young people are recruited by gangs and courts cannot deliver timely justice.

The region must confront three connected failures: justice systems that do not deter offenders, illicit weapons that make crime more lethal, and financial systems that conceal the persons who organise and profit from it.

The gunman must be caught. But so must those who procured the weapon, financed the shipment, laundered the proceeds and corrupted the institutions that should have stopped them.

*(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also Chancellor of the University of Guyana and current Chair of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development. The views expressed are his own.)

The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines has signed a data management and protection agreement with California-based Quantum Inc., paving the way for local dasheen and hot pepper farmers to enter the United States market.

Agriculture Minister Israel Bruce and Quantum Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nack signed the agreement during a joint press conference in Kingstown on Monday. The agreement is the second of three steps toward establishing export arrangements and follows memoranda of understanding signed in Los Angeles in June. Purchase contracts between farmers and US buyers will be the final step.

California companies Happy Produce Global LLC and Seasons Farm Fresh will handle the purchase of dasheen and hot peppers respectively.

Quantum has also launched its Farm app, which field agents will use to map farms, record crops and acreage, monitor weather and provide digital support to farmers. Farmer enrolment begins this week.

Bruce said the arrangement includes a guaranteed minimum price to protect farmers from market fluctuations, with buyers able to pay more when market prices rise but not below the agreed floor when prices fall.

‘You are guaranteed a stabilised price for the lifespan of this,’ he said.

Because most farms range from two to four acres, Quantum will pool production into groups, allowing multiple farmers to fulfil individual export orders.

Nack said Quantum would not charge brokerage fees, allowing farmers to retain more of the trade value.

He said reliable farm data is critical to ensuring buyers know how much produce is being grown and when it will be available.

‘We do not have a production problem in St. Vincent,’ Nack said. ‘What is really hard is everything else around the growing.’

He said the data collected will include acreage, crops and planting information, but not personal identification.

Nack said Quantum has hired local Vincentians as field agents and will establish aggregation depots where produce will be purchased, washed, packaged and prepared for shipment.

Addressing farmer concerns about previous export initiatives, Nack said, ‘Judge us on the first order. Judge us on the first container that ships.’

Tourism Minister Kishore Shallow said expanding agricultural exports and increasing local purchases by the tourism sector could help retain more visitor spending in the country.

He said hoteliers have identified inconsistency in the quantity, quality and cost of local produce as barriers to increasing purchases from domestic farmers.

Meanwhile, Bruce said the ministry is testing cameras for pre-harvest crop monitoring and is considering an initial purchase of 1,000 units for four pilot programmes.

The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons elected to field after winning the toss against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League Qualifier 1 at Kensington Oval here on Thursday.

SQUADS

Antigua and Barbuda Falcons: Evin Lewis, Rahkeem Cornwall, Amir Jangoo (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Moeen Ali (capt), Shadab Khan, Fabian Allen, Shamar Springer, Joshua James, Sufyan Moqim, Alzarri Joseph

Guyana Amazon Warriors: Mavendra Dindyal, Glenn Phillips, Shai Hope (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Mohammad Haris, Quentin Sampson, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Joseph, Khary Pierre, Imran Tahir (capt)

Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite, Leslie Reifer

TV Umpire: Christopher Taylor

Reserve Umpire: Deighton Butler

Match Referee: Reon King

A Trans Guyana Airways aircraft skidded off the Mabaruma airstrip in Region One on Thursday morning after the pilot reportedly saw a dog running towards the runway during the aircraft’s landing roll.

Trans Guyana Airways Public communications consultant Kit Nascimento said the aircraft landed at Mabaruma at 8:15am (local time) with 12 passengers on board.

He said preliminary information revealed the plane skidded off the end of the runway.

Nascimento said the pilot, Jessica Ramcharitar, reported that the incident occurred during the landing roll. According to Ramcharitar she saw a black dog running towards the runway, causing her to brake ‘aggressively.’

The aircraft subsequently skidded off the runway and spun sideways.

Nascimento said a video of the accident was captured on a camera from the terminal building. However he said the video is not ‘well defined.’

Nevertheless, he said a ‘complete’ investigation has already started into the accident.

While the passengers were not visibly injured, 11 of them were examined at the hospital.

According to Nascimento, the aircraft suffered a ‘fair amount’ of damage, which has disabled it.

Work is under way on an $8.1-billion (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) project to reconstruct and upgrade the aircraft apron at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), as part of a major modernisation programme at the Kingston facility. The project, partly funded by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), is being undertaken by PAC Kingston Airport Limited (PACKAL), the airport operator and a subsidiary of Mexican airport company Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP).

Cemex has been contracted to reconstruct the airport’s 109,270-square-metre operational apron, where aircraft park to load and unload passengers and cargo, refuel and receive ground services.

According to PACKAL, the new, thicker concrete pavement will be designed to accommodate next-generation aircraft, including the Airbus A321neo and A321XLR. The project also includes upgrades to the airport’s storm-water drainage system.

The existing concrete surface is being demolished in sections and replaced with new concrete slabs. Construction is being carried out in eight phases to allow the airport to remain fully operational throughout the 18-month project.

During a tour of the project earlier this week, Cemex Jamaica Country Manager and Carib Cement Managing Director Jorge Martinez said the project was providing an opportunity to introduce advanced construction technology to Jamaica while trengthening the company’s partnership with PACKAL.

‘I feel very proud of this partnership,’ Martinez said.

He said the technology could also be applied to highways, rural roads and other infrastructure projects across Jamaica, while highlighting the transfer of technical expertise between Cemex and local contractors.

The project is currently supporting 154 jobs, including 56 direct and 98 indirect positions. Cemex has also engaged four Jamaican subcontractors for aggregates, machinery, haulage and electrical services.

Minister Transport Daryl Vaz, who toured the site at PACKAL’s invitation, said he was satisfied with the safety measures in place to protect workers while allowing airport operations to continue.

Vaz described the investment as a ‘state-of-the-art’ project that could enhance the airport’s capacity and relevance for the next 35 to 40 years while strengthening Jamaica’s tourism product.

‘With the specifications for this in place, we can carry this airport into the future in terms of aviation. This is significant and far-reaching,’ he said.

Vaz said the improvements form part of the concession agreement between GAP and the Government of Jamaica and commended the AAJ, Cemex and other project partners for maintaining the pace of construction despite the technical demands of the project.

‘This shows that we are moving apace with world standards. This for me is very significant,’ he said.

AAJ Chairman Dr Douglas Lindo described the project as a ‘magnificent demonstration of partnership’ between Jamaica and Mexico, while highlighting the transfer of technical skills as Jamaican workers and contractors collaborate with the international project team.

PACKAL Chief Executive Officer Hector Cortes also pointed to the skills-transfer benefits of the project, saying the company remained committed to creating value for Jamaicans and the local economy.

The Ministry of Education has established an independent oversight committee to monitor the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools affected by Hurricane Melissa. The Hurricane Melissa School Infrastructure Recovery and Resilience Oversight Committee will serve as a one-year oversight mechanism aimed at strengthening accountability, quality assurance and transparency throughout the school recovery programme.

According to the ministry, the committee will provide the education minister and the public with independent assessments of the progress of recovery efforts.

Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon said the establishment of the committee forms part of the ministry’s efforts to ensure the extensive reconstruction programme is carried out with urgency, quality and accountability.

‘The scale of the work before us demands rigorous oversight. We have to ensure that what is being reported truly reflects what is actually happening on the ground, that delays and quality concerns are identified early, and that the necessary corrective action is taken quickly. The education system deserves nothing less. Our objective is straightforward: schools must be repaired and rebuilt properly, projects must move at an acceptable pace, and the public must be kept informed about the progress being made and the challenges that remain,’ she said.

The committee will receive and interrogate regular reports from the National Education Trust and the ministry’s Technical Services Unit covering project schedules, expenditure, physical progress, quality, safety, defects, risks and contractor performance. It will also undertake risk-based reviews and targeted site verification.

The ministry said that where concerns arise, the committee will be able to request additional information and corrective-action plans, monitor agreed actions through completion and engage contractors and delivery partners through the relevant contracting or technical authorities.

Material or unresolved issues may also be escalated to the minister.

Particular attention will be paid to significant safety or quality concerns, major delays, repeated contractor underperformance and discrepancies between reported project progress and conditions observed on the ground.

In addition to providing routine reports to the minister and the public, the committee will facilitate monthly briefings with representatives of key education and stakeholder groups.

These include the National Parent-Teachers’ Association of Jamaica, the Association of Principals and Vice Principals, the Ecumenical Education Committee, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.