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SKN Watchdog, Basseterre (2026)

12/09/2026

NINE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

Nine days since September 3, when Dr. Terrance Drew spoke to the country about his health. Nine days. Nine days, and the government has apparently misplaced its voice. The Deputy Prime Minister spoke. The Prime Minister spoke. Then nothing. Nine days of nothing. Nine days without an official update. Nine days without telling the people where things stand. This is the Prime Minister of the country, and the government has gone nine days without telling the people anything about his condition.

Nobody is asking for Dr. Drew's medical chart. The people want one simple thing, an official update. But nine days later, nothing. Nine days later, silence. Nine days later, the people are still waiting. Perhaps the government believes that if it keeps quiet long enough, the question will pack up its little bag and go home. But nine days have passed, and the question is still sitting right there. Every day of those nine days makes the silence harder to explain and easier to question.

And now government supporters will surely tell everybody to stop asking questions. That is the funny part. Nine days. If everything is fine, say so. If something has changed, say so. If there is nothing new to report, say that. The government has had nine days to issue even the briefest official statement. Nine days to speak. Nine days to reassure the country. Nine days to end the speculation. Nine days to communicate. Instead, it chooses silence. That is not communication. That is withholding information and leaving the country to sit in the dark. Nine days of silence from a government that knows the people are waiting for an update is not reassuring. Nine days is long enough. Nine days is damning.

11/09/2026

DID KAMLA SUDDENLY DISCOVER HER VENEZUELAN RELATIVES ONLY AFTER THE GEOPOLITICAL WINDS CHANGED?

So now Kamla Persad-Bissessar loves Delcy Rodríguez. Now Venezuela is “family.” Now she wants Trinidad and Tobago to know that her mother-in-law is Venezuelan and that she has Venezuelan grand-nephews. How convenient. The Venezuelan family she suddenly wants to place in the spotlight did not arrive yesterday. Nobody changed their nationality. Nobody was born into the family overnight. Those relationships existed all along.

They existed when Kamla was standing shoulder to shoulder with Washington on Venezuela. They existed when she declared in June 2025: “We stand solidly with the American government on the issues concerning Venezuela. That will not change.”

So where was the family then? She even knows some Spanish. Mamacita, mamacita, dónde está Santa Claus? Where was the Venezuelan mother-in-law? Where were the Venezuelan grand-nephews? Were they somehow less Venezuelan while Kamla was courting Washington, or did their Venezuelan blood simply become more politically useful once Caracas had something Trinidad wanted?

That is the part Kamla cannot explain away with sentimental talk about family. You cannot pull Venezuelan relatives out of the family cupboard when you need a warmer diplomatic photograph and shove them back inside when Washington is the more convenient partner. If those family ties are genuinely the reason Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela are “very, very close,” then they were just as genuine when Kamla was declaring that her position on Venezuela “will not change.”

And then there is the gas. Kamla once declared that “our future does not depend on Venezuela and never has” and said Trinidad and Tobago would not be susceptible to “blackmail from the Venezuelans.” Now she has “absolutely no doubt” Venezuelan gas will come within a year. Suddenly the country she said Trinidad did not need has something Trinidad desperately wants.

And suddenly the Venezuelan family matters too. Yesterday it was, “I love her. I look forward to meeting her.” Fine. But the public is entitled to ask a very simple question: Did Kamla's love for Venezuela suddenly become stronger, or did Venezuela suddenly become more useful?

The relatives remained exactly where they always were. It was Kamla's principles that apparently needed a change of address.

11/09/2026

EDITOR'S NOTE: SKN Watchdog publishes the following email as it was received from the sender. The views, claims and concerns expressed are those of the writer and have not been independently verified by SKN Watchdog. We are publishing the email to bring the concerns raised into the public domain and to allow the parties concerned an opportunity to clarify or respond.

Hi SKN Watchdog,

I am asking you to publish this email because I believe the public needs to know about the conduct of some of the vendors participating in the JAD Back-to-School programme.

As parents, we were told very clearly what the JAD assistance could be used to purchase and what we could not buy with it. We understood that the money was for school related expenses, and we were expected to follow those rules. That is why I was very disturbed when I visited Karibhana and the Polo Company in downtown Basseterre and saw JAD payments being used to purchase items that had nothing to do with school.

These vendors knew the purpose of the programme and they knew the conditions under which they were allowed to participate. It is therefore difficult to understand how they could knowingly allow JAD payments to be used for merchandise outside the approved school items. Parents were given the rules and expected to abide by them. The vendors should have been expected to do exactly the same.

What makes this particularly disturbing is the ethical issue involved. This was assistance provided to help parents meet the cost of sending their children back to school. If vendors knew that certain items were not permitted and still accepted JAD payments for those items, then they were acting in bad faith and taking advantage of a programme that was supposed to benefit families. That should not be treated as a harmless technicality.

I also find it troubling that this appeared to be happening openly, without any apparent consequence. Perhaps the JAD system came into operation too late. Perhaps there were weaknesses in the Government's monitoring. But none of that gives vendors the right to disregard conditions they were specifically told to follow.

I am asking SKN Watchdog to publish this email and bring this behaviour to the public's attention. As parents, we were told what we could buy and what we could not buy. The vendors knew the rules too. If they chose to ignore those rules and allow JAD funds to be spent on non school related merchandise, then the public deserves to know about it and the vendors should be held accountable.

The rules cannot apply to parents while vendors are free to ignore them.

Regards,

A concerned parent

09/09/2026

CANADIAN VISA BIOMETRICS COMING TO ST. KITTS

Good news for persons in St. Kitts who are applying for a Canadian visa. Canadian officials will be in St. Kitts on September 17th and 18th, 2026, at the Marriott Hotel, Frigate Bay, to conduct biometric collection for visa applicants.

The important thing to understand is that you still have to submit your Canadian visa application through the normal process. You don't simply go to the Marriott to apply for the visa. Once your application has been processed and you are required to provide biometrics, you will receive a letter instructing you to attend for an interview and biometric collection.

The biometrics will then be done here in St. Kitts at the Marriott Hotel on the date you are assigned. This gives applicants the opportunity to complete that part of the Canadian visa process locally instead of having to travel to Barbados just to provide their biometrics.

So if you're planning to apply for a Canadian visa, this is something to keep in mind. Apply through the normal process, wait for your biometric instruction letter, and follow the instructions in that letter. If you're already in the process and receive an invitation, make sure you take advantage of the local biometric service being offered on September 17th and 18th.

I've included the flyer with the information. Please share it with anyone who may be planning to apply for a Canadian visa.

09/09/2026

RENEWAL FROM WHAT SHAWN? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO BRANTLEY?

In his first national address after being elected political leader of the People’s Action Movement, Shawn Richards had plenty to say about renewal, rebuilding and preparing PAM to govern. But perhaps the most politically significant statement came almost immediately, when Richards described himself as “leader of the main opposition party” and said he understood the weight of that responsibility. That wording deserves attention because Mark Brantley remains the Federal Opposition Leader. Richards had just become PAM’s political leader, yet in his address to the nation he placed himself squarely in the position of leader of the main opposition party. That was not an insignificant choice of words.

Richards did not mention Brantley by name, but he really did not have to. He went on to talk about rebuilding, strengthening and modernizing PAM, creating stronger systems and structures, empowering people and building a disciplined, united and modern political movement ready to govern. He also made it clear that PAM would not wait until an election is called before getting to work. Policies, consultations and a national vision are supposedly already on the way. The message was therefore bigger than simply celebrating his election as PAM leader. Richards appeared to be positioning himself as the person who intends to lead the political opposition from now and into the next general election.

That leaves Brantley with an uncomfortable question. If the main opposition party now needs to be rebuilt, strengthened, modernized and made ready to govern, what exactly happened to the so-called opposition that has been operating until now? Richards never said that Brantley failed. He did not have to. Instead, he described the new opposition he intends to build and left the public to make its own comparison. Brantley may still hold the formal title of Federal Opposition Leader, but Richards’ address certainly sounded like a man preparing to take political ownership of the opposition fight which is perceived as ineffective and complicit to the Drew administration.

Then there is that other word Richards kept returning to: RENEWAL. Richards called this a moment of renewal for PAM and ultimately for St. Kitts and Nevis. He said renewal cannot simply mean changing a political party. But renewal raises an obvious question: renewal from what? Something has to be old, stale, ineffective or in need of improvement before it requires renewal. So what exactly does Richards believe needs to be renewed? What was wrong with the old PAM? What was wrong with the previous approach? And what exactly does renewal mean for the country?

Richards then made the most interesting admission of all when he said, “Renewal must begin with me.” He acknowledged that leaders make mistakes, admitted that he had made his fair share, apologized and said he must be prepared to change, listen, learn and lead by example. That is a significant statement from a man now asking the country to believe that PAM is entering a new political era. If renewal begins with him, then what exactly about Shawn Richards is being renewed?

And there is another issue that cannot simply be brushed aside. Shanny Grey-Brookes previously complained that she had been “straight-jacketed” by the leadership structure. Richards is now promising to rebuild systems and strengthen structures. Fine. But has the structure itself actually changed?

Because strengthening a structure is not necessarily the same thing as changing it. If the old leadership arrangement was part of the problem, has Richards actually changed the structure, or has he simply changed the person sitting at the top of it? Does this renewal give the political leader greater authority, or are the same uncomfortable restraints described by Shanny still sitting underneath the new leadership?

Those are not small questions. Richards has introduced the word RENEWAL into the political conversation, and he has put himself at the centre of it. He has also introduced himself as the “leader of the main opposition party” while Brantley still carries the formal Opposition Leader title. So now both men have some explaining to do.

Richards needs to tell the country exactly what he means by renewal. Brantley needs to explain what his role means in an opposition landscape where the new PAM leader appears determined to take the opposition fight in his own direction. The speech may have been about a new beginning for PAM, but underneath all the talk about renewal was a much more interesting political message: Shawn Richards appears ready to challenge not only the government, but also the existing understanding of who speaks for the opposition.

07/09/2026

TRINIDAD'S VENEZUELA BETRAYAL - THE LOOT TODAY, THE RECKONING TOMORROW

The September 4 report in El Nacional newspaper about Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Sean Sobers' visit to Caracas tells us far more than the carefully chosen diplomatic language would suggest. The newspaper reports that Sobers arrived in Venezuela with an agenda covering energy, trade, national security and border cooperation, supposedly to “deepen strategic relations” between the two countries. That sounds harmless enough until El Nacional itself reminds us of what happened before this sudden return to friendship. Trinidad and Tobago had aligned itself with the United States during Washington's confrontation with Venezuela, allowed American military aircraft access to its airports and permitted a U.S. radar system to be installed in Tobago. Venezuelan officials responded by accusing Trinidad of effectively turning its territory into a military platform for American interests.

The significance of that history becomes even harder to ignore because El Nacional places Trinidad's cooperation with Washington in the same narrative as the subsequent American military operation in Caracas that resulted in the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. We are not being asked to believe that Trinidadian forces participated in the operation. The newspaper does not establish that. What it does establish is that Trinidad provided strategic cooperation to the United States during the period of escalating confrontation with Venezuela, and that Caracas viewed that cooperation as a betrayal. That is not political speculation. It is the history presented in the article itself.

Then came the remarkable reversal. After Maduro's kidnapping, Trinidad and Tobago recognized Delcy Rodríguez as interim president and expressed its intention to send a high-level delegation to Venezuela. Now that delegation has arrived, and suddenly energy, commerce and security with Venezuela are back at the centre of Trinidad's foreign policy. The same Venezuela whose government Trinidad had shamelessly helped Washington pressure is once again important enough for Port of Spain to send its Foreign Minister to Caracas seeking deeper cooperation. That should make anyone paying attention ask a very simple question: what exactly did Trinidad expect to get from Washington for putting itself in that position, and what is Trinidad now hoping to get from Venezuela as the new order takes shape?

This is where the Judas analogy becomes difficult to avoid. Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The lesson was not that Judas received nothing. He received his payment. The tragedy was that he exchanged loyalty for an immediate reward and discovered that the value of the silver could never compensate for the consequences of the betrayal. Trinidad may not have received literal pieces of silver from Washington, and there is no evidence in the El Nacional article of a secret payment. The “silver” in this case is the political, strategic and economic benefit Trinidad hoped to obtain by siding with the United States. The question is whether Port of Spain has already collected its reward, or whether the real payday is still to come.

And Venezuela, with elephant memory, has not forgotten. Caracas may now receive Sobers with feign handshakes and diplomatic smiles because governments have interests that sometimes require them to sit at the same table with people they distrust. Energy, trade and geography do not disappear because of political resentment. But a diplomatic meeting does not mean the memory of betrayal has disappeared either. Venezuela knows who stood where when Washington was applying pressure, and Trinidad's sudden return to Caracas does not erase that history.

The irony is almost too obvious to miss. Trinidad sided with the world's most powerful country while Venezuela was being squeezed, and now Trinidad is back in Venezuela seeking access to the energy and commercial opportunities that exist there. Washington gets to pursue its interests in Venezuela, while Port of Spain wants to position itself to benefit from the new circumstances. That is why the rhetoric about “deepening relations” should not distract from the underlying question of interests. Who sacrificed what, who gained what, and who is now coming back to collect?

Trinidad's government may call this diplomacy. Venezuela may call it cooperation. But history has another vocabulary for a country that abandons a neighbour when a more powerful state comes calling, only to return when the neighbour's resources and economic opportunities become attractive again. Judas got his thirty pieces of silver. The money did not absolve him, and it did not prevent the reckoning that followed. Trinidad may discover that political bargains work the same way. The reward can be immediate, but the consequences of betrayal can last much longer.

El Nacional has essentially placed the pieces on the table for anyone willing to read beyond the diplomatic script: Trinidad cooperated with Washington, Venezuela saw that cooperation as hostile, Maduro was kidnapped, Trinidad subsequently recognized Rodríguez, and Trinidad is now back in Caracas pursuing energy, commercial and security interests like nothing has ever happened. The newspaper did not have to call Trinidad a traitor. It didn't have to use the word “payoff.” The chronology does the talking. And sometimes the most revealing thing in international politics is not what governments say about their relationships, but what they do when the balance of power changes.

If Judas represents the warning, the warning for Trinidad is simple. You can collect the silver today, but you cannot decide when the reckoning comes.

https://www.elnacional.com/2026/09/ministro-de-exteriores-de-trinidad-y-tobago-visita-venezuela-para-cumplir-agenda-energetica/

06/09/2026

CHAIRMAN FRONCIL MORRIS MUST EXPLAIN THE SCHOOL APEX SHUTDOWN

Parents connected to School Apex Cooperative are questioning why the operation was shut down for the entire day on Tuesday, September 1, to accommodate a funeral involving the relative of an employee. The decision has raised eyebrows because it came during the final week before the reopening of school, when families are already scrambling to get books, uniforms and other supplies in order.

What is particularly difficult to understand is why the closure had to cover the entire day. This was not a half-day arrangement or a few hours set aside to allow an employee to attend a funeral. The entire day was lost, leaving parents to deal with the consequences at a time when their own schedules and preparations are already under pressure.

Nobody is questioning an employee's right to attend a family funeral. The concern is the decision to shut down the entire operation to facilitate that circumstance, and whether those responsible gave adequate thought to the impact on parents and students.

That brings the matter directly to Froncil Morris, who serves as Chief Education Officer and chairman of the School Apex Cooperative. Morris should tell parents who authorised the closure, why a full day was considered necessary and whether any alternative was considered before the decision was made. Who made that THOUGHTLESS myopic decision?

The questions are especially important because this was not simply an internal staff matter. The decision affected an entire day of operations and imposed an inconvenience on parents who had every reason to expect Apex to remain open.

Morris cannot simply distance himself from the matter because he may not have personally made the decision. As chairman, he has a responsibility to account for how the cooperative is being managed and to explain whether this is the standard of judgment parents can expect from those entrusted with its affairs.

If the decision was justified, Morris should explain why. If it was poor judgment, then parents deserve an honest acknowledgment and an assurance that the same thing will not happen again.

An entire day was lost. Parents are entitled to know why.

SKN Watchdog is calling on Froncil Morris to account publicly for the very sloppy decision.

05/09/2026

TINY FENCE FOR KITTITIANS, MULTI MILLION DOLLAR SCHOOL FOR BARBADOS

So this is what the Dr. Drew government has decided Kittitian contractors should celebrate. A little chain link fence at Saddlers Playing Field is being put out for local contractors to bid on, and the government wants this to look like some grand opportunity for local business. Meanwhile the Basseterre High School project is a multi million dollar national undertaking, with figures now circulating around EC$270 million, and major structural components are being manufactured in Barbados by Preconco. Precast panels, slabs and columns are being produced overseas and shipped into St. Kitts while local contractors and skilled workers look on.

And here is the part that makes this even more insulting. The Basseterre High School project did not go through the normal open bidding process that local contractors could compete for. The project was given to a Barbadian company. So while Kittitian contractors are now being invited to compete for a little teenie we**ie fence in Saddlers, they were not given the same opportunity to compete for a bamanco multi million dollar national school project.

Think about that for a minute. When there are millions of dollars in construction work on the table, Kittitians apparently are not good enough. When there is a little fence to build, suddenly the government remembers that local contractors exist. Laba cares. It cares enough to throw a tiny fencing contract at local contractors while the big ticket work goes offshore. That is not empowerment. That is tokenism.

Do not insult local contractors by waving a little fence in their faces and pretending you have created meaningful opportunities while the real construction dollars are leaving the country. EC$270 million and this is what Kittitians are being offered? A fence? Laba cares all right. Just not enough to make sure Kittitians get a meaningful share of the biggest public construction project in the country’s history.

LABA CARES!

05/09/2026

SKN WATCHDOG IS ASKING QUESTIONS

SKN Watchdog is seeking clarification about the circumstances surrounding Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew’s decision to travel to Martinique for medical treatment.

In the public interest, Watchdog believes it is reasonable to ask how the destination was selected, who was involved in making the recommendation, and what considerations were taken into account before the arrangements were finalized.

Questions may also be asked about the practical arrangements surrounding the trip, including the airline used and the medical facilities involved. Were these arrangements made directly by the Government, through medical professionals, or with assistance from other persons within the Government or the wider network involved in arranging the Prime Minister’s care?

Watchdog is also asking whether any third party fees, commissions, or other financial arrangements were associated with the travel or medical arrangements. We are not alleging that any such payment or arrangement existed. We are asking whether it did.

These questions are not intended to suggest wrongdoing by any individual or organization. They are questions about transparency surrounding a matter of significant public interest.

The public deserves clear information about how the decision was made and whether public funds or other financial arrangements were involved.

SKN Watchdog is asking the questions. The relevant authorities can provide the answers.

04/09/2026

Drew currently holds six ministerial portfolios and ain't know one s**t about all 6.

SKN Watchdog

12/09/2026

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