Caribbean News
CARPHA Conducts Integrated Communicable Diseases Assessment in Grenada with Support from the World Bank and European Union
Saint George’s, Grenada, September 7, 2023 – The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) recently conducted a mission to Grenada during July 24-28th 2023, to undertake an integrated Communicable Diseases assessment of the country’s public health systems. The CARPHA team conducted this exercise with the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs, Grenada with funding from the World Bank, and the European Union.
Technical officers from CARPHA conducted multiple assessments to evaluate the systems and policy measures currently being implemented by Grenada’s health sector to mitigate threats to human health. The areas evaluated included communicable diseases, mortality, environmental health, laboratory systems, tourism, and health. The mission was headed by Dr. Horace Cox, Assistant Director – Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control and Head of Vector Borne Diseases at CARPHA.
During the assessment, the CARPHA team held discussions with senior officers from the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs, including Dr. Shawn Charles, Chief Medical Officer, Mrs. Naomi Jeremiah,
Permanent Secretary, with responsibility for Strategic and Operational Management of the General Hospital and Subsidiary Hospitals, Mount Gay Psychiatric Hospital and the Richmond Home and Community Health Services, and Ms. Larissa Mark, National Epidemiologist.
Field visits were conducted at the General and Princess Alice Hospitals in the Parishes of Saint George and Saint Andrew respectively; and several health facilities across the island including Saint David’s, Grand Bras, Sauteurs and Saint George’s Health Centres; Gouyave Polyclinic; Westerhall, Crochu and Paradise Medical Stations.
The World Bank, through the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Regional Health Project, provided funding for this mission, with the exception of the Vector Borne Disease component which was funded by the European Union.
The team also met with staff of various divisions within the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs; as well as officials from the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association, and the Grenada Tourism Authority.
In addition to the assessments, CARPHA conducted a presentation on sample collection and testing for vector borne diseases for Community Health Nurses. The Team also participated in Grenada Shifts; an initiative aimed at encouraging citizens across the island to engage in physical activity. At a brief handover ceremony, CARPHA presented Dr. Shawn Charles, Chief Medical Officer, with a set of the CARICOM Regional Hospitality Health Safety Standards.
Grenada is one of four (4) beneficiary countries of the OECS Regional Health Project. The other countries are the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Project seeks to enhance the National Health System and Health Security of these countries.
About the OECS Regional Health Project: https://carpha.org/Projects/Ongoing-Projects/OECSRegional-Health-Project.
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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