Caribbean News
TCI: FortisTCI CEO Elected as Chairman of CARILEC Board
#Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – FortisTCI President & CEO Eddinton Powell has been elected Chairman of the Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC) Board of Directors. The election took place at the 31st Annual General Meeting held in Saint Lucia on May 23rd. Also elected to serve was a new Board comprising four new directors, two continuing, six re-elected and two Associate Member representatives. Mr. Powell and the new Board will serve from 2019 to 2022.
Mr. Powell succeeds Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Belize Electricity Limited Mr. Jeffrey Locke as Chairman of the Board of CARILEC. Mr. Powell served as CARILEC Vice Chairman, Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board during the 2016- 2019 term. Prior to Mr. Powell’s 2007 appointment as CEO of FortisTCI, he served for 25 years with Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd (CUC), a sister utility based in the Cayman Islands.
During his last four years at CUC, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In addition to his post as CEO of FortisTCI and now Chairman of CARILEC, Mr. Powell serves on several other boards including Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL) and Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. He previously served as Chairman of the Cayman Islands Development Bank.
CEO of British Virgin Islands Electricity Company, Mr. Leroy Abraham was elected as Vice Chairman. This is Mr. Abraham’s second consecutive term on the Board of Directors. He also previously served as a Director and Chairman of the CARILEC Marketing and Membership Board Committee from 2016 to 2019.
Speaking about his appointment, Mr. Powell said, “Having served as a Director of the Board since 2016, I know all too well the good work that CARILEC does within the region and in the industry as the representative body for Caribbean utilities and utility partners. I look forward to contributing toward the evolution of the new energy landscape we face in my new role as Chairman, supported by a team that brings a mix of fresh perspectives, experience and institutional knowledge.”
Directors re-elected to serve on CARILEC’s Board for the new term are CEOs: Mr. Collin Cover (Grenada Electricity Services Ltd), Mr. Thornley Myers (St. Vincent Electricity Services Ltd.), Mr. Trevor Louisy (St. Lucia Electricity Services Ltd.), Mr. Fred Cuvalay, (St. Eustatius Utility Company), Mr. Jervan Swanston (Nevis Electricity Company), Mr. Roger Blackman (Barbados Light and Power Company Ltd.), and Dr. Cletus Bertin, Executive Director/CARILEC (Ex-Officio).
Newly appointed directors are: Mr. Andre Matthias (Antigua Public Utilities Authority), Mr. Clement Williams (St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd), Mr. Albert Gordon (Guyana Power and Light Inc.) and Mr. Whitney Heastie (Bahamas Power & Light). Mr. Hugo Hodge Jr. of Tantalus Systems Inc. (Associate Director) and Mr. Gianni Moreno of ABB Inc. (Alternate Associate Director) were re-elected as the Associate Member Directors for the another one-year term.
The Independent Power Producers (IPP) representative on the CARILEC Board of Directors is expected to be elected later this year at a Special General Meeting, subsequent to the convening of the caucus of CARILEC IPP members, as per the revised Bye Laws of the Corporation, which was also ratified at the 31st AGM.
FortisTCI President & CEO Eddinton Powell, is the newly elected Chairman of the Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC) Board of Directors.
Release: FortisTCI
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.
Caribbean News
Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts celebrate a night of wins, and take home a total of 16 titles at the 32nd Annual World Travel Awards
-
Caribbean News3 days agoHaitian Pushback Halts Controversial Constitution Rewrite — What’s Next?
-
Bahamas News1 week agoNassau Cruise Port Marks Sixth Anniversary with Exciting New Additions for Visitors and The community
-
Bahamas News5 days agoPAY STANDOFF: Prime Minister Cancels Talks as Unions Warn of More Protests
-
TCI News4 days agoTurks and Caicos Islands Government Invites Proposals for Affordable Housing Development
-
TCI News1 week agoVisitTCI and Potcake Place Highlight Growing Homeless Dog Crisis
-
TCI News4 days agoButch’s Island Chophouse Leads Beaches Turks & Caicos’ $150M Treasure Beach Expansion
-
TCI News4 days agoOvercrowding at Grand Turk Prison Now 30% Above Capacity, NSC Warns
-
TCI News4 days agoPolice Patrols to be Strengthened as Force Adds Ten New Assets