A total of 567 people – 239 males and 328 females – tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, January 10, from the 2,488 tests conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory.

The positive cases comprised 100 persons under the age of 18, and 467 who were 18 years and older.

There were 98 people in isolation facilities, while 3,520 were in home isolation.

As at January 10, there were 266 deaths from the virus.

The public health laboratory has carried out 490,640 tests since February 2020, and recorded 32,795 COVID-19 cases (15,370 males and 17,425 females).

Under the National Vaccination Programme for COVID-19, the total number of persons with at least one dose is 156,871 (68.7 per cent of the eligible population).  The total number of persons who are fully vaccinated is 144,995 (53.5 per cent of the total population or 63.5 per cent of the eligible population).  The eligible population represents those persons who are 12 years and older. (BGIS) 

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Beginning next month, February, the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) will conduct a series of information sessions on the requirements of the Income Tax (Country by Country Reporting) Act, 2021-27.

The Act which came into effect on December 31, 2021 is the domestic, legal, and administrative framework to impose and enforce country-by-country reporting requirements on in-scope multinational enterprises in Barbados. It allows Barbados to implement the BEPS Action 13, Country-by-Country Reporting. 

Under the Act, multinational enterprises with total consolidated group revenue of more than USD $850 million, as reflected in their Consolidated Financial Statements, are now required to prepare a report for submission to the Authority. The Act outlines the first reporting fiscal year as any fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021.

As the designated Competent Authority of Barbados, the Revenue Commissioner has executed the Country-by-Country Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CBC MCAA). Additionally, the Authority has lodged the required notifications with the OECD.

The legislation signals Barbados’ continued commitment, as a member of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), to implement the four minimum standards of the BEPS Project. A copy of the Act can be found on the Authority’s website. (BGIS)

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Security forces attached to the island’s main general healthcare institution have been placed on heightened alert while law enforcement officers investigate threats to staff of the medical facility.

The revelation came Tuesday from Acting Director of Medical Services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Dr Clyde Cave in response to a video circulating on social media in which staff of the Paediatric Department are being threatened with grievous bodily harm.

“Due to our commitment to patient privacy and confidentiality we cannot speak to any allegations made, but we do wish to advise that threats against the safety and wellbeing of our staff are taken very seriously.  To this end hospital security forces have been placed on heightened alert and the Barbados Police Service has been engaged to investigate the matter at hand,” Dr Cave announced in a statement.

He said that in spite of the current COVID environment and other challenges faced, hospital management is assuring the public that the team remains committed to providing safe, quality, patient-centred healthcare to Barbadians and visitors alike.

“However, despite our best efforts, there will be cases that are exceedingly difficult. Even in such circumstances, our medical and nursing teams continue to give of their best in these high-pressured situations, and we assure you that the best care available is always provided,” the senior medical specialist said.

Barbados TODAY understands the incident involves a young boy who is suspected to have died from a COVID-related illness.

“We ask that you treat our staff with the courtesy and respect they deserve as additional threats of violence will only serve to create an untenable environment of fear,” Dr Care warned.

He said the board, management and staff of the QEH extend their deepest sympathies to the family of the patient referenced in the video as they continue to grieve the loss of their loved one.

“While we empathise with the family, under no circumstances will threats or acts of violence directed towards members of staff be condoned. Any and all such threats will be taken seriously and those guilty of such, prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” the Medical service head warned. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Personnel from the Barbados Prison Service have been called in to assist authorities of the Government Industrial School (GIS) after “one or two” wards of the female section at Dodds tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

While denying reports of an outbreak at the juvenile reform institution, Chairman of the Advisory Board Rev Dr Lucille Baird said “If you have one or two cases of the COVID, it’s not an outbreak, is it?

“And also, things that concern children, particularly their medical health cannot be disclosed publicly. I think that all of us would want to wish the GIS facility and all the residents, the best of health. There is no outbreak at the GIS,” Dr Baird told Barbados TODAY Tuesday.

“Whatever needs to be done will be done to ensure the safety of all the staff and residents that are there,” she assured.

When Barbados TODAY reached out to the Superintendent of Prisons Lieutenant Colonel John Nurse, he disclosed that the authorities at the juvenile facility had asked for help.

“What has happened is that they have asked for some assistance and we loaned some assistance, but they run their shop,” Nurse said while rejecting reports that the Prison Service had taken control of the GIS in light of the discovery of the COVID cases.

“They asked us for some assistance while they do certain things and we loaned that assistance to them for a period of time and hopefully they can get over the challenges quickly. Once you got one or two cases, obviously, following on from that would be testing. So once you are tested, you are set aside until your results are known,” the prison chief stated.

Asked if any of the young residents are therefore being accommodated at the Dodds Prison, Nurse replied “no.”

Pressed to specify the nature of the assistance, the prison superintendent said:  “Personnel. We sent a couple of personnel there to help them maintain…you know, once you are dealing with security and so on, I don’t discuss it. So I loaned them that assistance and they would use them accordingly. I can’t go into any more details on that.”
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) camp is remaining tightlipped about another former Barbados Labour Party (BLP) senator joining its election campaign.

Barbados TODAY has been reliably informed that the individual has been working closely with one of the DLP’s Christ Church candidates.

DLP leader Verla DePeiza on Tuesday declined to comment on the development.

Repeated efforts to reach the former government senator proved futile.

The development comes after this newspaper confirmed that former Senator Lucille Moe had recently broken ranks with the Mia Mottley-led BLP and was joining the DLP in the capacity of a strategist.
(KC)

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Former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart broke his three-year political silence on Monday night to deliver a fiery defence of his administration’s decade-long handling of the country’s affairs, saying it had nothing to be ashamed about.

In fact, he said the 2008 to 2018 period of the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) rule was “glorious”.

Immovable in that position, Stuart, who led his party to a 30-nil defeat in the 2018 general elections, staunchly defended his track record as Prime Minister, saying he led a government that kept Barbados’ economy going even in the midst of one of the worst financial crises.

“Nobody in Barbados or outside of Barbados can get Freundel Jerome Stuart to feel ashamed about what happened between 2008 and 2018. It was a glorious period,” he said at the DLP’s St Michael South spot meeting.

“Owen Arthur sat next to me – or rather, between David Thompson [then Prime Minister] and me – at Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Hutson Linton’s funeral … and turned to both of us and said, ‘you all are going to have a very rough time; this was a very good election for me to lose because of how oil prices were going, and, of course, the global financial crisis had set in’.

“We managed it. Children continued to go to school, housewives could still go to the supermarket and get what they wanted. We kept unemployment down to between nine and ten per cent, we paid all of our foreign debts, public servants were paid every single month on time – public servants including nurses. Public transport ran; when we did not want to spend foreign exchange on buying trucks for the Sanitation Service Authority, we employed local waste haulers to supplement what was happening at the Sanitation Service Authority. That is what we did,” an unapologetic Stuart added.

The former DLP leader admitted that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration’s narrative of the country accumulating more foreign reserves and seeing no economic downgrades from international rating agencies under their watch is, on the surface, impressive.

However, he said the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-financed Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan, in conjunction with the large amounts of loans over the BLP’s three-year rule, was giving citizens a false sense of security which will fall apart when the debts are up for payment.

“No government of Barbados, since Independence or before Independence, has borrowed more money than the present Barbados Labour Party has borrowed over the past three years….,” he charged.

“They [IMF] have not come here to be any do-gooders, they are lenders of money and they must get it back. That is what we are going to have to deal with in Barbados when the time comes. If a country is in an IMF programme, no rating agency, I don’t care where it comes from – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, any of the others – no rating agency will go into that country and downgrade its credit rating, because that will be another way of saying that the IMF does not know what it is doing.”

Stuart charged that the current government has betrayed the island politically and engaged in spectator sports during its current campaign, at a time when the country still faces one of its most daunting economic periods.

He said given that elections have been called 18 months before they were constitutionally due, Barbadians have a right and responsibility to vote and keep the BLP in check.

“You are the worse off in Barbados tonight, the rule of law is under threat in Barbados tonight, as a result of the vandalism of the Barbados Labour Party. It started in June 2018 at the opening of Parliament, and the slide right down has continued…. We are on Gadarene slopes, sliding downwards.

“There is no beast anywhere more dangerous than a man or woman who has power when that power is answerable only to that person’s prejudice, that person’s caprice, that person’s whims, or that person’s rage. That is the threat that faces Barbados tonight,” Stuart insisted. (SB)

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Empowering poor people and building out democracy through uplifting policies and governance will be the hallmark of a new Alliance Party for Progress (APP) government if successful in the January 19 polls.

That was the assurance given by APP political leader Bishop Joseph Atherley at his party’s virtual presentation of candidates on Tuesday evening, as he pledged that if elected, his party would pursue policies that will bring about radical and revolutionary change.

Against this background, the former Opposition Leader laid out a 10-point road map which he hoped will be instrumental in this endeavour. The plan includes: people-centred initiatives that bring meaningful benefits; a governance model that works; a growth model that results in shared prosperity for all; a system that allows for obvious and fair access to treatment and redress in legal, social, economic and justice matters; the elimination of corruption; fair remuneration and appropriate mechanisms for accountability in the context of clear transparency; the expansion of ownership opportunity in Barbados; and the building out of a democracy in which power resides in the hands of the people.

He also gave a commitment to building sound platforms for the provision of education, housing and other social welfare services.

Atherley said he expected these nation-building policies to, among other things, “stop poor people from being poor”.

He charged that the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP), though it has managed some things well, has not brought about revolutionary change in the lives of Barbadians at the level of the poor working class, the unemployed, or even the private sector battling the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, he envisaged that an APP government would change that.

“If we look at the development of our economic profile, what we find is simply this – that once we were slaves in their fields, then we moved beyond that and we became servants in their houses and then we graduated, and it would seem that there is a sense of satisfaction having attained this level we become stewards in their offices and businesses. . . .

“The philosophy for the Alliance Party for Progress is we must move beyond being stewards and become owners in Barbados. So, the pursuit of mass-based ownership in Barbados is a premium objective for this party. And that is a commitment we make to you – the building out of a democracy in which power, in real and actual terms, resides in the hands of the people. That is what republic means; democracy also implies that,” Atherley said.

He added that while Barbadians have almost become accustomed to and seemingly contented with power coming to the people once every five years, APP promises “a model of governance, a culture of democracy, the outworking of institutions which will clearly demonstrate that power resides in the hands of the people . . .  every day”.

“We will be a party where people’s participation and the further inclusiveness of the people of this country will be reflected in how we govern, how we govern ourselves and how we remain accountable to each other as we chase our national dreams,” Atherley said.

In terms of ownership opportunities, the St Michael Central candidate said it was shameful that in 2022, the majority of Barbadians still remain landless and, therefore, dispossessed. He said his party will bring about meaningful change in that area.

“. . . . Several of the policies to which I just made reference may fall into the realm of things we have heard before . . . but what makes the difference is the implementation. And if the implementation leads to radical and revolutionary change then we are serving a purpose as a government,” the APP leader said.

Atherley maintained his intended policies would not jettison the country’s values but “build on our foundational institutions, the richness of our communities and always accept Barbados’ and its people’s reliance on a God who is sovereign and supreme and who has expressed himself in bountiful blessings upon this country for the past several hundred years”.

“So, I ask you when you go to the polls on January 19 to consider the candidates . . . a rich blend of talent . . . . All of us possess a unified vision for the betterment of Barbados,” Atherley added. (KC)

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Management of Sandals Barbados Resort has apologised to Cultural Ambassador The Most Honourable Anthony Gabby Carter for a dispute in which the distinguished singer-songwriter was allegedly assaulted by a security guard.

The incident occurred on Saturday when Carter was with human rights lawyer Lalu Hanuman and two other social activists examining various sections of the Dover Beach area, where public beach access has been reportedly restricted.

During the tour, the team stumbled on five signs erected by the luxury resort prohibiting non-guests from venturing within metres of the beach in front of the south coast property.

It was then that Gabby, carrying a sign which read ‘This beach is mine’, was instructed to move from the spot which, according to him, is a public beach. He refused, noting that two years prior, he was informed by management that the ‘illegal’ signs would be removed.

“So, I began to speak with the tourists. I said ‘good morning’ to them, ‘my name is Anthony Carter. My title is Dr The Most Honorable Anthony Carter, Cultural Ambassador of Barbados. I am a premier artiste in Barbados.’ They listened to me quite clearly, they knew why I was there on the beach and that I had the right to stand where I was,” Carter told Barbados TODAY.

“[The guard] got annoyed and decided that I needed to go back behind the sign. I said ‘I told you already I had a meeting with management and they agreed to move the sign. The sign has not been removed and there are five signs that are too close to the water’.

“The man let me know that that is not his business, he is a guard, and it is his duty to make sure that I am behind the sign. I told him this was wrong and he said, ‘well, if you don’t move, I will move you’. I said ‘well, I am not moving’ and it was at that point that he came and shoved me,” Carter disclosed.

His account was corroborated by Hanuman who described it as “a criminal act”.

“We were physically shoved. They put their arms out and pushed us, physically. They were very burly guys, they had a lot of weight behind them. So it was clearly an assault which is a criminal offence,” the attorney told this newspaper.

Neither has expressed any serious intention to pursue the matter with the police.

However, Gabby revealed that through Minister of Tourism and International Transport Senator Lisa Cummins, contact was made with Chairman and CEO of Sandals Resorts International, Adam Stewart who offered an apology.

The cultural icon revealed that the management of Amalgamated Security Services Limited, which provides security on behalf of the resort, promised to review security footage and interview the guard. They will then determine whether a public apology is warranted.

He revealed that when he met with Sandals two years ago, management indicated that the signs were placed close to the water’s edge to deter “drug pushers” from doing business with the visitors.

“This was never meant to be a situation with any hatred or animosity or anything like that. It’s just a misunderstanding with the guard and his manhandling me, which was incorrect,” said Gabby.

“We have a long-time relationship. I worked with Sandals on many occasions. There’s no personal vendetta where Sandals is concerned, just an understanding that the sign was supposed to move,” he added.
kareeemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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Most teachers in Barbados are eager to return to the classroom but are not prepared to do so unless it is safe for them and the children, said Acting President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell on Tuesday as the new school term began online.

He reported an “uneventful” resumption of classes, telling Barbados TODAY, that in the secondary school system, a lot of the time was spent on “recalibrating timetables” and having departmental meetings.

Tuesday marked the start of the Hilary (second) term of the 2021/2022 academic year for students, after a spike in COVID-19 cases forced the Ministry of Education to adjust its plan to have students get back to face-to-face classes.

The Ministry of Education has since proposed a January 24 start to the phased resumption of in-class teaching, but that is subject to change based on the advice from public health officials regarding the island’s COVID-19 situation.

Lovell told Barbados TODAY while teachers were in favour of returning to the physical classrooms, it would depend on the containment of the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“We don’t know if that date will stand. That is subject to the dictates of the Ministry of Health who guides the Ministry of Education,” he said,

“The BUT is in support of the decision taken by the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training to postpone face-to-face classes until it is safe to do so.”

Projections by the University of the West Indies are that in the worst-case scenario, the daily number of new COVID-19 cases could reach as high as 3,500.

“It must also be noted that when the decision was made to postpone face-to-face classes, it was done when we had one known case of the Omicron case on island. However, we are now hearing of community spread, which means that if we postpone school for one case we would imagine that a similar thing would happen for community spread,” Lovell said.

“Not that we don’t want to go back to school. We do want to go back to school, but when it is safe to do so.”

Urging teachers, parents and students to continue to follow the established protocols, the BUT official said “hopefully, that can help us get back into the classrooms as soon as possible”.

Lovell said he was hoping to have a meeting with Ministry of Education officials shortly after the January 19 general elections to discuss the intended phased return to the classroom.

The BUT is also expected to meet with its more than 2,000 members to hear their views on the matter.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Workers at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) concerned about repeat flooding in the new annex of the Accident & Emergency department have been reassured that the issue is being worked on.

Responding to today’s flooding issues, the second major such incident since the facility opened last year, Executive Chairman of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland acknowledged the problem but told Barbados TODAY, that “new buildings occasionally bring with them challenges”.

She said the corrective action will be at no further cost to government.

“A retention is held back from contractors’ fees for a period of six months to one year so that any challenges which occur can be repaired by the contractor. We did have a burst pipe in the new AED. The contractors are engaged in making the repairs,” she said.

“The contractor, Integrated Plumbing Solutions, came on site, made the repairs today. We are sure they would apologize for inconvenience caused to our staff and patients. We have been pleased with their responsiveness to the situation,” Bynoe-Sutherland added.

A hospital source, who declined to be named, said staff were shocked when they reported to work this morning and were met by flooded rooms.

According to the worker, the emergency service room, otherwise referred to as the stat room which is divided into six spaces, and the corridor were most affected by the flood waters.

“All the patients had to be moved because nobody wanted to be standing in the water and slipping. They had to bring in all the general cleaners and clean up but the water was still coming. And even when they put down the sheets to soak up some of the water it felt like you were walking on ice. It is sad and very dangerous,” the worker said. “It isn’t even a year this building finished and it flooding out so all the time.” (KC)

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The RMF Bar and Rotisserie, popularly known as Mapps, in Eagle Hall, St Michael, will be closed for a few days as it was extensively damaged following a collision involving an ambulance and a truck on Tuesday afternoon.

Four people – two men from the truck, one person from the ambulance and one kitchen worker at Mapps – suffered non-life-threatening injuries when the vehicles crashed into the popular shop.

Police Sergeant Ryan Brathwaite said the Black Rock Station received the call about the accident around 2:20 p.m.

Kennedy Leacock, the owner of Mapps, told reporters the storeroom and the food preparation area were extensively damaged.

“It will have to be closed for a couple of days. We will try to get back up as soon as possible but what is most important is that no one lost their life today,” he said.

He disclosed that the employee injured her foot and was taken to the Sandy Crest Medical Centre for treatment. (BT)

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Discussions within the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) about the selection of a political leader will resolve themselves once general elections are complete.

But, according to political analyst Maureen Holder, those with lofty aspirations of becoming either Opposition Leader or Prime Minister under this country’s Westminster system of governance must first focus on winning their seats in parliament.

In fact, she believes much of the opposition party’s success or failure on January 19 will hinge on its ability to make an impact at the community level in constituencies across the island.

She was responding to questions in the wake of a report that surfaced prior to the calling of the election, that some in the Dems camp preferred seasoned political candidate Richard Sealy over party president Verla De Peiza as a political leader.

The Constitution of Barbados indicates that the President shall appoint both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition based on their ability to “command the support of a majority” who, respectively, either support the Government or do not support Government.

“So, let’s say, for example, that the Democratic Labour Party wins nine seats. All nine of them, including the current president, could decide who they want to advance as Opposition Leader or who they want to advance as Prime Minister,” said Holder.

“So, there’s no hard and fast that the leader of the political party would become Prime Minister or would become Opposition Leader.… I don’t see the need to advance to unsettle anybody because down the road, further decisions will have to be made in terms of the leadership question, and that is either Leader of the Opposition or Leader of Government,” she added.

Holder recalled that in 1984, when Errol Barrow retained the reins of government after many years in opposition, the Father of Independence was not a particularly prominent feature within the party in a public way.

“So, a party could have a leader who does not feature prominently for various reasons but can have voices who can lead the populous, who can convince the populous, who can influence them because of their charisma, their ability to speak on platforms, because of their charm and for various other reasons,” she suggested.

“The Democratic Labour Party needs that kind of approach where there are strong and influential voices being heard from the political platform, being seen by the public, so that the current leader could concentrate on her St Lucy seat because she has to really work down in St Lucy. So, if she surrounds herself with a team like that, that could really cushion her,” the political analyst added.

She, however, noted that De Peiza has not yet been able to distinguish herself as a Prime Minister or MP in the same way as Barrow.

At a broader level, Holder noted that not even the DLP’s newer candidates ought to be underestimated, as the quality of prospective MPs, in many cases, could be evenly matched on both sides.

She added that waning popularity over the country’s COVID-19 situation, the rising cost of living, joblessness, and government’s handling of situations like the nurses’ strike, could leave a window of opportunity for the seatless DLP.

“Obviously, incumbent candidates would have a certain degree of experience, and they would be more familiar as they would have won the seats and the constituents would be familiar with them, and even if they lost the seat they would have had to campaign and still the constituents would have been familiar with them,” said Holder.

“I heard other political voices putting forward sentiments about old and new candidates and who has this kind of candidate or that kind of candidate. I am not getting into that, because we are at a stage in our political history where there is considerable political apathy, where it is difficult for ordinary people who have something to offer would love to come forward, but because of the political landscape do not want to come forward,” she added. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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Barbadians have been told they need to learn to “do a lot with a little bit” in the current economic climate.

That warning came from President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza at a virtual meeting held at the party’s George Street headquarters on Monday night.

“The Democratic Labour Party since 2018 had to learn to do a lot with a little bit. And in 2022, Barbados is at a point where it has to learn that same lesson. Because today, only today, I had sight of the Article IV consultation with the IMF and what I saw would make me grow my hair if I wasn’t determined to keep it short.

“We are being told that we are on track heading to the six per cent surplus, and what I saw read minus 1.2 per cent. That means we have to make it up back to zero and then head back to six and we have three short years to get there, according to the timetable that was given,” she said.

De Peiza also spoke of what she called “creeping incursions into our democracy” which she said began in 2018 after the Barbados Labour Party swept the polls with a 30-0 victory.

“In 2018, after realising that they had all the seats, we heard the first set of loose talk, ‘we’re going to amend the constitution to allow the Democratic Labour Party to have seats in the Senate’…. Now, I can’t speak to what happened in June or July, but by August when I became the president I can assure you first of all that no such amendment went before Parliament for the benefit of the Democratic Labour Party, and no such proposal was put to me,” De Peiza said.

“And I want to make that clear because having won a seat under the Barbados Labour Party, Reverend Atherley had stepped over to the other side and declared himself the Leader of the Opposition. How he could be Leader of the Opposition and the Democratic Labour Party is getting Senate seats? That is not how the constitution is structured,” she said.

Another concern De Peiza raised was the process in which Barbados transitioned to a republic last November.

“We were told that this was a cosmetic change; we were simply moving from Governor General to President and there was nothing to worry about. And just in case you wanted to worry, they waited eight months before they next talked about it, and on the Day of National Significance, in a most insignificant manner, to make what ought to have been a momentous announcement, then to find out that what we were told and what we were getting were two completely different things,” she said.

The DLP leader argued that the transition was not just about moving from one figurehead to another.

“We were used to having a Governor General who stayed in place until they chose to leave or until God called them home and now we find ourselves with a President with a four-year term, which is scarily close to our political term of five years. An office that is not supposed to be political can’t be anything else in that term,” she said.

De Peiza also criticised the process that led to the naming of international superstar Rihanna the island’s 11th National Hero.

“Now, we spent months in consultation to come up with the first batch, but literally in the blink of an eye – because I don’t know who sat on any committee to determine anything at all…. No disrespect to the awardee but the process stank,” De Peiza said. (BT)

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Former Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy is raising concern about the possibility that thousands of pensioners in Barbados could be at risk of having their pensions reduced under a new Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Administration.

And he has called on Prime Minister Mia Mottley to come to the people, before the upcoming January 19 General Election, and let them know if this is in fact one of the measures to be introduced that she referred to as “tough decisions”. Speaking to a large crowd at Haggatt Hall, St. Michael Sunday night where the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) paraded its full slate of candidates for the upcoming polls, Sealy referred to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) December 2021 Article IV Consultation, the Sixth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, which he said reported that Government will need an ambitious fiscal adjustment with six per cent of GDP going forward from 2022 to 2025.

“Now if the same report is complaining about the fiscal situation, in essence we are spending too much money and you’re pushing pension reform that is only one thing it means. They want to cut pensions,” Sealy maintained.

“Come out and tell the pensioners of this country and tell the families affected by pension income, the households that rely on that, what is it yuh plan to do? I’m asking questions because the macro-economic indicators are not good. The question of the National Insurance Scheme, it was not in the greatest of shape even before COVID, how do you plan to recapitalise it? Where is the money coming from? More deductions from workers? Or are you going to worsen an already bad fiscal situation in government? How are we going to protect pensioners so that they can make ends meet in an environment where the cost of living is horrid? I genuinely want to know what the government’s plans are,” the former minister said.

The former-St. Michael South Central MP, who is aiming to recapture the seat from BLP incumbent Marsha Caddle, posed several other questions to the Mottley administration. These surrounded the potential for increased taxes, the privatisation of state-owned enterprises, the future of the international business sector, the current state of the Central Bank of Barbados’ balance sheet and the White Oak deal.

“Our current IMF programme will end in October of this year, based on all of the indicators we probably will have to go in another programme and I don’t think that one is going to be as accommodating as this one. So, the simple question is, what is it you plan to do in this IMF programme that is about to be implemented?” he asked.

Sealy continued: “Are you imposing more taxes on people who are already over-taxed? I see that the silly season has seen her talk about providing land tax relief, mind you, having put land taxes on top of people early in the term now coming back to correct the wrong that you did and calling it an election promise. But we need to know what is it that you plan to implement within this IMF programme or beyond this IMF programme that has so scared you that you felt you had to have an election first?

“Could it be you plan to sell off statutory corporations? . . . I’m asking a question, 60-odd state-owned enterprises and the IMF has always, even when we were in government, had some concerns about whether or not Barbados can afford to subsidise these enterprises. Is it that you plan to sell these things off and if you’re selling them, who are you selling them to? Friends and family? And if you’re selling them, what about the workers? Are they going to be retrenched? Don’t they have families to feed? How many people will be on the breadline? That is a question. . .  come and explain. I want to know what other draconian measures are planned?” (KC)

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Police officers and other election day workers are today casting their ballots ahead of the January 19 poll.

From as early as 7 a.m., polling stations across the island’s 30 constituencies were opened to facilitate the process.

At the Bethany Evangelical Church, Eagle Hall, in St Michael West, Presiding Officer Linda Phillips told Barbados TODAY the process has been going smoothly.

“This morning there was quick movement, a lot of people coming in, but as we progress it has slowed considerably. So, we are just basically waiting.”

COVID-19 protocols are in full effect at the polling stations. Phillips said voters fully complied with the requirements.

Polling stations will close at 5 p.m.

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Community activist and social worker Corey Lane has a range of plans for The City of Bridgetown that include the expansion of economic activity and revival of entertainment if he is elected to represent the constituency in the January 19 general elections.

Introducing himself to constituents on Monday night as the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for the area after outgoing Member of Parliament Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic passed on the baton to him, Lane said he will be working to ensure The City is a hive of economic activity.

“We need to bring back business, high-quality business, to the people of The City and the people of Barbados, as a capital city. I have seen the migration of the people and the business, but you have to understand that the capital city is the blood of a country, the economic power of a nation… and I will work my hardest to make sure that I bring it back,” he said.

“We need a cinema and active theatre in The City. These are the sort of things that I’m about,” Lane added.

Other projects on the first-time candidate’s radar include the return of the Baxter’s Road Festival, educational programmes, skills and training opportunities, housing and jobs.

Lane acknowledged that coming after Lt. Col. Bostic, he had “big boots to fill”, but said he was ready for the task.

“I am here to tell you tonight, my boots are on, my boots are laced, my boots are shiny and I am fired up and I am ready for duty.

“I am ready to go. Together, we can do this. My friends, I have already drafted a number of pieces of correspondence to the various and relevant authorities on your behalf. After you sign and seal on January 19th, I will deliver. Signed, sealed and delivered,” he added.

Noting that The City of Bridgetown has “a rich tradition of representation”, he said he intended to carry on that tradition by acting in the constituents’ best interest.

“I am an action man,” he said, pointing out that the work he has done for the last 23 and a half years speaks to his record of service.

“I strongly believe in working with and on behalf of marginalised citizens through positive, wholesome programmes. I am committed to serve. Your next MP will be there for you…. I give you the assurance my concern for people is real. I believe in people and I am therefore asking you to believe in me as we set sail on this journey for you, with you.” (DLB)

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Barbados’ main industrial development agency is promising to pursue a major wave energy project while helping to build out the export potential of bio-energy firms on the island.

Chief Executive Officer of Export Barbados (BIDC) Mark Hill made the revelation on Tuesday as he congratulated officials of five start-up firms who took part in the Bloom Cleantech Incubation Programme.

Hill did not disclose how soon a wave energy pilot project could begin, but indicated that plans to pursue this area had started. He also noted that such a project would fit perfectly within the agency’s plans to expand the life sciences sector.

He noted that the agency would be getting help from the Bloom Cleantech Cluster programme to achieve its objectives.

Bloom is a national sustainable energy and climate technology cluster, which coordinates and provides business advisory services for its members in project financing, market research, innovation management and production commercialisation.

“Bloom sits as a central component of Export Barbados’ life sciences sector expansion plan. The data has indicated that our economy’s greatest potential and competitive advantage lies within the life sciences. Our labour resource orientation, comparative wage competitiveness and untapped export potential all paint a clear picture of opportunity within the life sciences,” said Hill.

“This opportunity is well positioned within our policy environment, as the Government of Barbados has set the 2030 transformation goal of being a 100 per cent renewable energy-powered and carbon neutral economy. With this view in mind, Export Barbados (BIDC) is seeking to further expand the Bloom brand to include the establishment of industrial-scale bio-energy projects such as hydrogen activated carbon, and these other forms of technology that we can export into the global market,” he said.

“These projects seek to leverage new skills and innovative technologies, such as those within the cluster, to overcome industry challenges such as high electricity costs, poor value proposition, and low international competitiveness. One such project which we are pursuing is a wave energy pilot to utilize the vast natural resource of our oceans that surrounds us,” he reported.

Wave energy is a type of renewable energy sourced from the ocean, and can be used for electricity generation among other things.

Hill, who is known for his leadership and advocacy in the clean energy space, said he would ensure that Export Barbados continues to “push and drive forward new levels of transformation” in several areas including export.

He was addressing the award ceremony for five clean energy start-up firms at the Bagnall’s Point Gallery on Tuesday, following the completion of the course under the Bloom incubator programme.

The start-ups’ operators were presented with certificates, grants and awards valuing US$20,000, putting them in a better position to move ahead with their projects that are primarily geared towards helping the island achieve its clean energy goals.

Andy Armstrong, Chairman of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), congratulated the awardees, while declaring the two-year-old Bloom Cluster programme a very important one for developing sustainable energy and clean technology in Barbados.

He announced that the BCCI would be offering the current and past participants of the Bloom Cluster programme a complimentary one-year membership, giving them access to all benefits of membership in the BCCI for the period January to December 2022.

“Make the most of all that the BCCI offers in the year ahead – our services, our networking opportunities and our ability to be ‘the trusted voice of business’. Your issues are now our issues and we will help you to highlight them and to find solutions,” he promised.

Benefiting from this year’s incubator programme were Deandra Crawford of The Green Collective 246; Simera Crawford, owner of Caribbean Environment Management Bureau; Leiska Evanson, owner of Healing Grove Container Farms; Joshua Forte, owner of Red Diamond Compost and Robert and Aria Goodridge, operators of GoodRidge Power Inc. (MM)

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Deborah Simon is a bestselling author whose book The Bigger Picture seeks to inspire and motivate persons to go after their dreams with tenacity.

Simon who is in Barbados to strategise for her upcoming virtual entrepreneurship workshops said when she wrote the book, she wanted to show persons especially women that if she was able to start a business with limited funding so could they. All that they need to do is to have a concrete plan and have faith.

“I have been a business owner for the past eighteen years, back then I came across a desolate petrol site and I knew that that was the perfect site, and I went about creating my purposeful day nursery,” she said.

Since developing her nursery in 2004 she has gone on to have multiple businesses and has decided that she wants to share some of her knowledge with female entrepreneurs.

“As women we need to build an economy that makes us independent. If we build each other up imagine how strong we would be when we unite.

“I guess what inspired me after having my business is that I want to share my talent with women in Barbados and the rest of the world,” she said.

To this end she is seeking to host virtual entrepreneurship workshops catered primarily to female entrepreneurs as a way to share some of the tools she has learnt over the years as a successful entrepreneur in the United Kingdom.

“I want to inspire women to be the greatest versions of themselves so they can leave a legacy for their children.

Through the workshops, women would be able to tap into their purpose and develop it into a physical form for their business,” she said.

Simon who is a university lecturer in Business, business coach and mentor, said that mentorship is very important when someone is starting their micro or growing business.

“Having a mentor is key to everyone’s development as you need to have someone that you are accountable to.

When you are looking for a coach the best way to establish if that is the right person for you is if that person has a proven track record of success in their own industry,” she said.

The businesswoman said that she is working on a number of projects and seeking to have franchises for her childcare business Simon Says.

“I am committed to developing and franchising the development of children and what better way to do that than with childcare and to help women get on board and develop their own business in the industry.

“I am passionate about empowering women because when you empower women you transform the lives of their children to a higher and happier place. My focus is to launch business retreats for female entrepreneurs in various parts of the world primarily in the Caribbean United Kingdom and Europe.

“To start your own business is such a tremendous\success story for us all. I wrote my journey down so I could support women in business, and I am now a bestselling author,” she said.

Female entrepreneurs who are interested in becoming a part of Deborah Simon’s virtual entrepreneurship sessions can email her at debbiesimon.live@gmail.com. (Write Right PR Services)

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Creative passion burned within Jackie Brathwaite from the time she knew herself.
Normally she would have held back, but this time she had to act on it. The author of the newly published Encounters of Ecstasy said that in working on her book she thought of all the variables, leaving no stone unturned, as she wrote the ten stories included within the book from real world experiences.

She spoke of what pushed her to complete Encounters of Ecstasy, which took one month and was published by Passionate Words Editing Services (PWES).

“I always wanted to be published. It was just something within me at the back of my mind – I just wanted to write a book. I couldn’t figure out what type of book to write – I was better at poems and short stories – but I was introduced to Passion Poet [Robert Gibson, owner of PWES] and, after speaking to him, I just got so overwhelmed as I realised that things were happening. I wrote those stories within the space of a month.”

Brathwaite, a nail technician by day, said that Encounters of Ecstasy shows the differences of emotions within humans but is written in such a way that it binds them together.

“For this book it just shows that everybody is different but sometimes we are thinking the same thing or going through the same thing in different ways.”

She said that what she wants most of all is for her readers to take away the undeniable fact that they can express themselves freely without fear.

“If you’re given the opportunity, know that there’s nothing wrong with letting your imagination run wild and expressing yourself within your own limits.”

Within the month of pulling the ten short stories together the busy mom said the stories came fast one after the next.

“I perform pretty good under pressure and that may have inspired me to do more but it was fun and exciting – material just kept coming [to my mind] and I couldn’t even write fast enough sometimes so it was just about me and being in that place that inspired me more to exceed my limits.”

Brathwaite said that she made a daring move in writing Encounters of Ecstasy as she was raised in church. Admittedly, however, she said that she was always fascinated by the magic of erotic expression and so she put pen to paper.

“It was always something hush-hush but it is a beautiful thing when you could come together and express yourself with your loved one.”

For those wondering, none of the stories in Encounters of Ecstasy were from actual events the author experienced, but most were created from the mind of this creative individual.

“They aren’t necessarily things that happened to me but about me imagining what may have happened and stories that I heard. I always talked to people and figured out some of the things I heard.”

Going forward Brathwaite hopes to write at least two books yearly.

“I hope to become a bestseller. My passion is mostly writing and I get very passionate about it. I even get more passionate about it than about doing nails and being a hairdresser.
I love writing.”

Encounters of Ecstasy is available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback versions.
(MR)

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 The pharmacies at the St. Philip Polyclinic, Six Roads, St. Philip, and Randal Phillips Polyclinic, Oistins, Christ Church, have reopened to the general public.

Additionally, the pharmacy at the Winston Scott Polyclinic, Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael, has resumed service until 10:00 p.m., daily. (MHW/BGIS)

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