Caribbean News
Western Parks and Markets in Jamaica to undertake plastic bottle recycling project
MONTEGO BAY, Jan 11 (JIS) – Western Parks and Market (WPM) Waste Management Limited will be undertaking a plastic bottle recycling project in two communities in St. James.
The initiative, to be launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14, is intended to reduce the volume of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles deposited at disposal sites in the parish.
It also forms part of efforts to heighten public awareness about the importance of preserving the environment.
Regional Operations Manager at WPM, Garnet Edmondson, told JIS News that the project will primarily entail scheduled collection and sorting of plastic bottles in the communities, which are to be identified.
“With that removal process, they [residents] will store and keep [the bottles] and we [WPM] will collect [those] every two weeks; that will be a part of the build up to our limited separation programme,” he explained.
The Operations Manager said the agency is also in the process of procuring a truck, “which will be solely dedicated to the collection of those plastic bottles”.
“So our celebration of Valentine’s Day is loving the environment [by] collecting these bottles, because they can damage the environment,” he added.
Mr. Edmondson said WPM will also be embarking on a public education campaign in schools, aimed at fostering a more positive approach to the recycling initiative.
“We will be going into schools to have participation by students. So we will teach them the importance of how they [should] handle their waste,” he informed.
Mr. Edmondson further advised of plans to erect waste separation bins across St. James to encourage recycling.
“Planning [for this] has already started. Further down in the year, we will be speaking with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) [regarding] sponsorship of some waste bins,” he said.
Mr. Edmondson indicated that the design of the bins will be different from the regular containers, “because we want them [to have] three compartments where you have normal waste, organics and plastics”.
Meanwhile, the Operations Manager said WPM will be encouraging market vendors and other stakeholders across western Jamaica to resort to composting, which is a form of waste disposal where organic waste decomposes naturally under oxygen-rich conditions.
Mr. Edmondson said the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has been engaged to heighten farmers’ awareness about the benefits to be derived from composting, adding that “we will [also] be engaging our vendors and all other stakeholders [regarding] collecting organic material”.
“Our vegetable markets [in particular] will come into play, because it is not very viable to be putting organic material into the landfill; what it does, is enhance the greenhouse gases,” he informed.
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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