Caribbean News
Jamaica developing satellite network for Tourism Crisis Management Centre
#Kingston, Septerber 30, 2019 – Jamaica – The Government is developing an international satellite network for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.
Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, made the disclosure at a media briefing at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on Tuesday (September 24). He said that the satellite network is one of several key outcomes emerging from discussions at the recent United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) meeting in Russia.
He noted that the first satellite centre will be established at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, in December.
The second will be opened in Morocco in January 2020; the third in South Africa in March 2020; and, thereafter, in Abuja, Nigeria, and Seychelles.
“A centre is online for Nepal with which we have also [forged] relations and already concluded a memorandum of understanding,” the Minister indicated.
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, which is the brainchild and portfolio responsibility of Minister Bartlett, was established to build and fortify the capacity of tourism-dependent economies to deal with shocks impacting the industry.
He advised that the facility, located on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), has established “strong relations” with the Global Resilience Council, which is based in London, England.
The Council provides a platform for professionals from various industries to share information and best practices regarding resilience, crises and disasters, both man-made and natural, that could impact tourism.
Mr. Bartlett further indicated that linkages have been or are being forged with the United Kingdom-based University of Bournemouth, which is represented on the Centre’s Board by Professor Lee Myers; Queensland University in Australia; George Washington and Northeastern Universities in the United States; and Hong Kong Polytechnic.
“So we are connecting… and these are university connections which will eventually become centres. So, in short order, we are going to have satellite centres on every single continent,” the Minister said.
Mr. Bartlett, in emphasising the Resilience Centre’s importance, noted that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region globally, “where 18 of the 28 economies have [a] dependence [ratio] of 60 per cent, or more”.
Against this background, he said, there is need to ensure that these countries can effectively counter any shocks.
“We have to develop more of that resilience… that ability to respond… to meet the challenges of these disruptions, to be able to track them, to be able to manage them when they hit us… and then recover quickly and thrive,” he noted.
“So the Centre has been established to respond to these… to generate information and create a base for technological responses and also for immediate response when there is a disruption somewhere,” Mr. Bartlett added.
Contact: Douglas McIntosh
Release: JIS
Photo Captions:
Header: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, responds to questions from journalists during a media briefing at the Ministry’s New Kingston Corporate Office on Tuesday (September 24). He is flanked by Senior Advisor in the Ministry and Executive Director for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, Professor Lloyd Waller; and Senior Director for Technical Services, David Dobson.
Insert:Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, addresses journalists during a media briefing at the Ministry’s New Kingston Corporate Office on Tuesday (September 24).
Michael Sloley Photos
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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