Category: CANA News

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) says four regional countries have signed on to the agreement formalising their membership in the 22-year-old institution, inaugurated here in March 2003.

The CRFM said that Anguilla, The Bahamas, Dominica, and Montserrat signed the agreement during the recently held Caribbean Week of Agriculture in St. Kitts and Nevis.

‘Currently, there are 17 member states of the CRFM that have been actively involved in the effective management of the organization. The CRFM prides itself on meeting the needs of its members with the available resources,’ said CRFM executive director, Dr. Marc Williams.

‘When attracting resources to support the implementation of our work program and alleviate the financial burden on member states, the CRFM is frequently asked about its governance framework.’

He said that the CRFM has in the past adopted several key policies to improve its governance framework, including the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP), which enables participating states to collectively undertake the scientific research and studies necessary to determine the status of fish stocks, determine available fishing opportunities, and develop rational harvest strategies and fisheries management plans to ensure optimum sustainable use of the resources and protect the ecosystems.

In addition, the Personal Data Protection Policy ensures that the roles and responsibilities of employees of the CRFM Secretariat are clearly defined, understood, and followed by all employees, and which provides procedural guidance on how the CRFM Secretariat and its governance bodies will implement the Policy;.

The other policies implemented are the Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy and the Whistleblower Policy.

Williams said that the CRFM is making a conscious effort to ensure that its initiatives are gender-sensitive and considerate of the needs of youth and indigenous peoples.

The London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Wednesday said that it has officially launched the Commonwealth Model Law on Digital Trade designed to modernise trade rules, strengthen competitiveness, and drive inclusive growth in the digital economy.

In a statement, it said that the launch took place in Jamaica during the Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s (CTU) late last month.

‘The launch in the Caribbean is not the end, but the start of a new phase of action. The Commonwealth Secretariat has committed to supporting member states through a regional pilot programme that encourages peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and cooperation between member states.

‘In addition, work has begun on the development of regional digital trade roadmaps to promote interoperability of laws across borders, strengthen regional economic corridors, and integrate supply chains into global networks,’ the statement said.

It said that the model law is accompanied by an implementation guide and aligns with te Commonwealth Secretariat’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which aims to boost economic resilience across its member countries.

‘The Commonwealth Model Law on Digital Trade responds to the reality that most existing trade laws were designed for a paper-based economy, while many of today’s businesses operate digitally, across jurisdictions, and in real-time. Part of the appeal of the Commonwealth’s role is that its 56 member countries already trade with each other, and many of those countries also share a common legal system,’ the statement said.

The Secretariat noted that the model law saves time and cost for legislative drafters by providing an easily customisable template that can accommodate adaptation to local context as well as existing legislation and regulations.

‘It provides governments with a harmonised framework to legally recognise electronic communications, contracts, signatures, and transferable digital records. Once implemented, businesses can replace outdated, manual processes with faster, cheaper, and more secure digital trade systems.’

Adviser and head of the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Rajiv Babooram, said digital trade does not succeed on technology alone.

‘It requires trust, certainty, and legal frameworks that make an electronic document as valid as one printed and stamped, a digital signature as enforceable as one written by hand, and an online transaction as secure as one done face-to-face. Legal reform is not an option; it is the foundation on which our digital economy must be built.’

Minister of Public Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Domestic Transport, Information, Communication and Technology and Posts in St Kitts and Nevis, Konris Maynard, in endorsing the model law, cited the efficiency gains for the government and the enhanced global competitiveness for his country’s businesses.

‘I am happy to advise that St Kitts and Nevis will be the first country in the Caribbean to pilot the Commonwealth Model Law on Digital Trade, and we are looking forward to paving the way ahead for regional alignment’.

For his part, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Melford Nicholas, said the ‘Caribbean region holds significant potential for innovative, bankable business ideas and we need is for MSMEs to be able to reach international markets.

‘To make this happen we must put in place the legal framework that creates a business-friendly environment by reducing compliance costs and seamless processing of transactions, by companies large and small, to reach global markets.’

The Commonwealth Secretariat said that the economic case for adoption is compelling. The updated Quantitive Analysis of the Move to Paperless Trade Report shows that full implementation of digital trade frameworks across the Commonwealth could generate up to US$1.2 trillion in efficiency and growth gains by 2026, including US$90 billion in additional intra-Commonwealth trade.

For businesses, particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), legal modernisation translates into faster transaction times, reduced compliance burdens, and access to new markets.

Real-world examples prove the business case. In jurisdictions that have reformed similar laws, transaction times have been reduced from months to hours, costs have dropped by as much as 80 per cent and productivity has increased by 60 per cent, it added.

The Jamaica government is offering a two million dollar (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) reward for information leading to the arrest and charge of those responsible for Sunday night’s mass shooting in Commodore, Linstead that left five people including a ouryear-old school child, dead.

National Security and Peace Minister Dr. Horace Chang, made the announcement during a visit to the community, where a 48-hour curfew has been imposed ending at 6.00 pm (local time) on Wednesday.

Chang described the act as ‘reprehensible,’ expressing sympathy for the grieving families and vowed justice.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness meeting with relatives and family members of those killed on Sunday night

He has assured that the police are pursuing the perpetrators and urged citizens to unite against violence.

The police say during the hours of the curfew, persons within the boundaries of the curfew are required to remain indoors unless otherwise authorised by the person in charge of enforcing the curfew

Police said that nine people were shot and that Shannon Gordon, a student of Rosemount Primary and Infant School, was among those killed.

The lawmen said that several men, some reportedly wearing police-style vests, descended on the premises along Commodore main road, shouting ‘police,’ before opening fire on those in the yard.

The police have named the others killed as Mario Sullivan, 42, Jushane Edwards, 19, Iysha Washington, 39, a vendor, and 22-year-old security guard Famous Amos.

The police said that the location where the shootings took place, is not unfamiliar to them, having been visited on multiple occasions in the past due to ‘long-standing issues and challenges’.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who visited the community south east of here, said he wanted to ‘personally express to the family members my own personal, sincere and deep condolences on this very tragic incident.

‘I am hoping for the speedy recovery of those who were injured in this gruesome unwarranted attack. I am also here to assure the families and loved ones of the victims that the Jamaican state and government will support them through this very difficult time,’ Holness said.

Jamaica has recorded 522 murders for the period January to October 4, as compared with 883 for the same period, according to figures released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

The figures show a 40.9 per cent decline in murders in the country.

Police are searching for the father of a 13-year-old secondary school girl after her body was found Tuesday in a burnt-out refrigerator, less than four days after she had been reported missing.

Student Santina Sergeant, whose body was found in a burnt out refrigerator

‘We are currently looking for her father Mr Lawrence Sergeant who we believe at this point can assist in our investigation,’ said Superintendent Carey Duncan, head of the Manchester Poloce station.

The police said that Santina Sergeant, a student od the Christiana High School, had been reported missing last Friday and that officers while carrying out a search of the area stumbled upon the body in an advanced state of decomposition.

She had been reported missing by her father.

President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, says for the Caribbean region, climate finance isn’t just about development, it is existential.

‘The scale of financing we need to build resilience and recover from disasters is enormous. But here is the risk: as climate finance flows increase, so do opportunities for corruption. For CDB and our Borrowing Member Countries (BMC), this creates a double imperative.

‘We must secure climate finance, and we must ensure it’s deployed with integrity. Any governance failures could jeopardise our access to future resources, access our region desperately needs. Strong accountability frameworks aren’t optional; they are prerequisites for survival,’ Best told delegates attending the 22 nd annual meeting of the Independent Accountability Mechanisms Network (IAMNet).

CDB President, Daniel Best, addressing the three day 22nd annual meeting of the Independent Accountability Mechanisms Network (IAMNet).

The meeting, which ends on Thursday, has brought together accountability professionals from development finance institutions worldwide. It is being organised in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) and the Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.

Participants include representatives from the World Bank, IDB, IFC, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international finance institutions.

IAMNet was established to strengthen cooperation among independent accountability mechanisms and promote best practices in addressing complaints related to development projects. Member mechanisms provide platforms for communities and individuals affected by development projects to raise concerns about environmental and social harm.

In his address, Best told the conference that beyond climate vulnerability, the Caribbean is also exceptionally hazard-prone.

‘Between hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions, our countries face catastrophe year after year. Given our susceptibility to natural disasters, we must ensure that when hazards strike, our response does no harm.

‘Many of us are still scarred by what happened in one of our BMC after a natural hazard impact. Some of those sent to provide aid and assistance instead committed atrocious harm against the country’s citizens, including the most vulnerable.

‘The accountability failures there were not administrative lapses, they were moral catastrophes that betrayed the fundamental trust upon which all humanitarian and development work depends. This is precisely the kind of failure that robust accountability mechanisms exist to prevent and address.’

Best said that the region is also facing severe economic challenges, noting that the small, open economies, massive debt burdens, and limited fiscal space leave regional countries with zero room for error.

‘Every development dollar must count. There is no cushion for waste and no margin for corruption. When a project fails because of corruption or poor safeguards, that is not just a number on a report, it is a clinic that would not be built, teachers who would not be hired, young people who won’t get scholarships, roads that would not be constructed,’ Best said, adding ‘in the Caribbean, accountability is not a luxury. It is survival’.

Best recalled that the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres had recently issued a stark warning that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are ‘alarmingly off track’ describing the statement as ‘an emergency declaration.

‘Less than 20 per cent of SDG targets will be achieved by 2030. Nearly half are moving too slowly. Eighteen per cent are actually regressing. Think about what that means, not in statistics, but in lives.

‘Progress against poverty, inadequate. The fight against hunger, too slow. Climate action, grossly insufficient. Children waiting for schools that would not be built. People waiting for health services that would not come.’

Best said that this sobering reality is proof that ambition alone is not enough and that progress must be tracked, measured, and backed by accountability.

‘No doubt this is why, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, the resolution stated that ‘a robust, voluntary, effective, participatory, transparent and integrated follow-up and review framework will make a vital contribution to implementation and will help countries to maximise and track progress in implementing this Agenda in order to ensure that no one is left behind’.

He said the UN General Assembly understood that accountability mechanisms are not obstacles to the SDGs, but enablers.

‘Regional and global mechanisms like yours act as force multipliers for national efforts. This is absolutely critical because the painful truth is that between 10 and 30 per cent of development resources leak away to corruption, to mismanagement, to non-compliance.

‘And let me be clear about who pays the price: it’s always the vulnerable. The widow who can’t access support. The community displaced. The young person denied opportunity

That is unacceptable. And this is why your work, the work of Independent Accountability Mechanisms,is not peripheral to development. It is foundational’.

Best said that the true roles of the IAMs are the systems that make development work, adding that ‘development finance is built on trust. Governments trust us with their sovereignty. Communities trust us with their futures. Taxpayers trust us with their contributions. That trust is sacred.

‘Hence.IAM professionals are the guardians of that trust. You ensure that resources reach the people who need them, projects do no harm, communities have a voice, and when things go wrong, those responsible must answer.

‘But IAMs are more than compliance tools. They are vehicles for institutional learning. Complaints reveal gaps we can close. Investigations uncover systemic issues we can fix. Cases offer opportunities for improvement. Your efforts turn mistakes into course corrections.’

He said that the CDB’s commitment to accountability has been embedded ‘in who we are and how we work.

‘Accountability, Integrity, and Transparency are among our core values. In 2015, we established our Office of Integrity, Compliance and Accountability (ICA) as an operationally independent office covering five functions: institutional integrity, ethics, accountability through our Projects Complaints Mechanism, compliance, and whistleblowing’.

Best told his IAMNet colleagues that they are not just accountability professionals, sang ‘you are guardians, guardians of trust, of resources, of promises made to real people. You are guardians of sustainable development itself, which means you are guardians of your fellow citizens.

‘The next era of development finance will be defined not by the scale of resources we mobilise, but by the effectiveness of those resources in changing lives. You are central to that effectiveness.

‘As we face the urgent reality of off-track SDGs, shrinking aid budgets, intensifying climate disasters, and rising public skepticism, accountability mechanisms offer the pathway to restore trust and drive results.

‘Let us build a development finance system where every dollar reaches its intended purpose, every voice is valued, every institution learns continuously, and every community can hold us accountable. This is the infrastructure of trust. This is accountability as transformation. This is how we ensure that the people we serve can truly thrive,’ he added.

Homeland Security Minister, Roger Alexander, said Tuesday that the government is moving to remove rogue prison officers from the system adding that some of these officers have been assisting criminal elements now in custody.

Alexander said that steps are being taken to rid the prison service of these rogue officers with the involvement of the Police Commissioner, Allister Guevarro, and the Attorney General, John Jeremie.

Homeland Security Minister, Roger Alexander

‘Intelligence driven strategic systems would be put in place in order to deal with that whole situation because, I will tell you this much there is a very large, according to the intelligence unit in Trinidad and Tobago, a very large portion of prison officers who.have already been identified.

‘Persons who support this type of behaviour coming from the nation’s prisons and to a greater extent the gang and crime syndicate that has overwhelmed our prison for a number of years, we have spoken to the Police Commissioner and his intelligence team and also the Attorney General, other legal arms of government as to what is the next move we can make to get rid off and eradicate those persons.they are offering no type of assistance to their colleagues, to the institution or even to the prisoners,’ Alexander said.

On Monday, acting The acting Commissioner of Prisons, Hayden Forde, Monday said that drone drop offs were contributing significantly to contraband reaching the prison walls, and is also blaming some prison officials for being part of the criminal activities.

Forde, speaking on a television programme here, said the use of the devises had become a major challenge even as the authourities attempt to intercept them and that something needs to be done urgently.

‘The greatest challenge that we face on a daily basis would be drone flights. Drone flights take place every single day.and because there is that open air we are unable to properly treat with those drone drops.

‘So, the criminal realise that that’s a weak spot and they are actually using that to their advantage. Despite that we have officers who are intercepting some of those drops (and) they have been able to curtail some of th contraband they are trying to get into our prison system, but the vast majority, obviously based on the flight patterns.we have not been able to intercept.

The Acting Prison Commissioner said that between April and October this year, there have been more than 600 drone drops with the most popular spot being at the Maximum Security Prison, at Arouca, east of here.

The Homeland Security Minister, a former senior police officer, said this issue will be addressed in a matter of weeks.

‘At this time, we have engaged persons from outside of Trinidad and Tobago. They will be here in a couple days with the type of technology that we should be proud of with respect to what is happening at the nation’s prisons as it relates to the drones.

‘He has already sent to me a number of items that I must choose from with respect to the drones,’ Alexander said, adding that he would be involving the persons responsible for treating with that situation.

‘So that should be dealt with before the end of November.if not sooner because that to mee is of paramount importance. This war against crime and criminality, especially coming from the nation’s prisons’.

In a powerful address to the region’s tourism leaders, Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Chris Dehring issued a stark challenge, calling on airlines and hotels that profit from the sport to finally ‘pull their weight’ and provide crucial financial support.

CWI CEO Chris Dehring (c) addressing the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Barbados.

Speaking at the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC), Dehring laid out the uncomfortable truth that while West Indies cricket has pumped over $200 million into the Caribbean tourism economy over the last 15 years, it has received almost nothing in return from the sector.

‘We’ve spent US$82.5 million on airlift over the last fifteen years, but received zero dollars in sponsorship from airlines,’ Dehring stated, highlighting a relationship he described as ‘one-sided.’ ‘It is not fair to the development of our sport.’

The financial figures presented were staggering: US$82.5 million spent on airlift for teams and officials. US$120 million spent on hotel accommodations across the region.

Despite this massive injection of cash, Dehring revealed that sponsorship from the tourism sector has been virtually non-existent, with one notable exception: Sandals Resorts International.

He praised Sandals for setting ‘the benchmark for meaningful support,’ while pointing out that the rest of the regional hotel sector has failed to follow their lead.

‘The truth is, the rest of the regional hotel sector has never matched their example,’ Dehring said.

The CWI CEO framed this not as a plea, but as a necessary conversation for the survival of the game. He argued that tourism reaps tremendous benefits from cricket, driving visitor arrivals, filling hotel rooms, and strengthening the Caribbean brand-while CWI is left to shoulder the entire financial burden.

‘This is not about shifting responsibility. It is about acknowledging that CWI as an organisation cannot do it alone,’ Dehring stressed. ‘Shared investment is critical at this juncture for future-proofing our beloved game.’

In a major push to strengthen the pipeline of Caribbean cricket talent, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has kicked off a second round of essential coaching courses across the Leeward Islands and St. Vincent.

The initiative is a critical part of CWI’s strategy to build a deep and qualified pool of coaches, preparing for the restart of primary school and community grassroots programmes.

Course Instructors Brendon Ramlal (left) and Keshava Ramphal (second right) with participants at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua.

The training will equip local coaches with the skills needed to nurture the next generation of stars.

The sessions began on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda.

The programme will now move through the region, with stops scheduled for Montserrat (Oct. 5), the British and US Virgin Islands (Oct. 7), St. Maarten and Anguilla (Oct. 10), and a final session in St. Vincent on October 30th.

CWI’s Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, emphasised the long-term importance of the investment in coaching.

‘Investing in coaching education at this early stage is essential to building a solid foundation for the growth and future sustainability of the sport in the region,’ Bascombe stated. ‘By equipping coaches with the right tools and knowledge, we are creating a more inclusive and sustainable cricket pathway.’

Bascombe highlighted that flagship development programmes like the Republic Bank Limited (RBL) Five for Fun Cricket and the Girls Under-16/19 Territorial Cricket Hubs will directly benefit from this newly trained cohort of coaches.

The courses are being led by two highly qualified coaches from Trinidad and Tobago, Brendon Ramlal and Keshava Ramphal. Both Level 3 certified and with extensive backgrounds in education, they bring over a decade of experience in age-group cricket development.

In a key move for player safety, CWI mandated that all participating coaches complete the online UNICEF Child Protection Course and a virtual Cricket Safeguarding Workshop before beginning their training. This ensures every coach is prepared to provide a safe and supportive environment for young players.

This latest series of courses builds on a successful first round that engaged over 150 participants in territories including Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, signalling CWI’s sustained commitment to rebuilding the sport from the ground up.

The Belize government says it is seeking legal advice to determine who should be held responsible for the death of a 25-year-old welder last weekend after a ‘training bomb’ he thought was a decoration, exploded.

Jose Valencia,25, had been hired to weld two hooks onto the side of what he was told were decorative training bombs. Valencia had been hired by former parliamentary representative for the San Jose Nuevo Palmar Village, northwest of here, Dave Burgos, to weld the hooks.

However, the bomb was not just for decoration and proved to be extremely deadly when it was set off while Valencia was carrying out his work.

Home Affairs Minister, Kareem Musa, said the police are combing through Belize’s laws to determine what, if any, charges can be levied. He is also questioning whether the British military will take any responsibility for leaving behind these deadly devices in Belize.

‘That is something that we will have to get legal guidance on in terms of responsibility, how it is that Mr. Burgos even came into possession of these things. Because like I mentioned and as it turns out, extremely dangerous to have in your possession, something like that. So we will have to look at the legal options,’ Musa said.

The government had earlier issued a statement indicating that an unexploded and exploded ordnance (UXO) found last week in San Jose Nuevo Palmar Village was a ‘training bomb’ and that the general area was once used as a training ground, ‘and therefore, similar findings may occur’.

It said that the UXO was identified as a MK1, General Purpose Medium Capacity/ Aircraft Bomb and that it was ‘confirmed to be a training bomb.

‘These MK1 General Purpose Medium Capacity Bombs are typically armed with TNT; however, this particular training bomb contained only a ‘spotting charge.’ This charge serves as an exploder, producing a small explosion to mark the point of impact during training exercises,’ the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security said.

Assistant Superintendent of Police, Stacy Smith, said that the police department in connection with the Belize Defense Force (BDF) ‘who is the primary experts as it relates to identifying and categorizing what exactly the device is are in dialogue and we are reviewing the Dangerous Goods Act to the determine what, if any, charges can be brought in light of what the expert opinion as to what exactly that material is.

‘Further to that, a file is being compiled.and that will be forwarded to the office of the DPP for the directives there from,’ she added.

Media reports said that Burgos had three bombs in his possession and following the explosion, members of the BDF were able to safely defused the other two.

Burgos said he thought they were harmless training props meant for decoration.

The ministry said that the explosion caused by the UXO created a crater measuring approximately three feet wide and two inches deep.

‘The Ministry wishes to advise the public that this general area was once used as a training ground, and therefore, similar findings may occur.’

The ministry said that the BDF Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, which serves as the national expert authority in such matters, emphasises that ‘if any person encounters a suspected UXO, do not touch, move, or tamper with it, immediately report the finding to the Belize Defence Force so that the ordnance can be safely disarmed and removed’.

The World Bank Tuesday said that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continues its efforts to reignite growth and create more and better jobs, but progress remains constrained.

The Washington based financial institution said that the regional growth rate is expected to edge up slightly, from 2.2 percent in 2024 to 2.3 per cent this year, even as many individual economies face downward revisions in their projections

It said that these adjustments reflect, in part, an external environment that offers limited support, shaped by a cooling global economy, falling commodity prices, and greater uncertainty.

According to the World Bank, monetary authorities in the region continue to manage inflation competently, but the ‘last mile’ is proving longer and rockier than expected.

It said interest rates in advanced economies have slowed their decline, constraining interest rate reductions across the region, and delaying the needed relief for households, banks, and governments’ fiscal accounts. Investment, both public and private, remains depressed, and any momentum for ‘nearshoring’- the practice of bringing offshore operations to close or friendly countries-is stalled, both because of the rise in global uncertainty and because of a lack of preparedness in the region’s enabling environment to attract and host it.