The Ministry of Education  Technological and Vocational Training has confirmed that a student from the Princess Margaret Secondary School and one from the Ann Hill School have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement issued tonight, the Ministry said contact tracing has started at the Princess Margaret Secondary School and “all persons have tested negative.”

It added that the school was cleaned and sanitized this weekend.

“Online teaching will be held on Monday [June] 28th and school should resume to regular schedule on Tuesday 29th June,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Ann Hill School will be closed this week and classes will be conducted online.

‘The ministry explained that this is “to facilitate contact tracing and to allow persons to quarantine.”

In addition, the Ministry has informed that the Irving Wilson School will be closed tomorrow to facilitate a general cleaning.

“Classes will be conducted online on Monday and should resume on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

Officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness will hold a virtual meeting with the parents and teachers of the Ann Hill School and the Irving Wilson School tomorrow. The principals will inform parents of the link, the statement said.

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Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Presidential hopeful Guy Hewitt has been formally nominated by the party’s St John Branch to contest the top post.

Hewitt made the announcement in a statement issued late Sunday night.

He said: “I see this is a significant moment for the democratic tradition upon which our great party was founded and a step towards restoring the long and important tradition of a two-party political system that has been a guardian of Barbados’ democracy.

“I want to thank the New Dawn team who are working tirelessly to advance my candidature towards rebuilding the DLP as an effective political organisation. As I have stated, this journey is not about me or even the DLP but about ‘all ah we as Bajans. It is a struggle to regain the soul of our nation.”

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The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training advises that CXC exams start today, and will proceed at the Princess Margaret Secondary School as planned.

The Electronic Document Preparation & Management Exam will be held at 9:00 a.m. and the Clothing and Textiles exam at 1:00 p.m. (METVT)

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SOURCE: CMC –  West Indies’ much-feared batting juggernaut sputtered in yesterday’s second Twenty20 International, as South Africa hit back from Saturday’s opening defeat to claim a 16-run victory and level the five-match series.

With the odds firmly in their favour after restricting South Africa to a modest 166 for seven off their 20 overs, West Indies looked in control at 62 for two in the ninth over but watched as their run chase quickly unravelled to finish on 150 for nine.

Opener Andre Fletcher top-scored with a measured 35 from 36 deliveries while Fabian Allen arrived late to blast an entertaining 12-ball 34, but veteran Chris Gayle (8), Nicholas Pooran (9) and captain Kieron Pollard (1) all fell cheaply in a cluster to hurt the innings.

And Pollard conceded afterwards his side had failed to properly negotiate the middle overs.

“It was just a matter of us trying to play smart and intelligent cricket and I just thought that in the middle overs there, between the overs seven to 11, 12, is where we kind of lost it a bit in losing three wickets — Pooran, myself and [Andre] Russell,” he said.

“There’s no secret about it, we’re aggressive players by nature but at times, Pooran and myself might need to temper our aggression to play that role for the team.

“So we accept that but it’s not going to take away our instinct of trying to play strong, aggressive, positive cricket because that’s our strength.

“There’s a long way to go in this 15-match series (including upcoming games against Australia and Pakistan) for us so we take it on the chin and we move on.”

South Africa had earlier lost momentum late on following a great start, to end on 166 for seven off their 20 overs after being asked to bat first at the Grenada National Stadium.

Captain Temba Bavuma top-scored with 46 from 33 deliveries while opener Reeza Hendricks carved out 42 off 30 balls and partner Quinton de Kock, 26 off 20 balls.

Left-armed seamer Obed McCoy finished with three for 25 and was supported by off-spinner Kevin Sinclair, who ended with two for 23 from his four overs after again being handed the new ball.

“We had to have those conversations [after losing on Saturday] as to where we could have improved in our disciplines and that’s exactly what we did,” said Bavuma.

“Guys came with an open mind, Guys knew they would have to be brave in the execution of their game plans and I guess the result showed that.”

Hendricks belted five fours and a six in a 73-run, opening stand with left-hander de Kock, who punched a couple of fours and sixes before gloving a paddle sweep behind off Sinclair in the seventh over.

Bavuma, who counted five fours and a six, then inspired small partnerships of 23 for the second wicket with Hendricks and 26 for the third with David Miller (11), but South Africa lost five wickets for 43 runs in their last seven overs to falter.

Sinclair accounted for Hendricks in the 11th, lbw missing a reverse sweep while Bavuma missed a slog and was bowled by pacer Jason Holder in the 17th.

In reply, Evin Lewis once again attacked from the start, striking three fours and a six in a 16-ball 24, in a 31-run, opening stand with Fletcher who managed two fours and a six.

But Lewis perished by the sword, attempting an ambitious pull at a quick, length ball from speedster Anrich Nortje and having his stumps shattered in the fourth over, and Gayle got a leading edge to cover off fast bowler Kagiso Rabada (3-37) in the next over to leave the Windies on 40 for two in the fifth over.

Pooran skied one into the deep off left-arm spinner Man-of-the-Match left-arm spinner George Linde (2-19) after adding 22 for the third wicket with Fletcher and with three runs added in the next over, Pollard fell to a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket by Hendricks off left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

When Russell also holed out in the deep four balls later, West Indies had lost three wickets for eight runs off 11 balls to be tottering on 70 for five in the 11th over and facing a required run rate of nearly 10-½ runs per over.

Fletcher found an ally in Holder (20) to rally the innings in a 34-run, sixth wicket stand but once both fell in the space of three balls with a single run added, not even Allen’s five sixes could rescue the run chase.

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Customers are asked to note that due to a water leakage issue at the Barbados Revenue Authority’s Holetown location, that office will be closed to the public.

The Authority will be working to have the issue rectified today.

Any inconvenience caused is regretted. (BRA)

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Two males were identified as COVID-19 positive on Sunday, June 27, from among the 616 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory.

The number of people in isolation is 35.

Barbados has recorded 4,077 COVID-19 cases (1,975 females and 2,102 males) since March 2020, and the virus has claimed 47 lives.

To date, 184,478 tests have been carried out by the public health lab. Public health officials have administered 95,023 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine under the National Vaccination Programme.

Additionally, 69,686 people have received second doses and are fully vaccinated. (BGIS)

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The Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) is closely monitoring the progress of a tropical wave located near 41 degrees west at 8 a.m.

This is about 2000 (km) or 1250 miles east of Barbados.

The BMS however said no watches or warnings are in effect for Barbados at this time.

“At the present moment, the system remains disorganized due to the unsupportive surrounding environmental conditions,” it said in a weather information statement.

The forecasters added: “As it stands, model guidance suggests the system could undergo slow development as it approaches the northern Windwards by late Wednesday.

“The system is forecast to track west-west northwest at 20 miles per hour (32km/h). High winds associated with this system are forecast to pass north of Barbados late Wednesday.”

The BMS will issue its next update on Tuesday, June 29 at 11 a.m.

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SOURCE-CMC- Antigua and Barbuda has announced a 50 per cent reduction in taxes on airline tickets for travel within several countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with St John’s indicating also that the measure will last for six months in the first instance.

“We think at this time where regional travel is relatively low, extremely flat that there is very little to lose and even though it may not be the best condition which to analyse the elasticity of ticket prices, it will give us some indicative indication as to how a reduction in pricing would impact on demand without creating a financial crisis, “Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.

“There is nothing to lose at this time, very little will oose as a result of cutting those taxes. So in the case of Antigua and Barbuda we have taken a decision to cut our regional airport taxes by 50 per cent, effective Monday (June 28) and we will do so for six months to see how it impacts on revenue and then to make a final determination going forward as to what percentage is sustainable, if it is 25, 40 or even the 50 per cent,” he added.

Browne, speaking on his weekly radio programme, said that the matter had also been discussed within the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) “probably about three weeks ago.

“At our last meeting unfortunately we did not get to ventilate it, but in our prime ministerial chat group, I know the discussions were held. The (OECS) Director General (Dr Didacus Jules) is trying to get us to do a round robin to confirm the proposal or to get a formal decision on reducing the airport taxes.”

Browne said that a reduction in taxes would assist the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT, which has been placed under court ordered administration.

“This will also help LIAT too especially if the OECS and Barbados could come together and agree on a travel bubble and to allow for fully vaccinated persons to move without quarantining. We think that will be a win-win for all of us and will also increase our airport taxes hopefully because as it stands now people aren’t travelling so we are hardly collecting any taxes and if we can incentivise the process it will be a win-win for all stakeholders.” (CMC)

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The Barbados Water Authority advises residents of Fitts Village, St. James that it will be replacing the 4-inch main along Jordans Road tonight Monday, June 28th.

The work will be carried out between 7 pm tonight and 6 am tomorrow Tuesday, June 29th.

Residents are reminded to store an adequate supply of water to help during these hours. A water tanker will also assist residents in the area between 7 and 10 o’clock tonight.

The BWA apologises for any inconvenience this contained service disruption in Jordans Road, Fitts Village may cause. (BWA)

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The Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Immunisation Unit has advised that the administering of first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has been suspended for now to allow officials to concentrate on second doses.

As a result, the vaccine appointment website is closed for bookings until further notice. The Unit will honour first doses that were already booked but will not be taking any new appointments.

The team thanks members of the public for their understanding in this matter. (BGIS)

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The Electoral Department has advised that it has not started the process of registering members of the public for new Identification Cards (ID), as is being suggested in a message being circulated via WhatsApp.

Chief Electoral Officer, Angela Taylor, said that as the Electoral Department continues to ready itself for the roll-out, a small pilot project was recently done to ensure that the quality of the ID photograph meets the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard.

Mrs. Taylor stressed that the public will be advised in advance through Government’s communications channels, including social media, and the traditional media, about the registration dates, times, places and the required documents, when that time comes.(BGIS)

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Farmers across Barbados can now avail themselves of a large amount of forage.

This has come about as a result of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s decision to import a quantity of Timothy and Alfalfa hay cubes to make accessible to livestock farmers who have struggled with challenges associated with not being able to graze their animals due to volcanic ash-contaminated pastures.

The cubes are in 50-lb bags and will be sold at a price comparable to that of regular hay.

To purchase and collect the hay cubes, farmers should visit the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Nutrition Unit located at The Pine, St Michael, during the month of July. Distribution will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily.

For further information, livestock farmers may contact the Unit at 535-5951 or 5954. (BGIS) 

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Several aggrieved members of Government’s Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) parked their buses today in protest to make a fresh appeal to Government to abolish or significantly reduce the existing 12.5 per cent participation fee that is deducted from their gross earnings.

The operators complained that their gross earnings are hard-hit when the tax is applied especially as they continue to operate in a struggling economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a significant rise in diesel prices

Many of the operators who parked their vehicles in an open area on the Mighty Grynner Highway this morning, said that at the end of the month they are struggling to buy food because their gross earnings, sometimes under $2 000, must finance vehicle insurance and maintenance, pay drivers, among other commitments.

They also noted that diesel prices have been hurting their already stretched pockets.

Chairman of the TAP Committee, Kristian Yearwood, said TAP’s efforts to have a meeting with Minister of Transport and Works Ian Gooding-Edghill to share their grievances have been unsuccessful. He said the committee has documented correspondence dating from January, that it has been sending the Barbados Transport Board seeking a meeting to discuss the grievances and a way forward.

According to him, many members feel trapped and as though they are a football, and they just want authorities to listen to their plight and take responsibility for the programme.

Yearwood argued that the operators who played a tremendous role in helping to ease the transportation woes taking place in Barbados between 2018-2019 should be treated better. He recalled that at that time TAP vehicles were the only ones going to terminals, stretching operators whom he said bent over backwards for the Barbados Transport Board, before the electric buses arrived on the island.

“We are asked to pay a premium fee to be part of the programme. But from what we can see, there is no value in it. Right now we are paying this premium fee to be paid late by the Transport Board.

“We don’t have access to all the routes and as a majority player in the Transport Board, because right now TAP represents the majority of their bus fleet, we cannot even get a decent meeting to discuss the concerns of the membership,” Yearwood noted.

Commitee vice-chairman Rodney Bellamy said the operators are fully aware that the Transport Board cannot simply make adjustments to the participation fee and that the minister must intervene in the matter.

He said operators are tired of being kicked around like a football as they keep getting pushed around when seeking answers on matters that need to be urgently addressed.

“This year we have seen that unlike last year when the 12.5 was eased during the first lockdown due to COVID, we found that this year it has been unbearable, Bellamy said. “A lot of us are out of business, vans are parked, broken down and all of us are struggling to keep the vehicles working at this point in time.

“If you do the figures on paper, you can see that the 12.5 per cent eats into the money that is required to pay insurances, road taxes and so on. And some of us are now starting for the first time on the permits and we are thankful for the part payment plan, but at the same time, we are making losses,” he added.

Operator Neville Griffith explained that he has been paying 32 per cent more for the past ten weeks. He maintains that although the 12.5 per cent may sound like a small amount, it is an eighth of his gross earnings.

“In December they decide they will take back out the 12.5 per cent. At 100 passengers a day, that is BDS$350. The majority of us got to put in at least BDS$300 in diesel a day because a trip is $60. So if I put in five trips per day, I still can’t get 100 paying passengers. So I ain’t carrying home anything,” Griffith explained.

Meanwhile, the Transport Board’s Chief Operations Officer (COO) Lynda Holder, in a statement, indicated that while TAP members are saying that the 12.5 operational fee is burdensome, it must be noted that each member of the programme signed a contract agreeing to the fee when they joined. She said, notwithstanding that, a six-month waiver on the fee was given during the height of the pandemic last year.

Holder said: “However, the members of the TAP are deployed under the Transport Board and our records indicate that everyone including the Transport Board suffered from a major decline during the months of the pandemic last year.

“We are slowly seeing an increase in ridership as the island re-opens and the correlating figures in revenue. Comparative data shows that if you compare the revenue collected during May 2020 and May 2021, a 43.24 per cent increase can be seen in revenue”.

Holder added that operators in the programme use the facilities operated and managed by the Transport Board and are supplied with GPS systems also paid for by the board, the punch, tickets, and waybills are also supplied by the board. She said the operational fee is used to cover some of these costs.

The COO also indicated that the spokesperson’ claim that they have been trying unsuccessfully to meet with the administrators of the programme since January 2021, is erroneous, as the last time members withdrew their service was January 2, 2021 and the members met with the Ministry of Transport and the Chairman of the Transport Board among other officials five days later via Zoom.

Holder said since that event, management of the Board has been hosting monthly meetings with the TAP operators on the last Sunday of every month.

She also stressed that while the operators also claimed that they were taking action also due to a lack of reimbursements, it should be noted that the TAP operators collect funds on-board the buses with the only reimbursements being in the area of concessionary travel for pensioners, students, police officers and Transport Board employees.

Holder said: “It was agreed that reimbursements would be done on the 15th of the month following. Payment was therefore due on 15th June 2021 for the month of May. It is accurate to say that this payment was delayed by ten days due to a lack of funds. However, operators were contacted and started to collect their funds since last Friday, June 25 2021. Therefore, to use this as an excuse to withdraw their services today was unreasonable and puzzling.”

The COO also noted that while TAP operators expressed disappointment that they were not invited to attend Sunday’s meeting to discuss the issue of the Barbados Mass Transit while other members of the transportation sector were present, they had been informed by the Director of the Transport Authority that the meeting would be held in sections, with last night’s being the first of the series.

She said the board has been advised that 110 permit holders attended the meeting yesterday to receive an update from the Transport Authority on the proposed Mass Transit Authority. (anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)

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Health authorities are ready to deal with any potential importation of the more infectious and deadly COVID-19 variants from the expected influx of visitors during the coming tourism season.

With Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Senator Rudy Grant recently forecasting “very good” bookings for the winter, the Government’s chief medical advisor is assuring residents that the border protocol measures are strong enough to deal with potential carriers of the virus, including the variants which are currently wreaking havoc in some source markets.

On Monday, the Business Insider publication in the UK reported a total of 117 deaths from the Delta variant. Fifty were among people who had taken two doses of the vaccine.

The publication however disclosed that no fully vaccinated people under age 50 had died and the overall death rate was 0.13 per cent.

“Based on what we have put in place, I think it is a fairly robust arrangement to make sure that we catch persons [before] coming into Barbados,” Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George told Barbados TODAY on Monday afternoon.

“There are several circulating variants of concern out there, particularly the Delta variant and also the Gamma variant. You may recall that the Delta variant was very prevalent in the United Kingdom and it is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States. So once we open our borders, Barbados will get ready for the importation of variants,” Dr George stated.

“What I would say, based on public health, we can’t physically stop the importation of variants. What we can do, is ensure that our public health responses are most appropriate,” he added.

He explained that some of the measures require a longer quarantine period for visitors arriving from the sub-continent.

That period, the CMO pointed out, is seven complete days, followed by a retesting.

“Persons who are coming from the United Kingdom must remain in quarantine for five days and be tested on day six. This is for unvaccinated individuals. If you are vaccinated, the public health evidence shows that the likelihood of one getting severe disease is remote and the likelihood of you transmitting the disease is low,” he explained.

The CMO said if a visitor is fully vaccinated and can prove it, they will be tested…and based on the results, would be released from quarantine.

“Still, all persons coming to Barbados require a PCR test at least three days prior to arrival. If they are vaccinated and their information is accepted by the public health officials at the airport, they are either tested at the airport or tested at their hotel…They remain in quarantine for 24 hours and released once their test results are negative. So it is still a two-step testing process,” Dr George stated.

However, he stressed that visitors would be treated according to their vaccine status.

“If you are not vaccinated, quarantine is from five to seven days depending on where you are travelling from,” he added.

But the Chief Medical Officer contended that at the moment, the challenge with regards to COVID is coming from within the country.

“The challenge with COVID is that if you look at our statistics recently, over the last two to three months, the level of persons travelling to Barbados with COVID remains small. The cases that are coming up are Barbadians or people who are resident who are presenting with symptoms,” said Dr George.

He told Barbados TODAY that while it is important to protect the country’s borders, the message still needs to go out to the local population that they need to do the right thing.

“You might get tired of hearing this. Fortunately, we had one case on Saturday and two out of the 616 cases we did yesterday…two who were positive and again those were linked to the original clusters which we spoke about,” the CMO said.

His strong message to Barbadians is that while it is important to do everything necessary to protect the island’s air and sea ports, it has to be done using a two-pronged approach.

He cautioned that one aspect of that approach is to let Barbadians know they have a responsibility to protect themselves and their family.

President of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) Dr Lynda Williams while acknowledging the protocols which have been implemented, said she looks forward to constant reporting on the variants and any changes that may occur in the variants in the Barbados population.

Dr William said she could not say if those protocols would stop a flow of variants from entering the country.

“I don’t know. I could only go with what we have and we have to follow, whether it’s a variant or not, we have to follow the same public health principles which are the social distancing, mask wearing, hand sanitizing, cough etiquette. We also have to use the screening methods which have been set up for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated persons…and we would have been part of developing those protocols,” the BAMP leader told Barbados TODAY.

“I could only say we now have to go forward with them and see,” the medical practitioner stated. (emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)

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Some of the COVID-19 measures implemented under the amended Emergency Management Act departed from “ordinarily known principles of parliamentary scrutiny,” Queen’s Counsel Hal Gollop has told the High Court in closing arguments on four lawsuits against the directives.

Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn, shopkeeper Adrian Kellman of Kermit’s Bar and Benson Straker of Benson’s Minimart are bringing the legal action.

Kellman is challenging the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit’s closure of his Thornbury Hill, Christ Church bar while Straker is suing the Attorney General and Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith, alleging they acted unlawfully and beyond their legal power of authority in enforcing the Emergency Management (Amendment) Act, which governs the directives.

Straker’s case has two applicants – Benson’s Minimart against the AG and the Commissioner and Ricky Straker against the Commissioner.

Senator Franklyn is challenging the manner in which the Emergency Management Act was imposed by Government to control the spread of COVID-19. He claims the Government has been enforcing directives that have not been approved by Parliament.

Addressing Justice Jacqueline Cornelius in the No. 12 Supreme Court,  Gollop also claimed that as Government sought to put measures in place to control the spread of the deadly virus “in its zeal to deal with this pandemic we had many instances of what I should like to refer to as Government by decree”.

“Measures never before taken in this country had an impact on freedom and personal liberty which, particularly even if not intentionally, saw the population being placed under a virtual house arrest,” said the Queen’s Counsel, who also argued that such action could not be done “without the sanction of the legislature”.

“There is a need to balance the power between the Executive and the Parliament – and that goes to the heart of the separation of powers doctrine. What we saw was legislation put in place to control the movement and action of people,” said Gollop who is representing the claimants along with attorney-at-law Neil Marshall.

The QC told the court that Barbados already had in place the 1939 Emergency Powers Act as well as the 2007 Emergency Management Act but Government “found it necessary” to make amendments to the Emergency Management Act – which were the measures implemented in 2020.

He claimed that when questioned about this need to put these measures in place “the Attorney General said it was because of the sparsity of the Emergency Powers Act”.

Gollop added: “But we invite the Court to find that the Emergency Powers Act provides a wide and generous ambit within which all the eventualities brought about by COVID-19 may be addressed.

“We submit to the court that in examining the whole process that has given rise to these orders; decrees… it was necessary for the scrutiny of Parliament.”

He pointed to Section 33 (5) of the Emergency Management Act which according to him specifically said “statutory instruments made under this Act shall be subject to negative resolution. There is the mandatory provision, (that be) subject to negative resolutions”.

Gollop again claimed that when questioned about the removal of that requirement by the amended 2020 statute the Attorney General gave the reason as a need for expediency and other factors.

“We ask the court to find that this law which was sought to be justified on the grounds of expediency was nothing more than an attempt [to avoid] the scrutiny of Parliament,” said Gollop.

“It was a flagrant attempt to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. It was a flagrant attempt to avoid any debate… that would interfere with the agenda they had been set… for the passage of the resolution. They wanted that to be done at all cost… That is a danger to democracy.

“Never must the executive be afforded the kind of sovereignty that would allow [it] to threaten, impinge upon, jettison that principle of parliamentary sovereignty”.

He further charged that when the Attorney General spoke about “sparsity of statute” as a reason for the modification “we are submitting that was one arbitrary attempt by an overburden or powerful executive to subvert the sovereignty of the legislature”.

Gollop will continue his closing arguments before Justice Cornelius on Tuesday. The respondent, represented by Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes, and attorneys Gregory Nicholls and Rashawn Wood, are expected to present their submissions thereafter and on Wednesday.
(fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb)

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Democratic Labour Party (DLP) President, Verla DePeiza is challenging the Reverend Guy Hewitt to be honest with the party and the wider electorate while attempting to unseat her as leader of the country’s second oldest political organisation.

During a Barbados TODAY interview on Monday, she claimed that despite suggesting otherwise, Hewitt’s interest in contesting the St John seat is no secret among party members.

And, despite public attacks on her leadership throughout what is usually an internal process, Depeiza expressed confidence that her record of political leadership stands tall when placed alongside a man whom she considers a “political neophyte”.

Less than two weeks ago, the Anglican priest declared that he had no intention of contesting any of the 30 constituencies under DePeiza’s presidency, “because she does not possess the competencies to successfully lead us to victory”.

At the time, he explained that while he “wanted her to be a success in politics”, he feared that trying to win the St Lucy seat and leading a party to an election victory may be more than she could manage.

Declaring that her public comments on the matter were in defense of self and party, DePeiza claimed that Hewitt had already informed her and other members of the party of his desire to hold the “symbolic” St John seat.

“He is seeking both the nomination in St John and the presidency. Whether he wishes to say so out loud or not, he is seeking both. He, a political neophyte, thinks that he is able to do it, but I, more seasoned than him, can’t do it. Tell me how that makes sense,” DePeiza declared.

In fact, she added that his expressed desire to run for president of the party and challenge Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whilst having no intention to contest one of the 30 constituencies is utterly inconsistent. The former senator has therefore advised Hewitt that only four constituencies – St Michael West, St Michael South, the City and Christ Church West Central are still up for grabs.

According to DePeiza, the reverend’s inconsistencies in politics started last month, when Hewitt swore he had no interest in entering the race for the DLP presidency and just two weeks later launched his candidacy at the Hilton Barbados Resort. Well before the announcement of Hewitt’s “New Dawn” campaign, DePeiza recalled receiving a photo from him, informing her that “a new day” was “dawning”.

“I am seeing a trend and I am certain the party members are also seeing it and this is the thing. I believe politics in Barbados has reached a stage where people want their politicians to deal straight with them. They don’t want empty rhetoric, they don’t want wool pulled over their eyes, they want the straight truth, whether it is unpalatable or not,” DePeiza explained.

“He has taken it there, so it is in the public domain and will be dealt with in the public domain, but certainly, my record speaks for itself. I will send you my flier just so you can see what has been accomplished. I hope he sends his as to what he has accomplished to date so that we are not only evaluating him on promises and rhetoric only, but on actual works,” she added.

Among DePeiza’s achievements, she claims, are increasing numbers in membership, readying 26 candidates “and counting” for the next general election, and increased advocacy on issues of national importance. And despite criticism of the party’s handling of the St George by-election, the president has identified signs of promise even in defeat.

“I am not sure who his statistician is, but in 2018, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate secured 80 per cent of the vote and by 2020, that has been reduced to 66 per cent. Whereas the Democratic Labour Party increased our percentage from 12 to 24. That is a trajectory in the right direction if an election is sprung on us in a Barbados Labour Party stronghold and we managed to field a candidate who performed credibly.

“What you must do when next you speak to Reverend Hewitt was to ask what was his contribution of any kind to the by-election effort,” she contended, adding that his public spat with the party’s youth arm was further evidence of Hewitt’s disconnection from the party.

Over the weekend, Hewitt was successfully nominated to contest the presidency of the DLP during a meeting of the St John branch at which DePeiza was also nominated. Barbados TODAY understands that while the Reverend secured 13 of the 10 votes required to make it on the ballot, DePeiza amassed 22 at the same meeting. The sitting president is said to have also been nominated by “several” other branches.

In a statement the following day, Hewitt thanked the members for their support and promised not only to become a candidate, but to restore “the long and important tradition of a two-party political system”.

“I speak out of a deep belief in the ideals of the DLP and in the potential of our party and its leadership to make a difference. And I speak out of a deep trust in our capacity to unite in a common vision to mend the deep tears in our social fabric and the moral decay taking place around us, while also healing the divisions in our party,” the Reverend declared.
(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)

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Democratic Labour Party Vice President Andre Worrell on Monday declared he will contest the St John constituency on the party’s ticket in the next general election.

Worrell made the statement after Reverend Guy Hewitt revealed late Sunday night that he was formally nominated by the St John branch at its annual general meeting to challenge Verla De Peiza for the party’s presidency.

Hewitt said: “I see this is a significant moment for the democratic tradition upon which our great party was founded and a step towards restoring the long and important tradition of a two-party political system that has been a guardian of Barbados’ democracy.”

But according to Worrell, the party’s spokesman for agriculture and environment, he had to respond to repeated calls expressing concern that he had been replaced by Reverend Hewitt,

“I was ratified as the candidate for St John in February,” he said, revealing that two-thirds of the St John branch did not vote for the former British High Commissioner to contest the presidency.

“At the AGM yesterday, this is possibly the first branch, the only branch where Reverend Hewitt was able to receive 10 votes.

“He [Hewitt] is not the candidate for St John, he is just nominated to run for the presidency of the party. I must also put on the record too that Verla De Peiza was also nominated by the St John Branch with the majority of the votes in yesterday’s meeting. He barely got over the threshold.”

Worrell told the Down to BrassTacks radio talk show it was clear that De Peiza was the favoured presidential candidate, as he pointed out that of the DLP’s 30 branches, more than 16 have already declared support for the current leader.

“It would be safe to say Verla De Peiza Is ahead…so far the majority of the branches, and the members of the party, even the overseas branches as well have put their support behind Verla De Peiza this includes the UK branch and the US branch as well,” the former senator said.

He suggested that Hewitt had failed to attract support because of the conduct of his presidential bid and since he has not been in the trenches working to rebuild the party after suffering its worst general election defeat in May 2018.

Worrell said: “Where most persons fell out with Bro Hewitt is the manner in which he has gone about it in terms of he is a new member of the party. He does not have that knowledge of the working organs of the party, how the elections are contested, how do you get nominated and all of those things, but yet you are still coming in at the tip to run for president and you have not really demonstrated, this is what most people have been saying, any actual evidence of you working with the party except the fact that you were a High Commissioner which was supported by the party when it was in Government.

“Now that is totally different now from the actual party which is trying to rebrand itself and reshape itself after the 2018 election defeat. So just the claim that you were a DLP High Commissioner appointed by the administration is not the same to say that you have been a rank and file member working assiduously on the ground and in the different organs of the party.

“We also had the situation where he came into dispute with the young democrats, all of these things have to taken into consideration.”

Worrell however maintained that the challenge is good for the party and De Peiza, whom he said is “coming out above and growing in the process”. (SD)

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Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw has cautioned the country’s largest teachers’ trade union against attempting to use a recent COVID-19 case at the Ann Hill School, to create panic in the wider society.

In an interview on Monday, Minister Bradshaw maintained that although parents received no official word of the magnitude of Friday’s “emergency”, authorities’ actions were consistent with the advice of public health officials.

Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Kenneth George, whose department has also come under scrutiny from the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), admitted to some “breakdown in communication” along the way. He is, however, adamant that the protocols implemented to minimize the likelihood of COVID-19 in schools continue to meet expectations, and so far, no further spread of the deadly virus has been recorded from any of the most recent cases at learning institutions.

Over the weekend, BUT President, Pedro Shepherd slammed the two Government ministries involved after learning that teachers and parents of students at the Ann Hill School received no official announcement of the lone COVID-19 case. Shepherd argued that the unexplained “emergency” could have resulted in further virus spread, as students and parents would have left school to conduct normal business in supermarkets, public transportation and other places of business.

He also underscored the need for the implementation of new protocols to determine the future management of similar issues.

Minister Bradshaw however dismissed the suggestion, contending that there were far too many “critical” and “important” items on her ministry’s agenda to be “distracted” by the criticism.

Whilst at the Hilda Skeene Primary School on Monday, the education minister explained that the information provided to teachers and parents was consistent with the information which they received from the Ministry of Health.

“When the Ministry of Health discovers a case, the Ministry of Health does the assessment and the contact tracing and informs the Ministry of Education how to advise principals, teachers and staff. There is no other protocol that I can follow. If they say there is a problem, we respond. If they say just hold on a second, we have to continue the investigation, we are not quite sure, obviously we will have to wait until we hear from them. But I can’t close schools when there is no guidance from the Ministry of Health as to how we proceed,” Bradshaw told Barbados TODAY.

“It has to be guided by the health ministry. It is not like it’s a fire or a building falling down… but in relation to a pandemic where obviously there are different variables, children may not have interacted with the students. As you well are aware, we have had instances where only a classroom was impacted and that assessment must be done in conjunction with the principals first before any decisions can be taken.

“There’s no point, as is happening, creating an alarm when there may not be any. Ministries are not in the habit of doing that. That is for other people to do. We are not in the business of creating alarm and panic in the country. We have been managing a crisis from day one, so those who are not capable of managing a crisis need to take it elsewhere, but I don’t have time for that,” Bradshaw added.

On Monday afternoon, the CMO explained that once a COVID-19 case is identified in a school, the Ministry of Education is informed and is expected to inform senior officials at the school, who inform parents and/or students.

“There was obviously some form of breakdown in communication, but normally, the persons who speak with the school initially are the Ministry of Education…but as I said, the Ministry of Health doesn’t engage the students. We would have spoken to the principal and other senior officials in the Ministry of Education. They should have reached out to the school, given the school the information and then we come in and do our contact tracing,” Dr George told Barbados TODAY.

“We are meeting with the school this [Monday] afternoon to clear up some outstanding matters. I will be at that meeting,” the CMO added.

He added that neither of the two new cases highlighted on the country’s latest COVID-19 dashboard are connected to the Ann Hill School or the Princess Margaret Secondary School, which recorded one case.

“We had two extra cases yesterday, those were related to the manufacturing establishments, but the total number in the family clusters that I spoke about are eight – three in one family and five in the next. If schools continue to do the basic protocols, the likelihood of the transmission of coronavirus remains low,” George declared. (kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)

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Police are investigating the alleged rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl last Saturday.

Barbados TODAY understands the incident occurred in the area of the NIS building and Errol Barrow’s former home, at Culloden Road, St Michael.

In an interview with another media house, a female relative of the teenager said the incident happened through a track that leads from the Bayland community to Collymore Rock.

The relative said: “Persons have been robbed out there, raped out there, killed out there, and I think it is time enough that something is done with the area because it is a lot of foliage and trees and what’s not in that area.

“…We are hoping and praying that police finds the person and justice is served in that way.”

When contacted by Barbados TODAY, Police Public Relations Officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss confirmed the incident.

“We can confirm the incident did occur. However because of the sensitive nature and it involves a minor, we will not be issuing any further information on the matter. We do not issue information on juveniles.”

Meanwhile, residents living close to where the incident took place also noted that Saturday’s incident was not the first time someone was attacked through the track which is a clear path but is surrounded by bush.

In fact, some of the residents who are still shaken up by the incident, especially after seeing the condition of the young girl moments after she was attacked, stressed the need for the area to be cordoned off and not allowed to be used as a shortcut until it is made safe. (AH)

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