Caribbean News
Fully Renovated RIU Negril Reopens
Montego Bay, February 3, 2025 – RIU Resorts Jamaica, has unveiled major upgrades to its Negril property, while maintaining a strong commitment to local employment and cultural preservation.
The Spanish hotel chain boasts a 98 per cent local employment rate across its seven properties in Jamaica.
This commitment to local hiring extends beyond entry-level positions, with the company actively promoting internal opportunities for Jamaicans, particularly with the reopening of RIU Negril.
“It’s not just staying at one position all the time. You have the options, especially when we open new hotels, we take from the experienced staff into the new hotels and then promote and do internal promotions in this hotel,” Regional Director of Operations at RIU, Frank Sondern stated.
He told JIS News that these opportunities extend to skills development and employee welfare.
Mr. Sondern further noted that this approach contributed to RIU’s staff not participating in recent hotel worker strikes, as the company actively addresses employee concerns regarding transportation, meals, and workplace conditions.
“Also, what I think is very important, is the philosophy that RIU has in regard to the management. We have an open-door philosophy where you do not have to apply somewhere or ask for an appointment to see the general manager,” he stated.
“We are touchable, approachable on the property and always communicating with the staff, and I think that makes a big difference as it [builds rapport],” he added.
The company’s recent renovation project in Negril, completed in December 2024, represents a significant capital investment in Jamaica’s tourism infrastructure.
The upgraded property, which currently employs up to 500 staff members, now features new amenities including ‘swim-up’ rooms and two-bedroom family suites accommodating up to six guests.
Additionally, food and beverage offerings have expanded to include the exclusive Tiki Taco concept and an American comfort food restaurant available 24/7.
This has positioned the resort to capture emerging markets and increase tourism revenue.
RIU’s high percentage of sourcing local food, beverages, and other operational necessities further contributes to the growth of businesses in
Jamaica’s tourism supply chain.
Director of Sales at RIU Resorts Jamaica, Niurka Garcia Linton, indicated that the resort ensures authentic Jamaican cuisine in its restaurants, which are mostly named after the parish or location in which they sit.
“Every restaurant that we have with the buffet, breakfast, lunch and dinner will have a Jamaican corner. So everywhere you go, you can get a taste of Jamaican food or drinks,” Mrs. Garcia Linton said.
“It is the same with the entertainment. Reggae is part of our identity, and it is very important for us to really acknowledge the country, acknowledge the culture, and to honour it. We want to give them back,” she added.
In the meantime, as part of its ongoing collaboration with the Government, RIU Resorts maintains a close relationship with the Ministry of Tourism and its affiliated agencies, including the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).
Mrs. Garcia Linton said the resort actively participates in promotional initiatives aimed at increasing tourist arrivals. To this end, she is set to represent RIU at an upcoming JTB collaboration in the United Kingdom to boost business from that market in the coming week.
“We recognize that Jamaica has an amazing product. So, we want to ensure that we always have a cutting edge of why the client should choose [Jamaica] over any other brand. This is one of the reasons that we’re always trying to reinvent ourselves,” Mrs. Garcia Linton stated.
Contact: Okoye Henry
Release: JIS
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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