Caribbean News From St Lucia, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

Police accused of being responsible for drug trade'  

 Trinidad Express Sunday March 24

Stakeholders and informants, both outside and behind prison walls, have accused certain police officers of being bandits.

"Police are frequently accused of being responsible for much of the corruption that exists in the drug economy," according to the findings of the crime report put together by the five-member committee chaired by Prof Selwyn Ryan to enquire into the cause of criminality in the country.

 In its findings on the issues of "Prison Reform, the Justice System and Policing", the committee reported it was told by informants that they believe that between 30 to 40 per cent of the members of the Police Service were corrupt and that policemen were either "invisible members or associates of gangs or controllers of their activities".

Read More Here  

Money laundering expert agrees with Ryan report

 Trinidad Express Sunday March 24

 Expert in the field of money laundering and extradition laws, attorney David West said yesterday he agreed with the recommendation of the Ryan report for more resources to attack white-collar crime. West, a former head of the Central Authority at the Office of the Attorney General, said he also endorsed the Prime Minister's call some time ago for an anti corruption commission.

In his report which was tabled in the Parliament last Friday, Prof Selwyn Ryan and his committee recommended that more resources be deployed for fighting corruption, money laundering, and embezzlement, and checks and balances instituted to keep high-ranking officials and politicians in line.

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Jobs in jeopardy - Scores of Jamaican teachers in the Turks and Caicos might be sent packing

Sunday Gleaner March 24

More than 200 Jamaican teachers who work in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) classrooms are in danger of losing their jobs as the Government of that country mulls a proposal to scrap the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) curriculum.

If the plan gains traction in the court of public opinion, the Jamaicans, who account for approximately 70 per cent of the teachers in the TCI will be sent home.

Akierra Missick, deputy premier and Minister of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, in the TCI told The Sunday Gleaner that if the people of that country support a proposal to replace the certification offered by the CXC with a more internationally recognised curriculum, then regional teachers might be sent packing.

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State keeps tabs on criminal deportees, says Golding

Sunday Gleaner March 24th 

 Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding has challenged claims that persons convicted of serious sexual crimes overseas and deported to Jamaica could be roaming the streets with nobody knowing where they are.

According to Golding, there are provisions in an existing legislation that allow the State to track persons deported for serious crimes including rape and other sexual offences.
Responding to a reported carried in The Sunday Gleaner that between 2008 and 2012 close to 250 persons were deported to Jamaica for committing serious sex crimes and there is no provision to allow the State to keep tabs on them; Golding said our sources were wrong.

Read More Here

St Lucia Star Sunday March 24th

I had just completed Friday morning the article that occupies this issue’s center pages when a tantalizing thought occurred to me:

What if the prime minister should announce to the nation—in the absence of a CSA consensus—his intention to take off the table his four percent offer and return to his original no-can-do position?

Whatever may have possessed him to abandon his original position, it has been made quite clear his reckless generosity barely impressed the dissident public sector workers, despite the prime minister’s warning that to bend to the CSA’s demands will dump the nation in waters more turbulent than it can possibly survive.  Read Here

Hello readers, this week I decided to bring you news from various islands in the Carribbean.  What I intend to do is post the headline news from different Caribbean newspaper and link back to the original article. 

Please provide feedback on how you feel about this approach. 

Thanks for reading. 

Tomas Leaves Caribbean Destruction and Misunderstanding

It;s Either Aid Or It's Business<; Not Both


Our Honorable Prime Minister’s recent pronouncement on giving aid to our Caribbean neighbors who were victims of hurricane Tomas was indeed unfortunate. It is the only disagreement

I have had with a statement… nah, did not like the “take it or leave it” statement either. Well I guess this is the second time that I disagreed with a statement uttered by our Honorable Prime Minister. Here’s why.

In time of need, it is an instinctive nature of man to reach out and help. The story of the good Samaritan is ample reference. If the Samaritan had said: “I will give you lodging if you work for me tomorrow” that entire biblical lesson would have been lost.

But I trust that the PM knows the teachings of the Gita and she demonstrated this when she assumed this position. According to the Trinidad Express


The fact is that there is no reason to put conditions on any aid even if the country decides to source their construction services and material from another partner who could not help. I think it was wrong but it is I who could be too quick to judge…
I’m not privy to a lot of information our Honorable Prime Minister has.

But here is one response many of the haters in the other Caribbean islands may not have thought of...

It could be possible that what she was actually saying is that “we broke”. It would be a serious shock, that instead of saying what she said she decided to “buss the mark”.

Just let everyone know that Trinidad and Tobago is on the brink of declaring bankruptcy and we need all the money we have or could get. Could you imagine the run on banks, especially when people know what happen to CLICO depositors? Nah, that would be madness.

But the signs are there. The Governor of the Central Bank comes out of the blues and says we lost over 24,000 jobs in the last fiscal year. Jack Warner saying that the government wants to offer the contractors bonds instead of cash. All yuh blind or wah.

The government is offering and standing firm on a one percent increase for the PSA and offering to pay off CLICO depositors in 20 years. If those are not signs to what we do not know then… Oh yeah, they cancel the OPV even after the British government beg them to buy just one. OK, you decide for yourself.

Here is my position, the problem is politics and governance. The government cannot tell the people what is really going on because it will literally turn this country on its ass. It is for the wise to see and hear. Look at the signs, they there.
The government may be in a rather tricky position.

They cannot say what they know because of the potential to hurt the people. And because they cannot communicate to the people the people keep the demands high.

The PSA want 100% increase for their lowest worker from $3,300 to $6000. CLICO depositors want all their money now; HCU too. Everywhere you turn government is being asked to pay, pay, pay. Now think of this.

If you knew what the Honorable Prime Minister may know and then you hear that Tomas beat up St Lucia.

What would you say?


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