Barbados

Ripple Effect: A Comparative Study of Male Suicide in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Guyana – Part I

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When he was asked what was being done to address male suicide in Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, said that recently the health ministry had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the West Indies (UWI) and UNICEF to establish a mental health chatline dedicated only to adolescents and youth. For those in their 30s, and 60 years and over, the national suicidal hotline among other resources would be there to assist. But for 24-year-old, Charran Prem Tom, who’d sought out mental health assistance, it had proven not enough. One of his close friends, Michael (who did not provide his last name), said Charran was depressed for a long time, yet had a smile and laughter capable of lighting up entire rooms. Charran worked as an AC technician and enjoyed going to the gym. Nine years ago in secondary school, Michael met Charran in Form 4 where they became good friends not long after.

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Human Trafficking

Tricked into Sex Slavery: Global Crackdown hasn’t Stopped Caribbean Traffickers

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Talia was struggling to make ends meet as a bartender in Santiago, Cuba, when a friend told her about a lucrative job opportunity in Suriname. The 26-year-old mother — who asked to be identified by a pseudonym to protect her privacy — had never heard of the Dutch-speaking country nearly 2,000 miles away. But the promise of a job that would help her provide for her family was too much to ignore. Santiago is Cuba’s second largest city and the home of Bacardi rum, but Talia said it offered few prospects for her: Wages there are low, and many people live without consistent running water or electricity. Talia was living in Santiago, Cuba (above), when she was offered a lucrative job in Suriname.

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Antigua & Barbuda

Mounting Challenges to Caribbean Fisheries

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There are mixed official and industry messages in a selection of Caribbean countries, but CIJN investigations have unearthed, at minimum, signs that the regional fisheries sector is currently confronting a variety of potentially disastrous challenges – both natural and human. Over recent months, our team – comprising correspondents in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago – has scanned the regional seascape in search of data-supported evidence of a growing claim of perilous times ahead for the industry. In most instances, there has been a notable absence of available indigenous, official, statistics and an apparent unwillingness by authorities to publicly engage negative speculation regarding the fate of the fisheries sector. There have also been mixed verdicts from key stakeholders including fisherfolk and others involved in the value chain.

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Climate

Guyana’s US$1.7B Gas-to-Energy Project: A Pathway to Prosperity or Pandora’s Box? 

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Like many small-to-medium scale agro processors, 63-year-old Sandra Craig is eager for a solution to Guyana’s unstable power supply. Since moving from a small “snackette” in Orange Walk, one of the bustling streets in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital, to having her own agro-processing facility in Norton Street, Craig said major expansion could have been on the horizon were it not for the challenges posed by the country’s unreliable grid. 

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Barbados

Barbados’ Forgotten Few

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There is evidence that the ageing population of Barbados is being disproportionately affected by climate-related illnesses such as dengue fever, respiratory infections, asthma, and heat exhaustion. 

Informed, strategic interventions are however stymied by the fact that there has been little systematic employment of data and targeted research.

According to the experts interviewed for this investigation, an increase in adverse climate events is both worsening health conditions and affecting the delivery of care.

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Agriculture

Dominica Confronts Food Challenges Post Maria

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After the devastation Hurricane Maria left behind on Dominica and the ensuing food shortages, officials and residents pledged not only to restore the island’s agricultural system but also to make it more self-reliant. 

But since 2017 food imports have soared. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in its data report showed that over the last six years since the storm, Dominica has imported more food in each of those years. In 2017, the country imported US$40 million worth of food, since then the number has ballooned to US$56 million – with meat, cereals, fruits and vegetables accounting for a large percentage of the bill. https://youtu.be/Xz96xHNu39M
Erica Burnett Biscombe speaking on wanting to give up (Video by Laila Langford)

Hurricane Maria damaged or destroyed much of the agricultural infrastructure, including buildings, animal husbandry facilities, agricultural roads and croplands. In a preliminary report by the government of Dominica, the agriculture sector reported US$ 179.6M (EC$ 485M) in loss and damage, impacting all aspects of agricultural production from crops, infrastructure, equipment to croplands. 

“Livestock damage includes 45 percent of cattle, 65 percent pigs and over 90 percent chickens with an estimated value of EC$ 8.68M (US$3.21M),” the government reported.

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