Caribbean News
New Housing Units Open At Cliffden, St. Philip
Barbados, December 24, 2024 – As Government continues to fulfill its mandate of delivering innovative and climate resilient houses, the dream of home ownership for Barbadians is becoming more attainable, affordable, and accessible.
Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance, Dwight Sutherland, expressed this view yesterday, before handing over keys to new homeowners at Cliffden Development, St. Philip.
“We started a journey of diversifying our housing portfolio over the last two years. Yesterday, I spoke extensively at Whitepark Road, where we opened 16 Light Gauge Steel units, a project between the Government of Barbados and East West Barbados, a Chinese company formed here in this country, to provide…150 housing units.
“I am delighted this morning to hand over 11 Dura Villa hardwood houses to 11 families here at Cliffden in St. Philip. This project was a joint
venture between Dura Villa out of Guyana, who manufactured these houses, and they were shipped disassembled, and we assembled them. Local contractors assembled these houses under the guidance of the Guyanese contractor, and we … provided employment for at least 20 local contractors and builders,” he stated.
Mr. Sutherland revealed that another 27 units are also being constructed in River Crescent, St. Philip, and said that the units in those two projects (Cliffden & River Crescent) should be completed by the end of January.
Of the Cliffden Development, he expressed delight in having imported 60 hardwood Dura Villa houses, and stated that his Ministry, along with the National Housing Corporation, had not just built the houses but had also provided the opportunity for persons who already had land to purchase these houses.
“…In an effort to push home ownership… affordable and resilient housing to the average Barbadian, we’re not only building the houses within the joint partnership between Dura Villa and National Housing, but also those persons who can afford a house and they have their own land.
“Ownership is the essence of the Barbadian dream; something that every Barbadian carries in his or her heart to own a home, and it is even more special when you move into your home at Christmas and during the festive season. And I know that is some extra pleasure, extra joy to these 11 families at Cliffden,” he remarked.
Minister Sutherland revealed that upon completion of the houses at River Crescent, 89 houses are expected to come to the island from Dura Villa, under a ‘turnkey project’, located at Dodds North, Concordia Gardens, just “a stone’s throw away” from Cliffden.
“So that is 11 plus 89, that’s 100 and 30, 130 houses before the end of the financial year. We should have, not all installed, but we should have purchased 130 houses. Our aim is to have 350 Dura Villa houses in this country before the end of the financial year, before the end of 2025, that is our aim,” he stated.
When asked about concerns regarding the close proximity of Concordia Gardens to Dodds Prison, Minister Sutherland stressed that the prison was built in a community surrounded by houses.
“The prison would’ve been built and [we would have] taken care of all of the safety measures in terms of land space, where their barriers are [and the] fencing is. And … as you drive going to the north of the prison, when you enter Church Village, what do you have next to the prison? You have houses. If you go to the Bushy Park racing section, what do you have next to the prison? Houses… if you go to Padmore Village, and I know the district very well… you have houses,” he explained.
The Housing Minister emphasised that safety measures were taken into consideration before the land was acquired for housing and had been studied and discussed in collaboration with his Ministry, the head of the prison, the permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Housing and Home Affairs, and Minister of Home Affairs.
He stressed that although Concordia is located across the road from the prison, a 20-foot buffer had been created and plants and hedges will serve the dual purpose of beautifying the area while acting as a safety precaution.
One of the homeowners, Sonia Gill, was ecstatic about having her own home on a ‘piece of the rock’. “It means a lot…. It is a blessing…. I said, but God, but God…. I can’t express the feeling and the joy of owning a piece of this rock,” she shared.
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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