Caribbean News
Gov’t to foot $64-million bill for Jamaicans returning home TODAY
#KINGSTON, May 5 (JIS): The Government will absorb the entire cost of approximately $64 million for the mandatory State quarantining of nationals returning to Jamaica on Wednesday (May 6) under the controlled re-entry programme.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, addresses a virtual press conference at Jamaica House on Monday (May 4)
The 14-day quarantine costs US$100 per person, per day, for three daily meals and accommodation.
It is a requirement for nationals who have been stranded abroad due to Jamaica’s borders being closed to incoming passenger traffic since March 24, in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, said the Government will only be footing the cost for this group of returning citizens in light of their various situations.
“It has… been decided by the Cabinet that in recognition of the particular challenges, the particularities of this week’s arrivals, and the circumstances under which they have been operating over the past two months, that the Government will absorb the full cost of State quarantine. So this week’s arrivals will be supported in their entirety by the Jamaican Government,” she said during a virtual press conference at Jamaica House on Monday (May 4).
Mrs. Johnson Smith stressed that this is a significant cost, which should not be downplayed, noting that “you can’t put a dollar figure on the importance of our nationals, but we are recognising that it is time and we are doing our part to have them come home”.
The returning citizens, who will arrive on a TUI Charter flight, will comprise 114 from the United Kingdom (UK), including approximately 75 crew members currently on board ships docked in the UK. These are inclusive of the 43 members of crew of the Marella Discovery 2 as well as six other ships owned by that cruise line.
The Marella Discovery 2 cruise ship was in Jamaican waters for refueling on April 2, when a request was made for the Jamaicans on board to disembark for repatriation, but the vessel left before the Government’s approval could be conveyed.
“The additional 40 [persons] will be comprised of Jamaicans stranded in the UK who have been affected by the global pandemic in different ways and who have been in touch with the High Commission or with the [Foreign Affairs] Ministry regarding their particular challenges,” Mrs. Johnson Smith said.
She informed that the Government is also working on returning a cohort from the United States “and we are focused on persons who are having the most challenging of circumstances”.
The Foreign Affairs Minister noted, however, that the $64 million does not cover the other logistical costs “such as the cost of the security forces to transport persons to the quarantine facilities, testing, the health monitoring that takes place, the temperature-taking every day at the appropriate times, the logging, and the monitoring to ensure that if there is any development of symptoms, persons are then moved to isolation facilities”/
As part of the normal arrangements, Jamaicans applying for re-entry to the country via the jamcovid19.moh.gov.jm website, are required to make a contribution of US$20 per day, which is 1/5th of the actual cost, or make arrangements in respect of meals while in State quarantine.
More than 5,000 Jamaicans have been stranded overseas due to the local border restriction. So far, over 4,600 Jamaicans have applied to return home through the jamcovid19 website.
JIS NEWS BY ALECIA SMITH
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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