Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Parents encouraged not to isolate children with disabilities
#Kingston, April 24, 2019 – Jamaica – Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Senator Dr. Floyd Morris, is encouraging parents not to isolate, exclude or discourage a child with a disability, but to do everything to ensure that the child will be the best he or she can be.
He was addressing the recent launch of Child Month 2019, held at the GraceKennedy Office in downtown Kingston.
Child Month will be observed during May, under the theme ‘Encourage, Enable, Include Me’, with a focus on children with disabilities.
Senator Morris said he is very excited about the future of Jamaica, in the context of persons with disabilities. “There are a number of individuals and institutions getting involved and are making sure that the message gets out that children with disabilities can be whosoever they want to be and become a success story,” he said.
However, he said that “we have to encourage, enable and include these special children, so that they will be able to accomplish their dreams”.
Meanwhile, UNICEF Education Specialist, Dr. Rebecca Tortello, who brought greetings at the launch, said that Jamaica was the first country to ratify the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2007, and that was followed by the National Disability Act in 2014.
She noted that in recent years, UNICEF Jamaica has proudly supported the development of a revised curriculum for children with moderate to severe learning disabilities, with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. Several activities will be undertaken in May by the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), along with several of its partners and sponsors.
Highlights of the Month will be the National Church Service, which will be held on Saturday, May 4, at the Kencot Seventh-day Adventist Church, 10-12 Osbourne Road in Kingston, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Churches across the island are being encouraged to host services focusing on children during the month.
On Friday, May 17, National Children’s Day will be observed. On the day, adults are asked to take time out to recognise and appreciate the children, while paying special attention to those with special needs. Persons are also asked to wear sunshine yellow in observance of the day.
For Wednesday, May 29, a Day of Prayer will be held at the Maranatha Gospel Hall, 7 Deanery Road. Jamaicans are being encouraged to join the NCMC in praying for the nation’s children.
Sponsors for Child Month 2019 are GraceKennedy Limited, the National Baking Company Foundation, Jamaica Producers, Jamaica Broilers Group of Companies, and the Sagicor Foundation.
Contact: Judith A. Hunter
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Senator Dr. Floyd Morris (right), greets Patron of the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), Hon. Douglas Orane, at the launch of Child Month 2019, which was held recently at the GraceKennedy office in downtown Kingston.
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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