Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Students receive scholarships through Summer of Service Programme
#Kingston, August 22, 2019 – Jamaica – Twenty-four students have been awarded scholarships, funds for tuition and grants valued at approximately $17 million from the Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, and sponsors of the seventh Summer of Service Programme.
These students are Geraldine Allen, Dacia Bennett, Anissa Bent, Christina Blake, Shavane Clarke, Sheridon Gayle, Trudy-Ann Graham, Janee Harris, Tianna Howell, Yanique Hylton, Alex Lawrence, Ryan Lewis, Rajnie Molar, Ragene Perry, Kishana Purrier, Renee Ramsay, Raheem Richards, Demarco Robinson, Devon Senior, Tawayne Spence, Dannett Taylor, Tamieka Tennant, Ranique Williams and Micala Wilson.
This forms part of the Governor-General’s I Believe Initiative (IBI), where exceptional students with dire financial need, who are matriculating to colleges and/or universities for their first year of undergraduate study, and those currently completing their first year to begin their second in 2019, are awarded. The funds were formally awarded to the students at King’s House on Tuesday (August 20).
In 2011, Their Excellencies, the Governor-General and Lady Allen launched the IBI. The Summer of Service Programme, which is an activity of the IBI, was also launched that year, and began on the premise that the children are the future of the nation.
Seventy-three students have so far benefited, including 12 recipients last year, who received a total of $10 million.
While encouraging the students to continue their path of excellence, the Governor-General reflected on students who were previously a part of the programme, and are now international scholars.
“I cannot resist sharing with you some astounding success of the programme. Two of our IBI Ambassadors, Abrahim Simmonds and Tishauna Mullings, who were Summer of Service recipients, have graduated from the UWI, Mona. They are among this year’s recipients of Chevening Scholarships to the United Kingdom to read for their Master’s Degree. Another IBI Ambassador, Chevano Baker, who obtained a Master’s degree through Chevening, has also won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University and starts school in October this year to do further studies. These success stories are very heart-warming,” the Governor-General said.
He also encouraged the awardees to continue striving for greatness. “I encourage you to maintain a high standard of work in your tertiary studies and throughout the rest of your lives,” he said.
One reason behind the selection of these awardees is that they have all voluntarily completed meaningful projects in the parishes of St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St. James, Clarendon, St. Catherine, St. Andrew and Portland.
The projects included creating diverse activities for children in State-operated homes, as well as homes for the physically and mentally challenged, and the elderly; coordinating and soliciting funds totalling approximately $700,000 to cover camp expenses for 50 young people in volatile areas; hosting Mathematics upliftment summer classes for children; mentoring and teaching primary school children; providing back-to-school supplies for children, and engaging in numerous other projects to support disabled and homeless individuals, such as feeding them and providing clothes.
The sponsors who provided financial support for the youth include the NCB Foundation with two tuition scholarships; the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China with two scholarships; the Caribbean Maritime University with three scholarships; the Northern Caribbean University with two scholarships; National Integrity Action; First Regional Co-operative Credit Union Limited; GraceKennedy Limited; JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation; St. Joseph’s Teachers’ College; Sandals Foundation; Derrimon Trading; The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona and Kingston Bookshop.
Contact: Ainsworth Morris
Release: JIS
Photos: Donald De La Haye
Header: Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, and Lady Allen (centre), with the Governor-General’s Summer of Service Programme Awardees for 2019 at King’s House on Tuesday (August 20).
Insert: Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, speaks at the Governor-General’s Summer of Service Programme 2019 Awards Presentation Ceremony on Tuesday (August 20) at King’s House.
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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