Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Special Reward For Information Relating To Crimes Against Children, Elderly
#Kingston, November 1, 2018 – Jamaica – The Ministry of National Security has expanded its partnership with Crime Stop to include a special reward scheme to improve investigations of murders of the country’s most vulnerable, especially children and the elderly.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, said that this added incentive is intended to encourage more persons to come forward with useful information “to assist with the investigations, arrest and successful prosecutions of the guilty parties”.
Crime Stop is a partnership of the community, the police and the media that is designed to involve the public in the fight against crime.
The initiative encourages the public to give information by offering a cash reward and total anonymity for information that leads to an arrest, recovery of stolen property or the seizure of illegal drugs or guns.
Dr. Chang, who was making a statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 30), decried the recent spate of attacks on vulnerable persons, and assured that the Government is stepping up measures to nab perpetrators of such crimes. He noted that while there is a 29 per cent decline in the overall number of children murdered when compared to last year, “the attacks on these vulnerable groups appear to be more heinous and barbaric and are cause for grave concern to the Government”.
A total of 38 children have been killed since the start of the year.
Dr. Chang said the National Security Ministry is on a drive to bolster police investigations in these matters.
“We know that while we would prefer preventative measures to deter perpetrators, there is also a need for measures to guarantee that a perpetrator will be caught if he commits a crime,” he said.
Dr. Chang noted that the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) Branch and the Criminal Investigative Branch (CIB) with the support of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), will bring increased focus to investigating these incidents to identify and apprehend individuals associated with these heinous acts.
“These branches will work with the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), which will be strengthened to adequately investigate crimes against these vulnerable groups,” he said.
Dr. Chang said the Government is also strengthening the legal framework to provide greater protection to women, children and the elderly as well as to strengthen the legal authority to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“It must be that where offences are committed, we have severe penalties that act as deterrents to these crimes. Justice must be swift, sure and severe,” he asserted.
In this regard, Dr. Chang noted that a Joint Select Committee of Parliament has recently concluded deliberations on a suite of laws, namely the Sexual Offences Act, the Domestic Violence Act, the Child Care and Protection Act and the Offences Against the Person Act.
“At the heart of this review was the special emphasis placed on the protection of the vulnerable… . A number of submissions were made by members of the public and various government and non-governmental organisations to the joint select committee, which is now compiling a report to be submitted to Parliament,” he indicated.
In the meantime, Dr. Chang appealed for the assistance of well-thinking Jamaicans in bringing criminals to justice who carry out vicious attacks on the nation’s most vulnerable.
“We again encourage Jamaicans to come forward and stand up for what is right. No one with information that could lead to the arrest of any criminal should remain silent. The police are depending on the cooperation of all Jamaicans to come forward to assist us in this fight,” he said.
Release: JIS
Contact: Alecia Smith
Photo Caption: Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, highlights a point while making a statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 30).
Photographer: Adrian Walker
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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