Crime

Guns and Murders – the Deadly Connection

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Port of Spain, Trinidad – Back in 2018, Tommy (not his real name) and four other men attempted to rob a restaurant in Arima – a bustling borough in east Trinidad that’s home to 65,000. When the smoke cleared, a single bullet had taken the life of the cashier on duty. Five years later, Tommy recalls the tragedy as if it were yesterday: Two guns, a resistant restaurateur, a single shot, the shuffle of escape, cash in hand, but cameras that captured each stage of the fateful event. It cost him three years in prison. The police later found that the guns in question were 9mm pistols – a weapon of choice for T&T criminals.

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Crime

The Caribbean’s War on Guns

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Criminal violence, employing a wide variety of firearms, has emerged as a singularly important challenge for countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the modern era.

Through this series of articles by correspondents in Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, readers can acquire a basic understanding of the multi-faceted nature of the phenomenon of gun violence in the Caribbean.

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2023 Special Reports

Geothermal Energy: A Possibility or A Wasted Venture

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A Viable Solution For Economic And Energy Sustainability In Dominica

Measuring 46 kilometres in length, the Caribbean Nation of Dominica is a volcanic island with nine dormant volcanoes, mountain streams, rivers, waterfalls, densely forested areas, large geothermal reservoirs, and a population of about 72,000. Dominica is optimistically exploring geothermal energy and constructing a 10 MW geothermal power plant by the beginning of the year 2025. However, some residents of Roseau Valley and Laudat have expressed safety concerns regarding the geothermal project’s impact on the island’s volcanic activity. They are concerned about the damage to tourist attractions in the Roseau Valley. Residents say they are also not clear about the status of an Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Technical Study submitted to the Physical Planning Division for approval.

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2023 Special Reports

“Not My Child”

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In Barbados, starting school means having your uniform, school supplies and up-to-date vaccination book. This scenario is so routine that many parents and children view it as a regular part of growing up. This tradition aided in the elimination of smallpox, measles, mumps and rubella. Despite this norm, some parents are going against the zeitgeist and delaying or opting out of vaccinating their children. This small shift is creating fear among doctors that once-eradicated diseases can resurge.

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2023 Special Reports

St Kitts and Nevis – Ripening Plans in the Agriculture Sector – Facing Food Security Challenges

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Farmers in St. Kitts and Nevis are losing out on more than USD $66 Million (EC$180m) in revenue annually due to their limited knowledge and skills as entrepreneurs within the agriculture sector and it is driving up the food import bill. The dependency on imported foods to St. Kitts and Nevis – with a population of 53,000 – cost the country more than USD $74million last year. The time has come for farmers and vendors alike to be more business-orientated to ensure that they capitalize on the benefits to lower the import bill.

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2023 Special Reports

I Choose Death

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The sting of death all around him had Roger in grief and anxious about how he would cope should he contract COVID-19. Watching some of his fellow dialysis patients’ come down with the disease and never return from hospital made him fearful. But fear and anxiety were not enough to make him take the jab. Roger Briggs says he would rather die from COVID-19 than take the vaccines.  Already battling diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease, he was ready to take on the virus. 

Driven by fears over the rapid development of the vaccines, he does not trust that they were tested sufficiently, and believes there isn’t sufficient data or science to ensure their safety. 

A husband and father of four children and eight grandchildren, Roger will not take the vaccine that could protect his life.  “To what end?” he asks.

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2023 Special Reports

Dominica at Risk of Losing its FreshWater Resource

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‘A land of 365 rivers’ is just one of the phrases that describe the beautiful Caribbean island of Dominica. But with so many rivers and freshwater catchments, these questions come to mind: why do some communities experience intermittent Water supply, why have others been unable to drink the water they receive and why are some unable to access pipe-borne water in 2023?

This report will illustrate and ascertain the state of the country’s freshwater distribution network. We will also look at what led to the challenges currently being faced by the relevant authorities and how we, as a nation, can improve and preserve our freshwater sources in Dominica, to avoid becoming victims of a looming crisis.

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2023 Special Reports
A photo of a vaccine vial and vaccination needle

HPV Vaccine: A Positive Hope for the Future in the Battle Against Cervical Cancer

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Recalling the death of her mother in 2023, two years after her passing, was not the easiest of memory for Ann-Jell Joseph-Mapp. Her mother Veronica Joseph died from cervical cancer four years after she was diagnosed. “Her death was not a shock because we, the children, learned about her cervical cancer diagnosed about four years before her death; but still, it was a long, hard and painful journey,” Joseph-Mapp said, while pointing out that as the eldest daughter, she became the provider and caregiver for her mother. “My two brothers miss her a lot but they don’t speak about it much…her grandchildren miss her very much as she used to take them everywhere,” said Joseph-Mapp, who is still making adjustments to her personal life following the loss of her mother. Her mom was only 64 years when she died.

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COVID-19
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit takes the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine on television in February 2021.

Misinfo ‘Epidemic’ Blamed for Vax Hesitancy in Dominica

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The Covid-19 pandemic had been ongoing for nearly a year when Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit took his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine during a live television broadcast on Feb. 24, 2021.

Though no Covid-related deaths had been reported in Dominica at the time, he urged the rest of the country to follow his example.

“Let us not wait for other countries to impose the requirement on us if we have to travel or we have to do business overseas,” he said. “But even for those of us who have no business traveling, it is for our own protection. Science has shown that it will help in the fight against Covid-19 and it minimises the opportunity for getting very ill and for death.”

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Homepage Top Story

Oil Secrets of Suriname: Public Largely in the Dark as Offshore Dreams Deferred

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For the people of Suriname, offshore oil is supposed to be a game-changer. As they have struggled through a protracted economic crisis over the past decade, they have watched lucrative deep-water discoveries transform neighbouring Guyana. They have also heard their own leaders promise that a similar oil boom will come soon to Suriname, bringing badly needed jobs and wealth for the country’s more than 600,000 people and helping resolve a debt crisis that recently led to riots in the capital. But the people are still waiting. The Final Investment Decision for Suriname’s first deep-water drilling project has been deferred repeatedly, and mounting frustration with the delay has highlighted the secrecy surrounding the nascent industry. 

“We should at least know what kind of contracts have been made, and don’t come up with stories that it’s confidential between us and [foreign oil companies],” Surinamese environmentalist Erlan Sleur told the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network.

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