Pulse of the Caribbean

#134 Caribbean News Round Up Episode 3 Week of October 27

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A major hurricane tests Jamaica and the wider region while leaders coordinate on governance and sanctions, trade experts chart a greener Caribbean economy, and local innovators turn invasive lionfish into reef recovery and youth opportunity. We share the facts, the stakes, and the wins in this episode.  Here are some of the stories making Caribbean headlines.

  • Hurricane Melissa- the track, hazards, and regional advisories 
  • Jamaica’s impact, disaster declaration, and relief mobilization
  • The UK Overseas Territories Caucus meets in the British Virgin Islands
  • UK sanctions target human trafficking and smuggling in overseas territories
  • St. Lucia hosts international workshops on sustainable trade and bioeconomy
  • Guyana commissions its first biotechnology plant laboratory—increasing food security
  • Aquanauts Grenada wins the 2025 Caribbean Coral Reef Tourism Stewardship Award

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This podcast is brought to you by Diamond Key Marina, Yosem Dyke, British Virgin Islands, home of Foxy's taboo and gateway to the bubbly pool, a natural jacuzzi and hidden gem. Want to reserve moorings at Diamond Key? Visit Bowteyball, B-O-A-T-Y, Ball.com. Welcome to the Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup, episode three for the week of October 27th. Here is a look at what's making Caribbean headlines. We saw the report with a look at Hurricane Melissa. Major Hurricane Melissa is centered near 50 nautical miles west of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, moving northeast at 10 knots, with maximum sustained wind speeds at 100 knots, with gusts up to 120 miles per hour. Peak seas are near 28 feet just north of the center. On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to cross eastern Cuba this morning, move across the southeastern or central Bahamas later today, and pass near or to the west of Bermuda late Thursday. Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across the Bahamas later today, and passes near to Bermuda on Thursday. Swells generated by Melissa will continue to affect portions of Hispaniola, Jamaica, Eastern Cuba, the Cayman Islands during the next day or so, causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. These swells are beginning to reach the Bahamas and the Turk and Caicos Islands and will spread towards Bermuda later this week. Please listen to local weather forecasts. Persons in Cuba, the southeastern and central Bahamas, and the Turk and Caicos Islands and Bermuda should monitor the progress of Melissa. In Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, making it the strongest storm ever to hit the island. The Meteorological Service of Jamaica said that the Category 5 hurricane hit land on Tuesday, October 28, along the southwestern coast of the island near New Hope, Westmoreland. The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, which caused major damage to buildings. The Category 5 hurricane ripped into homes, hospitals, schools, and roadways, destroying infrastructure from St. Elizabeth and Manchester in the south to Hanover and St. James in the northwest. Under the Disaster Risk Management Act, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared Jamaica a disaster area. On October 28th, the declaration went into effect. Prime Minister Holness told CNN on Tuesday night that the damage was devastating. Today, Prime Minister Holeness has mobilized people to begin work to clean the roads, restore electricity, and deal with the humanitarian challenges such as the need for food, medicine, and temporary shelter. The United Nations World Food Program and other agencies have begun working to help and support impacted communities and people affected by the storm. Our next stop is the British Virgin Islands. The Caribbean UK Overseas Territories Leaders caucus took place on Scrub Island in the British Virgin Islands on October 22nd. This was a high-level meeting to improve collaborative abilities and solve common issues. Anguilla's Premier Cora Richardson Hodge, Bermuda's Premier David Burt, Cayman Islands Premier Andre Ebanks, and Montserrat Premier Ruben Mead attended the one-day event hosted by the British Virgin Islands Premier, Dr. Natalia Whitley. Leaders discussed good governance, financial services, security, and border protection, frozen pensions, climate change, trade, and education. UK Overseas Territories Leadership 2026 initiatives to strengthen territorial collaboration, continuity, and involvement were also reviewed. Premier Whitley said, This caucus shows how committed we are to working together to promote the interests of the Caribbean Overseas Territories and make our voices heard when we talk to the United Kingdom. He added, by working together, we can better deal with global problems, build stronger economies, and make sure that the people of our territories continue to thrive. Now on to the UK. The United Kingdom has tightened financial and immigration restrictions to fight human smuggling and trafficking. The King Most Excellent Majesty in Council signed an order in council at Bucklingham Palace on October 16, 2025, implementing UK-driven sanctions. The Global Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Person Sanctions, Overseas Territories Order 2025, declares zero tolerance for human smuggling and trafficking in the British Oversea Territories. It covers Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turk and Caicos Islands, and the British Virgin Islands, but not Bermuda, which has its own sanctions. These measures give the governor and local government powers possessed by UK ministers permitting local sanction enforcement with London oversight. The British Foreign Secretary must approve restricted financial sanctions with sanctioned persons. Sanctions include freeze assets, grant financial sanction licenses, and authorized searches and prosecution of suspected sanctioned violators under the new law. It also bans British Foreign Secretary designated traffickers and human smugglers from entering, transiting, or staying in the islands. Now we head to St. Lucia. St. Lucia is hosting two high-level international workshops on a greener, more inclusive Caribbean economy with global trade policy and sustainability experts. The workshop began October 28th and will conclude on October 30th. The global remaking trade for a sustainable future project is being led by St. Lucian Trade Expert, Dr. Yaniz Remy, Director of the Sridat Ramphal Center for International Trade Law Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus. The event held at Harbor Club Rodney Bay is covering global case studies from Chile, Taiwan, Canada, Japan, and Pacific Small Island Developing States that show how strategic trade policy may reshape industries. The second session will examine how the Caribbean can leverage on the global bioeconomy, which is worth over$4 trillion and expected to reach$30 trillion US dollars by 2050. Sessions will showcase regional growth in sustainable agriculture, marine biotechnology, and circular economy and ecotourism. From food system resilience and green industrial policy to digital innovation and trade finance, experts will discuss eight core themes and create a giraffe Caribbean Sustainable Trade and Bioeconomy Action Plan to guide policymakers and industry leaders toward climate smart inclusive development. Next up, Guyana commissions its first biotechnology plant laboratory after this. For Pulse of the Caribbean podcast advertising or marketplace feature opportunities, email bizbiz at pulse of the Caribbean.com. Get your ads in front of our ever-expanding Caribbean and diaspora community. Contact us at BizBIZ at pulsofthecaribbean.com. Engage in networking and advertising with Pulse of the Caribbean. This is the Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup, episode three for the week of October 27th. On Tuesday, Guyana's agricultural minister, Zolfikar Mustafa, inaugurated the FERS Biotechnology Plant Tissue Cultural Lab. The$450 million new laboratory is part of Guyana's sustainable agriculture development strategy. At the commissioning ceremony, Mustafa stressed the government's commitment to agriculture, the non-oil economy's backbone. He added that Guyana's agricultural industry has risen gradually, generating GDP jobs, and exports. He explained that this enhances the national supply of critical crops like plantain, pineapple, citrus, and root crops, which strengthen domestic food security and supports local agroprocessing sectors like fruit processing packaging and export. In collaboration with India's Energy and Resources Institute and financed by the Inter-American Development Bank under the Sustainable Agricultural Development Program, the new lab can produce over one million plantlets per year, up from 15,000. It will produce clean, high-yielding, disease-free planting material for pineapple, citrus, plantain, sweet potato, breadfruit, sugar cane, and exotic fruits like strawberries and blackberries. And here's our final note. Aquinox Grenada won the 2025 Caribbean Coral Reef Tourism Stewardship Award from the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association CAST and the Nature Conservancy for its reef conservation, community engagement, and sustainable tourism efforts. Aquinox Grenada has turned the invasive lionfish challenge into environmental education, reef protection, and community empowerment through lionfish bites and beats and jams and jewelry nights, which fund the Aqua Rangers Youth Development Scholarship. Thousands of lionfish have been removed from Grenada's reefs, and local children receive hands-on marine stewardship training, producing a model that can be replicated in small island developing states. Aquanaut's Grenada Roots to Reef Tourism Experience lets guests explore the coastal ecology from rainforest to mangroves, seagrass beds to coral reefs, while learning how basic conservation efforts produce sustainable tourism and make a difference. Conservation activities, community engagement, and landsea people connections are shared by guests. Aquinox Grenada will get their Coral Reef Tourism Stewardship Award at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's Chief Conference in Barbados on November 16th. Visit Aquinox Grenada.com for program details and information and bookings for Roots to Reef. This podcast has been brought to you by Diamond Key Marina, Yosvendike, British Virgin Islands, home of Foxy's Taboo, and gateway to the bubbly pool, a natural jacuzzi and hidden gem. Want to reserve more at Diamond Key? Visit Botiball.com. That's B-O-A-T-Y ball.com. Have news and information you'd like to share with us. Send news releases to news at Pulsofhecaribbean.com. This has been your Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup, episode three for the week of October 27th. We continue to pray for the safety and for the speedy recovery of our region's islands impacted and those that are still in the path of Hurricane Melissa. Here's a special greeting going out to our listeners in the Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Mexico. Thanks for listening and do spread the word and share our podcast with others across the region and the diaspora. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook. I'm Keisha Blyden. See you next time.

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For more Caribbean news stories and information, visit us online at pulsofthecaribbean.com. If you found value in this podcast, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And thank you in advance for choosing Pulse of the Caribbean Caribbean News Roundup as your source for Caribbean centered news.