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Belize has signed a US$12.5 million agreement with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to finance the upgrading of the George Price Highway.

The agreement signed on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings here, will support critical infrastructural enhancements to one of Belize’s most important transportation corridors.

The project includes the construction of new service lanes, the upgrading of existing bridges, and the addition of 16 bus stop lanes aimed at improving safety, accessibility, and connectivity for trade.

Belize government officials said that the agreement further strengthens the longstanding partnership between Belize and the State of Kuwait, which dates back to the 1990s.

They said that over the years, the Kuwait Fund has supported several major infrastructure projects in Belize, including the development of the Southern Highway, the Hummingbird Highway, and the Caracol Road.

The agreement was signed by Joseph Waight, Financial Secretary and head of the Belize delegation to the IMF/World Bank meetings and Waleed Sh. Al-Bahar, acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

The Dominica Bar Association (DBA) says while it acknowledges the efforts to reduce the case backlogs, it has ‘serious concerns’ about the impact of the decision to re-introduce night court sittings in the country.

In a statement, the DBA said that it acknowledged the recent directive of the Ministry of Legal Affairs introducing nightly Magistrate Court sittings for a seven hour period four days a week but has ‘serious concerns about the impact of this initiative on court users and practitioners’.

It said that that extended evening hours may create significant challenges for several groups, including, rural residents, for whom returning home late at night may pose safety, cost, and transportation difficulties as well as women and parents with caregiving responsibilities, who may be unable to participate fully in hearings scheduled during evening hours.

‘Further, requiring/requesting parents/guardians to be away from their children at a critical time in the evenings and after a full day’s work may prove to be an unnecessary strain on the home,’ the DBA said, noting also that ‘accused persons held in custody, who may face extended periods of detention during the day while awaiting night hearings’.

It said that the initiative may also not be beneficial to vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities, for whom late-night hearings may be particularly burdensome, noting that ‘we have already received complaints from some elderly litigants about the inconvenience of night court, given their limited mobility’.

The DBA said that legal practitioners and support staff, whose ability to provide services at the extended hours may be impossible due to family obligations and that employers whose employees are required to attend court on their behalf, necessitating overtime payment to such employees for attending court beyond their regular hours of work.

Last month, the National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore announced that night court would be re-introduced here from September 8, noting that he believes that the ‘court should operate in a way that allows for greater flexibility and that will provide people seeking to access the court to actually settle grievances.

‘Whether it is civil or criminal, [they] ought to be able to be accommodated irrespective as to what type of work they do, where they actually reside,’ Blackmoore told a news conference, adding that he also believes ‘the issue of introducing night court, and let me just put [it] on the record, for everybody to understand, it is not something that is ne.

‘We look at all the logistics that need to be considered and to move forward, and I believe that the time is now, there shall be night court,’ he said, adding ‘we have to be steadfast and to ensure that all the players with the respective roles to be played do so in the most efficient manner.

‘Night court is working in other countries,’ he told reporters.

But in its statement, the DBA said it is greatly concerned about the ‘absence of meaningful consultation with the Bar, affected court users, court staff, and the public before the implementation of night court.

‘Such consultation is critical to ensure that measures designed to strengthen the justice system are workable, fair, and sustainable, and would not result in persons being casualties of the system. Upon an inquiry by the Bar to the Ministry as to whether a feasibility study was carried out, a clear answer was not returned.’

The DBA said that its concerns raise possible constitutional and administrative challenges to the implementation of the night court, which could have been averted.

‘Importantly, it is noted that the Magistrates Court is not operating to its full capacity during the daytime hours; that is to say, there is not a full complement of magistrates on staff, and all available courtrooms are not being used. There is no overflow for a night court.’

The DBA said that several alternatives exist that could achieve the Ministry’s goals without imposing such burdens.

It said these include recruitment of additional magistrates so that the court is operating at its full capacity during the daylight hours; staggered day sittings to make better use of court time; strengthened case management practices and consent-based or opt-in evening listings.

‘The Dominica Bar Association, therefore, calls for the suspension of the current implementation plan pending full consultation with the Association and other stakeholders,’ it said, adding that its concerns have been communicated to the Ministry of National Security and Legal Affairs.

‘We remain committed to working collaboratively with the Ministry to develop solutions that enhance efficiency while ensuring that justice remains accessible and equitable for all. The Association looks forward to engaging in constructive dialogue with the Ministry on this important matter.’

Saint Lucia’s Olympic champion and World Championship bronze medalist, Julien Alfred raised over US$100 000 for charity over the weekend by selling some of her memorabilia at an auction.

The biggest sale at the fundraising celebratory cocktail hosted by sponsors BodyHoliday and entitled ‘Power and Grace: An Evening in Honour of Julien Alfred’, was Alfred’s 2025 track spikes, which were sold for a whooping US$75 000 to American businessman, Kevin Graves, the manager of Team USA and Miami Heat basketball star Bam Adebayo.

Julien Alfred (centre) presents her track spikes to winning bidder Kevin Graves (right)

This year, the 24-year-old Alfred sprinted to her second straight Wanda Diamond League women’s 100m title and also finished third in the 100m at the World Athletic Championships, while wearing a custom pair of PUMA Nitro sprint spikes.

Graves spoke passionately of the need to support charitable organisations such as the Alfred Foundation.

Bidding started at US$1 500 for the shoes, which were moulded on Alfred’s feet.

Also auctioned off were the PUMA jersey and bib worn by Alfred at Tokyo 2025, which former collegiate and professional basketballer Marcellus Stiede paid US$1 900.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary general, Dr. Carla Barnett Wednesday underscored the importance of statistics to regional development saying that the 15-member grouping is at the midpoint of implementing the 12-year Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics.

In a message marking Caribbean Statistics Day 2025, Barnett said that the occasion coincides with the culmination of the 2024-2025 Year of Statistics in CARICOM, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians.

Caribbean Statistics Day is being observed under theme ‘Improving Lives through Statistics: Strengthening and Innovating Together’ and the CARICOM Secretary General said that during the year, the region placed renewed emphasis on Standards and Harmonization and the integration of statistical systems.

She said key regional instruments have been successfully piloted and are now being institutionalized, including the CARICOM Quality Assurance Framework, CARICOM Code of Good Statistical Practices, and the Generic Statistical Business Process Model to guide the end-to-end lifecycle of all statistical activities.

‘CARICOM is at the midpoint of implementing the 12-year Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics, which provides a clear roadmap with mechanisms to strengthen statistical systems, ensuring that accurate and timely data inform decision-making.

‘CARICOM governments are reviewing the necessary legal and institutional frameworks, and seeking to provide the financial, technical and human resources to support the work of National Statistical Offices, including taking note of the increasing role for digital transformation and modernised statistical operation,’ Barnett said.

But she acknowledged that ‘the journey ahead is as critical as the progress behind us’ and in the community spirit which exemplifies CARICOM, ‘a harmonized regional approach to statistics development will continue to be essential as we strive to fill data gaps and improve statistical standards across the region.

‘On Caribbean Statistics Day, we therefore recommit to strengthening national and regional statistical processes to ensure timely and accurate data for decision-making, in keeping with our theme this year,’ she added.

More than four years after he was assassinated at his private residence, the judicial matter involving the killing of President Jovenel Moise, has hit yet another snag.

Earlier this week, the Court of Appeals announced that it has reopened the investigation into the July 7, 2021 assassination of President, annulling a previously contested judicial order and assigning a new judge to pursue the long-stalled case.

Jovenel Moise

In its ruling issued on Monday, the Court also overturned the indictment by investigating judge, Walther Wesser Voltaire, citing procedural irregularities and failure to identify the masterminds behind the killing.

Voltaire had indicted a number of high profile people, including Martine Moïse, accused of complicity in the murder of her husband with whom she was with when the killers barged into their private residence overlooking the capital. She had to be flown to the United States for medical treatment following the killing.

The Appeals Curt has since appointed Magistrate Denis Cyprien to resume the investigation of the case, even as it ordered the continued detention of all persons already under judicial supervision, and requested mutual legal assistance from the United States and Canada.

Cyprien becomes the sixth investigating judicial official to handle the case, which has now dragged on for more than four years without a single trial. Those to be questioned include former police chief Léon Charles, ex-prime minister Ariel Henry and members of Moise’s family.

Court observers here say that the Appeals Court’s decision effectively resets the investigation, giving Haiti another chance to pursue justice in a case that had long been stalled.

President Moise was shot and killed on July 7, 2021, by a commando unit of former Colombian soldiers and Haitian American nationals posing as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.

Since his murder, the US Justice Department has taken into custody several suspects charging them with with conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States as well as smuggling ballistic vests from the United States to Haiti for use in the assassination plot.

A former Haitian legislator, John Joel Joseph, has been since been sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill Moise.