The Schoolhouse for Special Needs, a private education institution based at Britton’s Hill, has gone solar.

A key objective is to eliminate the school’s monthly electricity bill. But District Governor of Rotary Sonya Alleyne has also underscored the role the project will play in reducing the island’s fossil fuel carbon footprint.

“The project will definitely not only form a perspective of the schoolhouse but it helps our own environment here in Barbados as we move towards a carbon footprint-free 2030,” the District Governor added at the recent launch of the project.

Support for the schoolhouse is an ongoing initiative of the Rotary Club of Barbados.

The official hand-over of the five-kilowatt photovoltaic system which cost $18 000 was made recently by Solar Watt Systems Inc. which has donated the system as a gift to the school along with the installation cost.

President of Rotary Club of Barbados Robin Ford said: “This 5 KVA system will not only provide clean energy to the school but by so doing, reduce the amount of fossil fuel required to be imported into the island and hence reduce our need for foreign exchange spend by our country.”

Ford said Rotarians understand the world is their backyard, “by addressing the cause of climate change, by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases”.

The Schoolhouse for Special Needs has 22 students. It was founded in January 2006 by principal Yasmin Vlahakis.

“The gift comes at a time when we are looking towards a green environment. It would be an ideal time to share with our students in terms of benefits and use of alternative energy,” the principal said.

“It would be important in their science lessons,” Vlahakis added.

District Governor Alleyne said: “The savings that this schoolhouse will garner will be tremendous, and over its life, not this year but in the years to come.”

Sales and Marketing Representative for Solar Watt Systems Inc Anthony Niles said the school could expect to benefit from a reduced electricity bill in February.

Rotary Club of Barbados president Ford added: “We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.”

The children with special needs receive academic education and skills-training, Vlahakis said. (HH)

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​Two Barbadian men have lost their battle with COVID-19.

​An 81-year-old man, who was fully vaccinated, succumbed to the virus at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility on Tuesday, January 11.

A 52-year-old man also passed away from the virus today, Wednesday, January 12, at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility. He was unvaccinated.

​Their deaths bring the number of casualties from the viral illness to 268.

​Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel The Most Honourable Jeffrey Bostic, has extended condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. (MR/BGIS)

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The Immunisation Unit advises members of the public to take note of the revised vaccination schedule for the remainder of the week.

Thursday, January 13
• Winston Scott Polyclinic, Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael – 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Christ Church Parish Church Hall, Church Hill, Christ Church – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Building No.2, Harbour Industrial Park, St. Michael – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Branford Taitt Polyclinic, Black Rock, St. Michael – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Masonic Centre, Salters, St. George – 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Codrington College, Sargeant Street, St. John – 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Friday, January 14
• David Thompson Health and Social Services Complex, Glebe Land, St. John – 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Christ Church Parish Church Hall, Church Hill, Christ Church – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Branford Taitt Polyclinic, Black Rock, St. Michael – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Building No. 2, Harbour Industrial Park, St. Michael – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Alexandra School, Queen’s Street, St. Peter – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• St. Philip Polyclinic, Six Roads, St. Philip – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Mobile Unit
• Amir’s Chicken, Lowlands, Christ Church – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 15

Winston Scott Polyclinic, Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael – 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Masonic Centre, Salters, St. George – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Church of God, The Garden, St. James – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 16
• Building No. 2, Harbour Industrial Park, St. Michael – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Mile-and-a-Quarter, St. Peter – 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available at the polyclinics and vaccination centres at the scheduled times only. Students 12 to 18 years may visit any of the locations listed to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Persons who wish to receive their first dose are advised to walk with their identification card. Those eligible for second doses should also travel with their blue vaccination card.

Booster shots for the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines will also be available for persons 18 years and older who had their second injection six months ago or longer. Persons receiving the booster may present either their blue vaccination card or vaccination certificate and valid photo identification.

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Police are investigating an unnatural death which was reported this evening.

Police spokesman Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss said a 26-year-old male was found hanging in the living room of the house at Baycroft New Road, Bridge Road, St. Michael.

Inniss said the body has not yet been formally identified.

Investigations are continuing.

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Senior Economic Advisor to the Government Dr Kevin Greenidge has dismissed claims by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) that Barbadians will face austerity measures if the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is returned to office in the January 19 general elections.

“I know of no such thing,” he declared in an interview with Barbados TODAY on Wednesday.

In fact, said Greenidge, Barbados was on a track to continued growth.

“We fixed the debt, we paid back the arrears, we fixed the reserves. The only thing remaining to be done was to continue the structural reforms that came out of the online survey we did with the public of Barbados saying what they wanted in terms of SOEs [state-owned enterprises] and the services delivered,” Dr Greenidge said.

“That kind of work had to continue to improve efficiency in the delivery of services. We started with the Transport Board. We started to fund it so that has to continue. I don’t know…there is nothing austerity about that. People just talk. There are no austerity measures that I am aware of,” added the senior economist who is on secondment to government from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He contended that “all the hard work and heavy-lifting” was done between 2018 and before the COVID-19 pandemic which surfaced in March 2020.

“I think the most thing you have to focus on now is getting growth. The economy has to grow. You move the impediments to growth, improve efficiency in the system,” Greenidge said.

Speaking to a large crowd at Haggatt Hall, St Michael on Sunday night when the DLP presented its full slate of candidates for the upcoming polls, former Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy claimed that “draconian” measures were planned by BLP post-election.

He also referred to the IMF December 2021 Article IV Consultation with Barbados as well as its sixth review of the economic reform programme which he said reported that Government would 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,” maintained Sealy, who is seeking to regain the St Michael South Central seat from BLP incumbent Marsha Caddle.

This country’s future relations with the IMF was also one of Sealy’s concerns.

“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.

However, Greenidge declared that while the homegrown IMF-financed Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme must continue, questions as to whether the government wants support under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to go on beyond the March 2022 expiration is a political decision.

“The bottom line is that this is something that will have to be decided by the Government of Barbados once they assess the position. The government has to sit down and assess the situation and make a determination. What I know would continue is the BERT programme,” assured the senior economic advisor to the government.

“The BERT programme is our homegrown programme that was supported by this IMF support. That BERT programme has to continue because a lot of structural reforms were being done in improving efficiency and things like that, that have to be continued after being put on hold because of COVID. You may have to tweak it for the circumstances, but it has to continue,” Dr Greenidge told Barbados TODAY.

The EFF which is financing the BERT is a four-year programme, started in October 2018 and ends in March 2022, with several reviews.

“The last review is for the data…you have to assess the data on how the economy performed to the end of March. Of course, you have to wait until the data comes in. So then you probably assess it in May. Between April and May, they [IMF mission] will come and then go to the IMF Board with the report at the end of June,” Dr Greenidge explained.

He said the mission would probably do a staff visit around February “to see how things are working”.

In December 2021, the IMF Board announced that Barbados was given a further US$24 million (BDS$48 million) under the EFF to continue implementing its BERT programme.

But the IMF had cautioned that the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, along with the twin natural disaster shocks of volcanic ashfalls from neighbouring St Vincent in April and the Category 1 hurricane Elsa in July, pose a major challenge for Barbados’ tourism-dependent economy. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Expressing grave concern, the island’s chief medical officer has revealed that Barbados is in a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with the highly-transmissible Omicron variant gradually taking over the nation.

Painting a grim picture of the unfolding situation, Dr The Most Honourable Kenneth George took the opportunity on Wednesday to warn residents to exercise extra care and follow all the health protocols, particularly during this general election season.

“The cases have been increasing over the last two weeks. The Ministry of Health remains very concerned. Based on the information we have, the patterns of disease spread and the level of infectivity, we are obviously in an Omicron-type mode. Based on the level of spread and the rapidly increasing numbers, both with respect to the positivity rate, the cummulative cases per 100,000, both the seven-day and 14-day average and the R-effective number are all trending upwards at this time, Barbados is in its third wave which is well-established,” Dr George told Barbados TODAY.

“The clinical behaviour of patients is one in which there are high infection rates. We are not seeing as many sick individuals, we are not seeing as many deaths, but we are still worried that those numbers can go up, simply because of the numbers of persons who can potentially be infected,” he stated.

The Government’s main advisor on medical issues said that while the number of people who are infected by the Omicron variant at this time may experience less severe illness, Barbadians still must not let down their guard on the campaign trail or on the January 19 polling day.

“We are asking Barbadians, particularly around this time of elections to follow the protocols which have been established. Once we get confirmation with respect to any further results regarding the Omicron, we will share them with the public,” the Chief Medical Officer said.

Dr George said while he could not provide any firm data for the number of Omicron cases in the island, he recalled informing the public on a previous occasion that the ministry had done some preliminary testing which indicated the existence of the new variant on the island.

“And based on that preliminary testing, the preliminary testing is suggesting that there is Omicron in Barbados. The majority of those tests, around 80 to 85 per cent are coming back with the S gene dropout, which may be a pointer to having Omicron in our midst,” he pointed out.

On Tuesday, the country recorded 516 new COVID-19 cases from 2,403 tests carried out by the Best dos Santos Laboratory.

Eighty-seven of those cases were children under the age of 18. An 81-year-old fully vaccinated man died onTuesday and today a 52-year-old passed away from the viral illness at the Harrison’s Point Isolation Facility. He was unvaccinated. Total deaths now stand at 268.

Some 106 people are in isolation facilities and 3,775 in home isolation.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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The upcoming General Election will be the litmus test for the people of St Lucy, who in six straight elections terms voted for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), until May 2018 when the entire island voted red.

Incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate Peter Philips believes that in just over three years, he has been able to introduce constituents to a standard of representation unlike anything they had ever experienced.

However, DLP candidate and party president Verla De Peiza believes the result last time around was merely an outlier and that the people of St Lucy will be more than willing to return their support to the country’s second oldest active political institution.

In key communities across the constituency, it was clear that many pockets of unflinching support, particularly among older voters, still exist.

At Half Moon Fort, Ms G Rollins declared that she was a relative of De Peiza and would vote for her without question.

“If I go, I will be for her, that is the truth. Your family should come first. I don’t even know [Peter Phillips]. I’ve seen him in pictures, but personally, I never saw him,” she told Barbados TODAY.

The elderly woman also expressed frustration about the persistence of brown water coming through the taps, which to her, looks like beer.

“We are paying for water every month while you’re still drinking beer. It looks like beer, and when the [Barbados Water Authority] comes around with water, it contains so much chlorine, you could smell it when you uncork the bottle.

“I want the politicians to think and know that we are human beings like them,” she added.

At Crab Hill, St Lucy, one man said he is not particularly interested in politics, but that he would give Phillips his vote.

“From the time I could vote, I was a downright Barbados Labour Party supporter and I feel once he was able to take out Kellman, I feel he would take out her too,” said the man.

Margaret Hinds, also from Crab Hill, described De Peiza as “her girl” but was doubtful about her chances to win.

“I feel she may get beaten because of the way things have gone. St Lucy is a Democratic Labour Party constituency, but it didn’t work that way for a very long time. The BLP was getting too close to them,” she said.

At Harrises, a DLP stronghold in the constituency, Cam Bowen, a resident of the area, said there was very little tangible evidence of Phillips’ representation.

“I really haven’t seen anything in our area that we can shout about. It’s the same way as when the people went out. The road infrastructure is very disgusting and that is one of the main issues no matter which side you travel,” he said.

Others said they would simply vote Dems, because it was all they know.

“When the other candidates come into this village, we say ‘go and keep your meetings somewhere else’. You don’t have to come here. We were supporting the Democratic Labour Party for donkey years and we aren’t about to change,” said one elderly man in Harrises.

Another, Patterson Phillips added: “I was a DLP supporter for years, so it’s one person all the time. Verla came around and presented herself this afternoon and told me that she is going to represent Lucy. I am going to continue to give the DLP my support.”

At his campaign house in Checker Hall, St Lucy, Phillips declared that prior to his election “nothing” had been done. And, despite the economic challenges and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, he believes important strides were made in the area of housing and roadworks

But he admitted that the persistence of brown water flowing through the taps due to aging mains still lingers. But he promised to tackle it once re-elected through a joint mains-laying and roadworks programme.

The incumbent also promised to tackle youth unemployment by providing training in a range of disciplines, for a demographic whose support or lack thereof will be critical.

“I see it as a litmus test. I certainly believe, based on my record, that St Lucy will again return to the Barbados Labour Party. After three and a half years, you have had a number of projects, people working and when you move through St Lucy, people are happy to be seeing things happening,” Phillips told Barbados TODAY.

“They are referring to the cleanup programmes, the improvement in the bus service, you are hearing about the housing and people felt at last represented and that things were happening for them.

“I do not fool people into believing that everything can happen for you all at the same time and in a short period. But people are seeing the effort and they have said ‘we believe that had there not been a COVID situation, we would have been much further’. And that is true, that is absolutely true,” he added.

But the perception of DePeiza and her supporters is that Phillips’ three and a half years in office yielded little to no representation at all. She expressed total dissatisfaction with the current MP’s response to water woes, the “deplorable” state of the road infrastructure and even the public transportation system.

“There is one bus that travels the whole of St Lucy at certain times of the day. I call it the scenic bus ride, but for those who have to do it on a daily basis, it really is a waste of time. It also does not serve some people in St Lucy… These are all ministries that the MP for St Lucy was a junior minister in and nothing has happened for the people of St Lucy,” De Peiza declared.

“The suffering of my people is obvious to me and it cannot continue. They have to have proper representation. They also have to have development, because that too is lacking in St Lucy. Where is the bank? Where is the library for the children to study? Where is the supermarket? Where do you go to just have relaxation and entertainment? If you look at the Glebe you will know that we already have a template for it. It is not that hard to do, it is about political will,” the DLP president added.

When asked for an assessment of constituents’ decision to depart from the Dems in 2018, she declared “The entire country was on a swing. St Lucy went with that tide, but we have precedent. This is not the first time that St Lucy has moved away from the Democratic Labour Party and back then, they came swiftly back home and I have no doubt that the result will be the same this time around.”
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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It was smooth sailing at election centres on Wednesday as police officers and other Election Day workers cast 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.

A roving Barbados TODAY team visited several polling stations on the western side of the island.

At the Bethany Evangelical Church, Eagle Hall, in St Michael West, Presiding Officer Linda Phillips said the process went 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,” she said.

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

At 10:42 a.m., the team arrived at the Trents Community Centre in St James Central, where Presiding Officer Allison Holland reported: “It was a little different because of the COVID protocols but voting has been steady. We have 89 people on our register and so far 28 people have voted – 10 males and 18 females.”

Holland said that despite strict COVID-19 protocols the process went smoothly: “So far I can’t say that there have been any hiccups; everything has been going fine,” she said.

At about 11:30 a.m. at the Alexandra School in Queen’s Street, St Peter, Presiding Officer Keith Headley reported that of the 151 registered to vote, 40 people had done so.

He also reported no hiccups: “Everything has been going smoothly so far. We have been sanitising and temperature taking at the entrance and also some person is on the inside who is sanitising the ballot box, the polling booth and pencils after they have been used.”

The Presiding Officer said that today served as a good test for next week’s poll.

“People have been understanding the process and they have been moving along pretty quickly. It doesn’t take long; it takes two minutes. This is a good dry run to see what will happen next week Wednesday as well,” Headley said.

However, things were a bit busier at the Sharon Moravian Church.

Returning Officer for St Thomas, Desiree Regis/Alleyne said there were people waiting in line to cast their vote before the polls opened.

“We did have about five or six persons waiting when we started at seven. It’s been a steady flow so far. We haven’t had five minutes where there wasn’t somebody inside the [polling]station,” she said.

Regis/Alleyne said her team was able to handle the crowd as the lag time between registrants made the process seamless.

She told Barbados TODAY that the team at the polling station was taking the COVID-19 protocols seriously: “We will treat every person coming in through the door as if they are positive so that we are attributing the same sensitivity and attention to every voter that presents themselves.”

Regis/Alleyne also said that the day’s activities were a good indication of how things will flow on election night.

“I wouldn’t say that we have perfected it because it is a dynamic environment that we are working within, but what I would say is that we have done all that we could and we have extended as much courtesy as we can to persons so that we do not disenfranchise anyone and everyone gets the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right,” she said.
kobiebroomes@barbadostoday.bb

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An elderly Christ Church man has complained that he is not getting any “proper” answers from the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) after receiving a bill for $12,000.

Sixty-nine-year-old Elston Sealy of Wilcox Hill said he has been trying unsuccessfully to get the BWA to explain to his satisfaction why his water bill was so high.

“I been in [to the BWA office] and they said maybe there is a leak. I got my son to get a recognised plumber to come and he said there is no leak here. They come and check the meter and said there is nothing,” said Sealy, who lives in a small house on the western end of the Grantley Adams International Airport runway.

“If I showed you the bills from 2017 how it jumped from $27 one time, then another time it came in for $1,000…. This is ridiculous. No one, no one wants to give no answers and tell you what is what. This was going on since 2017…. The water was disconnected. It only came back on because of the COVID. And when the COVID turned it on, it had owed $11,000. I have all the receipts in there,” the disgruntled Christ Church resident declared while displaying the latest bill for $12,000.

“How could I owe $12,000 in water? You know wuh is $12,000? It would take probably a lifetime for you to use that amount of water; and if you see the amount that does come in per month…$1,000, $600; $800… and they tell me a leak. I live in a little chattel house here. I don’t even bathe regularly. I don’t know how the water get to $12,000. Nobody can say anything; anything at all,” Sealy bemoaned.

And with a general election around the corner the visibly upset Christ Church East constituent who also complained of not having received a pension as yet, added: “I ain’t voting this time. It is useless. It doesn’t make sense voting. Poor people here are suffering, especially the old ones like myself. I haven’t seen him [Member of Parliament Wilfred Abrahams] yet come around to say nothing. I ain’t voting this time.”

He told Barbados TODAY he has no time for politicians or the government right now, only for them to tell him why his water bill was so high and why at age 69, he is not getting a pension.

When contacted, Marketing Officer for the BWA Yvette Harris-Griffith said she could not discuss th customer’s private and personal information with the media but said they would look into the matter.

Harris -Griffith added that the BWA is aware some persons may have difficulty meeting their financial commitments and, therefore, those who have arrears or a balance on their account should reach out to the Authority.

“The BWA does permit customers to settle outstanding balances via a payment plan. These arrangements can be made during an in-person visit with our payment agreement team or via written correspondence,” she said. (EJ)

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Former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has issued a warning to Barbadians that their democratic rights and the rule of law in the island are under serious threat.

In a stinging repudiation of the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration on Tuesday night, Stuart said there was a dark shadow over Barbados as a result of the political, economic and social betrayal of the BLP.

And he insisted that people should not remain silent while the values that underpin the Constitution of Barbados and “who we are” as a nation are eroded.

Speaking at a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spot meeting in Britton’s Hill, St. Michael, Stuart charged that several “unconstitutional” acts had been carried out by the BLP government since taking office in May 2018.

He said the first was to amend the Constitution to facilitate the eligibility of Rawdon Adams and Kay McConney as Senators. Stuart recalled being “horrified” and “disgusted” by this action because he could not believe that a Government could, according to him, so crudely violate Barbados’ traditions and conventions.

“The slide downward had started because if the first act of a government is an assault on the rule of law, then there can’t be any coming back. And there has been no coming back since then. Law after law after law has been violated or abused by this administration,” the former political leader said.

He further chided the government for its controversial appointment of two deputy commissioners of police.

“. . . It was that Parliament that passed a law to appoint a second deputy commissioner of police when the Police Act only made provision for one deputy commissioner. . . . When the second deputy commissioner of police was appointed . . . that law was questioned by the citizenry [and] Miss Mottley said she had appointed him under the Public Service Act. Her appointment impliedly repealed the Police Act to give the appointment of Oral Williams validity. [But] Barbados has no doctrine of implied repeal.

“The Constitution of Barbados specifically and expressly forbids any doctrine of implied repeal. If you are going to change a law you have to go to Parliament and change it openly, not by implication. . . . When they came under pressure. . . the Attorney General went to Parliament after the man had been appointed and was receiving a salary and amended the Police Act to bring it in line with the appointment of Mr. Williams,” recalled Stuart, who once served as Attorney General in the David Thompson-led administration.

He charged that if persons needed further proof that the rule of law was under threat, they need not look any further than government’s recent sealed settlement of a lawsuit brought by seven senior lawmen, including the current Police Commissioner Richard Boyce, even though the law courts on two occasions tossed out the officers’ case.

“If you really want to know how bad it has gotten, reflect that seven police officers put the government in court because they said that they thought they were wronged by the Police Service Commission over their promotions. They were fully heard by the judge, Justice Margaret Reifer – she heard all their evidence, listened to their lawyers’ arguments, saw the affidavits and she said, ‘your case has no merit’. They were not satisfied. They appealed to the Court of Appeal, of three judges, including the then Chief Justice. The Court of Appeal re-examined the case, looked at Margaret Reifer’s decision, looked at how she came to her conclusion and the Court of Appeal unanimously said the case has no merit and they dismissed the case as well.

“Do you know that for all the trouble that the courts put themselves through in pursuance of the rule of law and respect for it, the government has now told those policemen they are going to settle with them although they lost the case? You only settle a case if somebody has been wronged. The courts said these men had not been wronged. But that is where the rule of law has gone in Barbados. No more respect for it by this Barbados Labour Party,” Stuart charged.

The former prime minister said that three and a half years after the BLP took office, Barbados was worse off.

He contended that the fundamental values to which Barbadians have subscribed since Independence had been betrayed.

“One of my concerns about politics in Barbados is that too many people in Barbados treat politics as though it is a spectator sport. It is not! The stakes in politics are very, very high. Human welfare, human well-being, human future depend on how seriously we take politics,” Stuart said. (KC)

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Solutions Barbados is throwing its support behind any candidate contesting the January 19 general elections who agrees with the party’s ideologies.

In fact, party president Grenville Phillips II told Barbados TODAY that in addition to Solutions Barbados’ ten candidates, he has endorsed seven candidates running in constituencies not being contested by his party.

“People approach us and we write their names down . . . . It doesn’t matter what party you belong to, once you agree with our policies and you meet the criteria we will endorse you,” he said.

“The endorsement means we are telling people to vote for these people. We will promote them and do all we can to see that they succeed. So we have Solutions Barbados and we are promoting all our candidates, but we are also endorsing other candidates who share Solutions Barbados’ policies and agree to [certain things].”

Among the non-Solutions Barbados candidates are: Patrick Tannis, who is contesting the St Michael South East constituency on an Alliance Party for Progress ticket; New Barbados Kingdom Alliance candidate for St Joseph, Antonio Gittens; Barbados Sovereignty Party candidate for St Thomas, Philip Catlyn; and independent candidate for St George North, Melissa Taitt.

“All of them love and fear God. They are highly competent, capable, and experienced persons who work and are paid for what they do. They are all wealth creators and can be trusted to manage Barbados a lot better than what we have had before,” said Phillips.

One of the policies the candidates are required to agree to is the revocation of the Charter of Barbados, which was passed in both Houses of Parliament.

“The Charter formally establishes a throne for Satan over Barbados, which can stop God’s blessings on Barbados since God does not share His glory or praise with anyone or anything,” said Phillips.

He said candidates must also agree that “Barbadians are to give their consent, or not, on Barbados being a republic because taking consent should never be tolerated or justified in Barbados”.

“This violation of Barbadians’ dignity must be corrected,” he insisted.

Phillips said all candidates of other parties that have Solutions Barbados’ backing have agreed to implement the party’s “favourably and independently assessed economic recovery plan” that includes lowering taxes, improving the management of government services, depoliticising the public service, and eliminating corruption, “all of which are proven to improve a national economy”.

The ten candidates running on a Solutions Barbados ticket are: Jacqueline Alleyne in St Andrew; Robert Toussaint in St Michael Central; Angela Edey in St Michael West-Central; Patricia Cox in St Michael South; Victorine Wilson in St Michael West; Kenneth Lewis in Christ Church West-Central; Susan Corbin in Christ Church East; Ronald Lorde in St Philip South; Karina Goodridge in St Philip West; and Fallon Best in The City of Bridgetown.

Phillips said those candidates have been out and about in their constituencies and will be upping the ante in the coming days as they try to drum up support. (MM)

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Prime Minister Mia Mottley made clear on Tuesday that her administration, once re-elected, will decide on the way forward with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the right time.

Her comments came in response to questions raised on the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) platform earlier this week by St Michael South Central candidate Richard Sealy.

Sealy claimed that Government would likely enter another arrangement following the expiration of the four-year IMF programme, and it would not be as “accommodating” as the current deal.

Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), Professor Don Marshall, speaking on Down to Brass Tacks on Tuesday, also suggested that the ruling party should engage Barbadians on the IMF deal.

But as she addressed party supporters at a spot meeting in Brittons Hill, St Michael on Tuesday night, Mottley said: “There is no government that has been more transparent about its dealing with the International Monetary Fund than my government and when the programme finishes, we will do the assessment to see what is needed. But you don’t do the assessment before looking at the outturn figures.”

She then waded into the track record of the former Freundel Stuart administration which she described “as the greatest disgrace to the people of St Michael”.

Stuart, who has stayed clear of the political landscape since the party’s 30-nil drubbing in the May 2018 elections, spoke at a meeting in St Michael South where he blasted the record of the Mottley administration.

Insisting that the country has no buffer for error, the Prime Minister declared that Barbadians want progress and action and a Government that cares.

Citing achievements such as the restoration of free university education and the $10 million Trust Loan Fund programme, she noted her Government would continue to put Barbadians first as they build out the country.

Listing manifesto pledges, including the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from personal care items and a construction gateway that will provide training for young people to become artisans in preparation for the coming construction boom, Mottley urged Barbadians to stay the course with her administration which has a clear blueprint for development. (SD)

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Capable, ready to listen and bring representation that will be beneficial to Barbados.

That’s how deputy leader of the Alliance for Progress Party (APP) Lynette Eastmond has described the 20 candidates contesting the January 19 polls as representatives of the coalition party.

Speaking on Tuesday evening during a pre-recorded virtual candidates showcase that was broadcast on Facebook, Eastmond said the Bishop Joseph Atherley-led party has the right mix of experience and youth drawn from various landscapes and professions who will, most importantly, uphold the belief that in a democratic society such as Barbados, the voice of the people must always be respected and heard.

“I, myself, have been a member of the Owen Arthur Cabinet along with my colleague Bishop Atherley. This gave us an opportunity to see how a government should be run properly and how a Cabinet should function – and the emphasis here is on consultations, the emphasis is on hearing every view,” she said.

“I recall being in Cabinet and recognising that the chair of the Cabinet ensured that we went around the table so that every single voice could be heard, not only the ones who were the experts. If it was a matter of food prices, it wasn’t just those who had been trained in economics but those who understood the impact that food prices would have on families.

“And that now seems to be missing in Barbados. We are not having the consultations that we should have in making these very important issues for Barbados. The Alliance will bring us back to that position where we consult amongst ourselves but also consult with stakeholders and the wider public,” Eastmond maintained.

Reiterating the importance of universal suffrage, she implored Barbadians to turn out on Election Day and vote APP which intends to, based on its 10-point plan, to eliminate corruption; implement policies that will give way to people-centred initiatives which bring meaningful benefits; introduce a growth model that results in shared prosperity for all and not skewed to only benefit a privileged few; expand land, business and capital ownership opportunities in Barbados; as well as build out a democracy in which power, in real and actual terms, resides in the hands of the people.

“Because of governments’ past inability to deal with corruption, we now face the prospect that only a small clique of individuals will actually see wealth in Barbados. So, we are creating a super-class of wealthy people and it seems to me an underclass. Barbados cannot allow this to happen. This is happening because opportunities are being hidden from Barbadians. They are not being allowed to take advantage of the opportunities that come up from day to day because corruption is not simply about stealing money. In my view, corruption is also about preventing our people from accessing the opportunities that countries like Barbados can develop,” Eastmond said.

“We must never take the right [to vote] for granted. It was fought for over many years and now that we have that right and that privilege, we should not take it for granted. And it is for this reason that I am asking all of you out there to come out in your numbers. . . . Every election is important and this one is just as important as any other election. I personally trust Barbadians to always make the right choice. On this occasion, we need to put right what we did in 2018,” she added. (KC)

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The Barbados passport has inched up one spot on the ranking of the world’s passports, remaining the highest-ranked in the Caribbean.

With a visa-free score of 161 – the number of destinations that holders of a Barbados passport can enter without a visa – the latest Henley Passport Index Report puts Barbados at 23rd globally, out of 199 different passports and 227 destinations.

Last year, the Barbados passport was ranked 24th with the same score.

The index is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

St Kitts and Nevis are ranked 25th with a score of 157; the Bahamas is 26th with a score of 155; St Vincent and the Grenadines at 29th with a score of 151; Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago are both at 30th with a score of 150; and St Lucia is at 31st with a visa-free score of 146.

At the bottom of the list in the Caribbean are: Haiti, ranked at 95th and a visa-free score of 48; Cuba ranked at 79th with a visa-free score of 64; Suriname ranked at 67th with a score of 77; Jamaica at 61st with a score of 85; and Guyana ranked at 59th with a score of 87.

The report is based on exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association.

Explaining its ranking, the report stated: “For each travel destination, if no visa is required for passport holders from a country or territory, then a score with value equal to one is created for that passport. A score with a value equal to one is also applied if passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination. These visa-types require no pre-departure government approval, because of the specific visa-waiver programs in place.” (MM)

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Culture, creative and technology industries are drivers of economic prosperity and the Alliance for Progress Party (APP) has committed to treating them with the respect they deserve but which the party claims have been lacking.

This pledge was made by deputy political leader Lynette Eastmond, who during Tuesday evening’s presentation of that party’s slate of candidates for the upcoming General Election, promised to build out these sectors with real investment.

Eastmond, a founding member and former president of the Barbados Film and Video Association, said that for too long governments have treated these industries like an ugly duckling, which they would only turn to on special occasions like Independence Day “picking a few people to perform” or call up a filmmaker to have their film added to a slot on television “often for free”.

“That is not an industry,” Eastmond lamented. “An industry requires structure.”

A former Minister of International Business in the Owen Arthur administration, Eastmond maintained that building out such industries is possible but with structure and investment and she highlighted her former ministry as a prime example.

“We did this already when we built the International Business sector. Everybody understood it had to be structured, there was specific legislation that was put in place to support it, there was money put to promote it, individuals were trained, government invested in promotion and marketing, engaged specific areas within the civil service to make sure that those particular departments supported the export of our international business sector,” Eastmond said.

“It should be an easy sell because we already have people in these industries.

It is not like the medicinal marijuana industry that we know nothing about, that is growing marijuana for medicinal purposes to sell to a particular market with various standards. We already have individuals in Barbados who are good at . . . music, film, fashion. There are individuals who have already sold their work abroad, there are individuals who have had their film screened from the United States to Canada to the UK to Canada. We have had songs that made it big in the region and throughout the world. . . . There are already Barbadians quietly working for software development companies. Why is it that no government would invest in an industry? Eastmond, who is vying for the St.
Philip West seat believes that if a mere one per cent of what is allocated to tourism is diverted to start these industries, Barbados would see a massive difference across every demographic – social, economic and otherwise. (KC)

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Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St George South, Dawn- Marie Armstrong has accused the current government of failing the island’s young people since being voted into office.

She charged that enough has not been done for the nation’s youth, despite that demographic’s support for the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the May 2018 general elections.

“When we talk about the youth, and we talk about the lack of opportunity and we talk about the crucial role that the youth vote played in 2018 in this country in swinging an election, I would have thought that in 2022 we would have seen a plan laid out for our youth,” Armstrong said.

She noted that young people with criminal records have had the most difficult time, as they cannot seem to be forgiven for their mistakes.

“These young men and these young women come back into society looking for a chance, looking for a break and are condemned by a police certificate of character. No jobs. They’re branded as being troublemakers. Not once has anyone stopped

to think this young woman or this young man may need additional help,” the DLP political hopeful said.

“But you say counselling. Oh, they had counselling, but what type of counselling? There are talking therapies and there are doing therapies. There is psychology and there is psychiatry. How do we know what assistance our young people need if they’re not working with qualified people to be able to determine what they need in order to receive assistance?”

Armstrong told DLP supporters that the current system does not work in favour of troubled youth and that needs to change.

“When they find themselves trying to make ends meet and then they end up in an adult correctional facility, that’s the end of it for them. But I say to my young audience tonight, I say to my parents tonight, if I am speaking to you and you have a young son or a young daughter in your home who is struggling with getting back on the straight and narrow because this government has failed them, I, Dawn-Marie Armstrong, say to you tonight that I will lobby for an arm of the public service to begin to employ young offenders to decrease the rate of recidivism in this country,” she stated, adding that young people should not have their mistakes held against them.

Her comments have drawn a swift response from PROPS Barbados, a charity that works at reintegrating former wards of the state and offers intervention for those that would otherwise become wards of the state.

CEO and founder Ayo Ololara said Armstrong made some erroneous statements as it relates to young people obtaining certificates of character.

“The intention, I believe, was to give the impression that these people would find it impossible to gain employment because of the inability to receive such certificates without blemishes. I want to clear the air on this because this is simply not true. Offences committed as juveniles in Barbados do not carry over into adulthood. I think that it is unfortunate that Ms Armstrong has not clarified that the real issue is one of discrimination on this island towards formerly incarcerated teens or adults after they have paid their dues to society,” she said in a statement.

Ololara pointed out that PROPS is able to obtain clean certificates of character for any former ward just as easily as for any other law-abiding adult citizen.

She stressed that the issue of recidivism is a vexing one and “politicizing it in such an opportunistic manner is just as distasteful as assuming there is no womanhood without motherhood.”

“Those people from the demographic referred to deserve our compassion and assistance. In many instances, they are in the circumstances … because of the actions of adults. What they don’t deserve is the adults that should know better drawing attention to their predicament, inaccurately at that, in their own self-interest. We need to do better,” Ololara said. (BT)

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Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for St Joseph Dale Marshall is cautioning Barbadians not to be swayed by political promises from candidates or parties with a failed track record.

Speaking at Tuesday’s spot meeting in Lammings, St Joseph, Marshall said while many of the opposing parties have been making promises to reduce taxes and create additional jobs, they would not work in reality.

“I ask you not to be wooed by the sweet talk of the other political parties because they do not understand what governance is about. They are promising to remove land tax, they are promising to remove all kinds of taxes without even understanding what the impact of those things will be. Do not be wooed by it,” he said.

“We have three and a half years of solid experience working night and day to benefit the people of this country.”

He added that the BLP administration has proven itself over the last three and a half years and has kept its promises.

Marshall said plans have been finalised to fix the problems that have not yet been resolved.

“All of the things that the Barbados Labour Party has promised this constituency, it is in the process of delivering. We promised you that we will solve the water problem and we have effectively done so, we promised you that we will solve the garbage problem and that has been attended to. The transport problem has been attended to, the clinic at Horse Hill that the Democratic Labour Party had decided would be closed, me and Jeffery Bostic did a tour of that facility and we said ‘no’, and now the people of St Joseph have what is a brand new clinic at their disposal,” he said.

Marshall declared that given the pressing economic issues, along with the still worrisome COVID-19 pandemic, Barbadians should not take the chance of simply voting for an opposition, but should give their votes to the party that has done so much in a short space of time despite the odds.

“Why would you even begin to think of voting for the second best, in the hope that the second best would be a good opposition? What you want is a good government,” the St Joseph MP insisted.

“I have to tell you that I think this election is the most important election in decades, because this is the election that will determine once and for all the future of our country in terms of what our priorities are in relation to things like renewable energy, climate change, agriculture. All of these are things that have to be grappled with…, decisions have to be made.”

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by Marlon Madden

As luxury travellers continue to make their way to Caribbean destinations and international travel rebounds, the sale and consumption of premium and extra-premium alcoholic beverages continue to soar.

Andy Consuegra, Chief Executive Officer of WEBB Banks, a leading distributor of premium wines and spirits to Central America and the Caribbean, is reporting that super premium brands of alcoholic beverages continued to perform well in Barbados and other regional markets during the height of the pandemic.

“Overall, I would say the high-end premium brands and super-premium brands have done quite well during COVID, and that is true across the region,” he told Today’s BUSINESS.

“There are reasons for that, but certainly at the premium and above level have done quite well. In Barbados our best performing brand over the last few years was Luc Belaire, a sparkling rose.

“We are up 200 per cent alone on that brand. Another trend going across the region, not specific to Barbados, is tequila as a category, they are doing very well,” he reported.
WEBB Banks is also a distributor of the increasingly popular Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

“In 2020 we of course took a step back but it was not as bad as we thought it was going to be despite just about all the markets closing down.

“In 2021 we had a very good year where again, despite many markets being under restrictions and closed, as an overall business we ended the year up 10 per cent versus 2019, and up 30 per cent versus 2020,” said Consuegra, as he pointed to the region’s ability to manage crises and bounce back from disasters.

Though pointing out that data was limited, Consuegra indicated that the increase in the demand for the super premium brands were evident by the increased orders in the various markets and continued travel by luxury travellers.

“They were ordering more premium – higher ticket items,” he said.

Singling out markets such as St Barts, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Jamaica, he also noted that the all-inclusive accommodation played in a role in the continued high sales of premium brand alcoholic beverages.

He said while Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas the US Virgin Islands remained the main markets for his distribution firm, Barbados often featured in the Top 10.

The drinks distributor with over two decades experience in the alcoholic beverage industry explained that the absence of more Canadian and British visitor to Bridgetown during the height of the pandemic impacted sales of super premium beverages in that market.

Consuegra told Today’s BUSINESS he was optimistic that the sale of super premium spirits would continue to rise despite sustained restrictions in some markets.
He said while he expected some destinations to tighten restrictions due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, “for the most part, markets are opened for business and they are going to remain that way”.

“We are very positive on 2022 . . . We think it is going to be a positive year both in the high season and again into the summer as well,” he said. WEBB Banks came about in 2016 with the merger of Consuegra’s company WEBB and the North Carolina-based Banks Channel.

A distributor of premium wines and spirits, WEBB Banks works closely with in market distributors in the Caribbean and Central America, supplying local distributors and hotels and restaurants. Stating that alcoholic beverages played an important role in the hospitality and tourism industry, Consuegra noted, “particularly at the high-end, it directly increases the spend per person and then helps in the accounts and profit margins and it also helps the wait staff.”

“It really helps the hospitality industry at a time when it is really needed. The last two years have been very difficult for the hospitality sector. The ones who made it through will do well,” he added.

He pointed out that while the premiumisation of alcoholic beverages started prior to the pandemic, it was over the last two years that it accelerated, so that while overall tourism numbers were down across the region, the sales of some brand of spirits remained high.

“We don’t have the hard numbers yet but we are seeing it in the markets, we are seeing it in the purchases at the very high-end, even during the early days people were finding ways to get on their private jets and yachts and get into the markets . . www. and we have seen a continuation of that,” he said.

He said while his company has not been spared the impact of the ongoing global shipping challenges, he was able to work with regional partners and stakeholders to minimise that impact.
In fact, Consuegra said he expected those challenges to continue well into this year.

He also acknowledged that the absence of festivals in the region over the past two years did have some impact on the sale of premium alcoholic beverages, but quickly pointed out that it was cushioned by the increased purchase due to more luxury travellers during the pandemic.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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by Marlon Madden

The Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), through its Green Committee, is pledging continued support to the island’s efforts towards becoming 100 per cent reliant on renewable forms of energy by 2030.

Andy Armstrong, Chairman of the BCCI Green Committee, renewed this commitment on Tuesday, as he indicated that the BCCI has been working in the background to help push the clean energy agenda.

Indicating that the BCCI fully supported the goal of making Barbados 100 per cent reliant on renewable energy sources by 2030, Armstrong said “the BCCI sits on a number of committees that are steering Barbados towards this goal – committees that look at renewable energy and everything that is needed to make it easier and more efficient for investors to put money into renewable energy, committees that explore how we can accelerate a transitio
to electric vehicles and committees that look at how we can unlock more investment.”

Armstrong was addressing an award ceremony for five clean energy start-up firms at the Bagnall’s Point Gallery on Tuesday, following their completion of required course and business plans under the Bloom Cleantech Incubation Programme.

He said the BCCI Green Committee submitted a 20-page document to the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneur last week, with comments on the draft Power Purchase Agreement for renewable energy systems greater than 10 megawatts.

Opting not to disclose what those comments were, Armstrong added: “This week we will submit a similar one to the Fair Trading Commission on the draft Power Purchase Agreement for renewable energy systems from 1 megawatt to 10 megawatts”.

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) is currently engaged in a public consultation on the feed-in-tariff power purchase agreement.

Individuals and companies hoping to comment on the proposed template power purchase agreement to be used by independent power producers who participate in the FTC’s feed in tariff programme for renewable energy systems above 1MW and up to 10MW have until Friday, January 14, 2022 to submit those comments.

Armstrong said the BCCI will continue to add its voice to the issue of sustainability and the green economy, noting that this has been a primary focus for the Chamber since it formed its first green committee in 2010.

“The BCCI was one of the first to lobby politicians and the public to take climate change seriously. We were the driver in persuading the Social Partnership – the forum for government, labour and employers – to write a commitment to greening Barbados into the most recent Social Partnership Protocol VI which was agreed in 2011,” said Armstrong.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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