State support for the creative industries is pivoting towards culture-for-export, according to the National Cultural Foundation’s chief executive.

The cultural development agency made the pitch to entrepreneurs to help maximise revenue potential from overseas consumers last November as a major marketplace looms on the calendar. 

The NCF’s Senior Business Development Officer Andrew Hoyte disclosed the NCF’s export drive in remarks on behalf of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carol Roberts at its Accelerate to Export Symposium and Buyers’ Visit.

Over two days, international buyers and facilitators offered guidance on exporting products and services globally, targeting entrepreneurs in the orange economy, specifically artisans in home and accents, fashion and accessories, and the beauty, spa, and wellness sectors.

The first day of the symposium provided a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their products to international buyers, who offered valuable feedback on product display and provided tips on capturing buyers’ attention at trade shows.

On day two, participants heard from institutions and professionals involved in the export value chain, including shipping, financial services, and trade facilitators.

Also offering guidance to the entrepreneurs were officials from New York NOW, one of the largest biannual wholesale trade shows at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Its winter show is set for February 4-7 with its second show during the summer.

The NCF CEO emphasised the strategic importance of programmes that provide creative businesses access to markets with significant revenue potential, identifying a partnership with NY NOW’s Rising Artisans Programme. 

She said: “Many of our programmes are based on providing creative businesses with access to markets with significant revenue generation potential. Therefore, our relationship with the NY NOW Rising Artisans Programme is strategic for positioning these businesses in global spaces.”

The participants were told of the NCF’s role in providing opportunities to “get a sample of the type of retailers you will want to engage with, for the benefit of your market development, and toward building relationships that can result in leads and orders”.

The symposium also featured guidance from entities such as Export Barbados, Sagicor Bank, and shipping and logistics firm PriceWhirl Barbados. Frank Cox and Teddy Leon of PriceWhirl emphasised the positive impacts of shipping and logistics on the economy, including job creation, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability. George Thomas, the head of Sagicor Bank, outlined the fledgling regional online bank’s plans to facilitate e-commerce sales and introduce a credit card. 

(NCF/BT)

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West Indies women’s captain and Barbadian Hayley Matthews was today crowned the 2023 ICC T20 International Player of the Year.

Matthews, 25, had a terrific 2023 with outstanding performances with both bat and ball. She scored 700 runs and claimed 19 wickets with her off-spin. She had a top score of 132 with an average of 63.63.

An overjoyed Matthew told Windies Cricket in an interview: “It’s great, it’s nice to see all the hard work finally paying off. It’s been a long two or three years so it’s really nice that I was able to go out and have a really good time with the bat and ball this year and help the team as much as I could,” Matthews said in an interview with Windies Cricket.

She topped players such as England’s Sophie Ecclestone, Australia’s Ellyse Perry and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu to achieve the award.

Matthews is the second West Indian, after former captain Stafanie Taylor in 2015, to win the prestigious award.

Photo: Windies Cricket

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The Barbados Labour Party has praised the long standing contribution of party stalwart Joycelyn Patricia (Pat) Thorington-Alleyne who has died. Thorington- Alleyne was a former general secretary and political candidate.

Here is the full BLP Tribute:

Remembering Joycelyn Patricia (Pat) Thorington-Alleyne

It was with deep sadness that the family of the Barbados Labour Party learnt of the passing of Joycelyn Patricia (Pat) Thorington-Alleyne.

Pat was an outstanding member of the Barbados Labour Party who maintained her quiet dignity and charm. She performed her various roles within the Party with the kind of enthusiasm, discipline and efficiency of which, endeared her to the Party Leadership as well as the general membership.

Pat made a significant contribution to national development in both the private sector and political life, at many levels. She served as General Secretary of the Barbados Labour from 1994 – 1996 further demonstrating her willingness to serve, she was the BLP candidate in the 1994 & 1999 general elections in the constituency of St. John, where she performed creditably and helped to hold aloft the banner of the BLP in that constituency.  Pat was appointed to the Senate in 1999 as a Government Senator and served with distinction until 2001.   Given her background and experience, she made significant contributions to many debates especially on matters related to business as well as social development.

With Pat’s vast experiences as a manager in the private sector she was outstanding in her role as the first Manager of the Barbados National Oil Terminal.  During her time as manager of BNTCL she increased fuel storage capacity at the airport and led construction development projects for this state-owned enterprise. In that capacity, she was the only female chief executive which the company has ever had.

We mourn the loss of this loyal and multitalented stalwart of the Barbados Labour Party who is now called to higher service. The family of the BLP extends condolences to Pat’s siblings, children, and the entire Thorington family.  Our prayers are with them in this time of loss.

May the soul of Joycelyn Patricia Thorington-Alleyne rest in peace.

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A drone surveillance and mapping system is to go into force later this year under a comprehensive action plan to fight crop and animal theft, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir disclosed on Wednesday.

He said funding for the much-touted crop protection system will be secured for the new fiscal year which begins on April 1.

Weir’s disclosure in an interview with Barbados TODAY came a day after police said two men suspected of stealing from a yam field at Three Houses Plantation, St Philip were fatally shot by a farmer who caught them harvesting his crops. Their deaths unearthed reports of a string of thefts in surrounding small holdings that have devastated small farmers who have lost not only produce but irrigation lines.

Weir said on Wednesday that unless some Barbadians stop covering up the crime, it will continue unabated.

He said while the government will play its part in addressing crop and livestock stealing, Barbadians must support those efforts by ensuring then when buying produce from individuals, they demand proof that the property was lawfully acquired.

“Intelligence is the key in stemming praedial larceny,” Weir insisted as he disclosed that funding for the acquisition of the drones has been provided for in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.

“If we can get the drones in place as quickly as possible, the next step…our crop surveillance… we have to ramp up our joint efforts between the police, the Barbados Defence Force and the ministry,” he told Barbados TODAY.

Weir said intensifying that collaboration under Operation Bird’s Eye – a partnership between the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force to patrol targeted areas on the ground – could see heightened monitoring of farms, especially those that experience praedial larceny.

With the Protection of Agricultural Products Act of 2022 having already been proclaimed, the introduction of drones would buttress the legislation by locating farms across the entire island to determine where crops are and feed that information to the police. Weir said the mapping would also allow the government to determine where it can put more land into cultivation.

He stressed that the law, which imposes a fine of $100 000 or imprisonment for five years or both for anyone convicted of failing to show a receipt, delivery note, bill of lading, or proof of ownership or lawful possession of agricultural products when requested to do so, has now to be enforced by the police.

“The Act has been proclaimed and people need to play their part in asking for a receipt or other proof to show where the goods come from before purchasing.

“It comes down to Barbadians participating by insisting on seeing the source of material being sold, where it was grown and purchased,” the agriculture minister said, adding that he wants to have a barcode system in place, where chips can be embedded in livestock to monitor or track where the animals are.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is currently working with the farm ministry on a livestock tracking project that is being piloted at Greenland Agricultural Station, St Andrew.

On Tuesday, a Three Houses farmer accused farmers and vendors from outside the area of being involved in the rash of thefts in the community.

He said he was not convinced the stealing, which he said had adversely affected him and five other farmers, was being committed by the same individual or individuals.

In 2022, a farmer at River Plantation in St Philip lost 22 Blackbelly Sheep at the hands of criminals.

Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) Chief Executive Officer James Paul told Barbados TODAY on Tuesday that people must rid themselves of the mindset that they have a right to deprive others of their property. He added that those who buy the stolen produce were just as guilty as those who stole it in the first place.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Classes at the Lodge School will be conducted online for the remainder of the week, according to the Ministry of Education.

The decision was prompted by concerns about mould and other issues at the St John school.

The school was cleaned last weekend but the ministry said after the plant was assessed, it was determined that the cleaning team would require up to three days to complete the job.

It said that upon completion of the work, an inspection will be carried out to assess the school’s readiness, and it is anticipated that the school will be ready for in-person teaching next Monday, January 29.
(MOE/BT)

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By Ryan Gilkes

The six-month-old gap at the top of Barbados’ main tourism agency was filled Wednesday with the appointment of a new chief executive officer (CEO) and the promotion of a senior officer to a new chief operations officer (COO) post.

Barbadian marketing professional Andrea Franklin has been named CEO of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) while long-time BTMI veteran Cheryl Carter, the agency’s UK director, is to be promoted to COO.

Dissatisfied with a half-dozen candidates who interviewed for the top job, the BTMI board turned to Franklin, the country manager for Chukka Caribbean Adventures, the Jamaican firm that runs Harrison’s Cave, according to Minister of Tourism Ian Gooding-Edghill.

Both women are to take up their positions on April 1, the start of the financial year, the minister announced Wednesday evening at a news conference at the BTMI’s Warrens head office.

The leadership appointments follow the resignation last July of German-Canadian tourism veteran Dr Jens Thraenhart, after being in the post from November 1, 2021. In the interim, Chief Financial Officer Craig Hinds acted as CEO.

Gooding-Edghill said: “The chief executive officer along with the team will hit the ground running as a matter of urgency. The fact that we have such an accomplished professional and the fact we have been able to find such on the island speaks volumes about the human capital and the resources that we have on the island. It is always a good thing when you can find individuals who are capable of leading an organisation on the island.

“My view is that it has more to do with the performance of the individual. It has to do with whether or not that person would be capable of achieving the objectives of the organisation  . . . and I am very very confident and satisfied that the candidate that has been submitted I know will do the job.  There is no disconnect.”

Initially, six candidates had been shortlisted and interviewed but a BTMI board subcommittee made up of deputy chairman Gayle Talma and directors Jo-Anne Roett, Terry Hanton and Ryan Forde – the CEO of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association — found none of the shortlisted applicants suitable, Gooding-Edghill told journalists.

“The board of directors then agreed that a process of head-hunting for a CEO should be undertaken by the same sub-committee . . . [which] identified . . . Franklin as a prospective candidate. [She] underwent the same process as the previous applicants which included psychometric testing and interviews,” the minister said, adding that the sub-committee unanimously agreed that Franklin was the most suitable candidate.

The new CEO previously worked with the Barbados Tourism Authority, the BTMI’s predecessor, and has significant experience in various sectors of the tourism industry, including airlines, hotels, villa rentals, and attractions. Franklin oversaw the Caves of Barbados’ transition from a state-owned enterprise to a private-public partnership with Chukka, serving as the cave’s CEO.

Franklin, a University of the West Indies graduate in Tourism Management, holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Leicester and a master’s degree in Project Management and Evaluation.

Her contract is set for a three-year term, starting April 2024. Among her primary responsibilities will be developing business planning processes for Barbados, driving sustainable economic growth, and effectively addressing the government’s policy objectives through tourism. Her role also involves advising the government on tourism-related issues, developing strategies to increase tourism value for Barbados, and leading BTMI in achieving its corporate objectives.

Carter’s return from London to Bridgetown as the BTMI’s number two is part of the ministry’s policy for succession planning and operational streamlining, Gooding-Edghill told journalists.

“[She] will manage the operational functions of the organisation to facilitate the streamlining of skills and core functions so that the CEO could focus on the strategic direction of the new entity. [She] will also be responsible for the leadership and performance of all external markets,” he explained.

Carter was tapped to lead the BTMI global market’s office with the departure of then interim chief executive Petra Roach from the role. She was the agency’s vice president for 13 years until she was appointed to oversee the BTMI’s marketing efforts in Britain, the island’s main source market, in 2014. Roach went on to lead the Grenada Tourism Authority.

The tourism minister said: “These appointments of CEO and COO for the BTMI should be seen as one part of my ministry’s policy to be responsive to the dynamic needs of the tourism sector by taking strategic steps to refresh, reposition, redirect and renew how we do business.”

The goal of this strategic policy, Gooding-Edghill noted, was growth that spreads beyond the tourism industry.

“It’s not only by growing arrival numbers, but it’s also increasing the spend on the island because increased spend on the island will redound to those stakeholders who were in the sector and by extension to government,” the minister said. 

“So the objective is to make sure that we achieve growth in numbers but more importantly, financial terms . . . . We ensure we maintain air connectivity to Barbados and that we grow our base with the airline and get as many [of them] as possible to come to Barbados . . .  and that we basically maintain a product in Barbados; one that can meet the demands and also compete with our competitors.” 

(RG)

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Wealthy people from the Persian Gulf states could be landing here soon if the deal for the public-private partnership (PPP) to run the Grantley Adams International Airport goes through, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Ian Gooding-Edghill has declared.

In a speech to the annual general meeting of the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) on Wednesday at the Radisson Aquatica Resort in Aquatic Gap, he said the PPP would set off major improvements in the airport’s operations, leading to the strong possibility of rich entrepreneurs wanting to do business here.

He told the meeting: “It is necessary that we systematically set about exploring new and emerging markets around the globe. Our commitment is to diversify and tap into emerging markets. The ministry team has also been networking with industry executives and players in the Persian Gulf States and Latin America to attract high-net-worth individuals to the island. Therefore, Barbados has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and an Air Services Agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Further, we are actively seeking opportunities in the Asian market.”

Among the eight nations in the oil-rich Persian Gulf are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Last July, the airport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, a young member of Dubai’s ruling royal family, and Agencias Universales S.A. a Chilean logistics company for the PPP arrangement. The Emirati sheikh owns a conglomerate that develops, invests, co-owns, and operates several power plants and infrastructure projects mainly in Africa and the Middle East.

Last month, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced the $300 million deal would pave the way for airport development, including the creation of a hemispheric hub for cargo and expanded airlift, noting that she hoped the negotiations would conclude by the end of this month.

Gooding-Edghill said there had been several improvements at the airport including the immigration processes and baggage handling, adding that he was pleased with the progress and expected even more improvements when the PPP took shape.

“When the PPP arrangement is concluded with the Grantley Adams International Airport, we will see a more improved airport,” he declared.

The minister also praised the TDC, the non-profit marketing and product development organisation funded by the tourism private sector, for its “impressive” service to the nation.

“Despite its institutional modesty, the TDC deserves to be publicly acknowledged and celebrated for the impressive and effective way in which it has consistently fulfilled its mandate of contributing to the betterment of the environmental, social and economic well-being of Barbados and its citizens and residents,” he said. 

“So striking and significant is your impressive track record that has been accumulated virtually under the public radar. That is because your organisation’s culture has never sought the glare of the perpetual publicity and self-promotion that so many others seem to crave. Recognising that the tangible benefits derived from our collaborations are essential, the TDC has been an unwavering supporter of projects aimed at enhancing the country’s tourism product.”

In his report, TDC chairman Mark Trotman said the organisation was able to partner with other key tourism figures to implement some critical projects for the development of the tourism industry.

But he said that there has been a decline in membership fees over the past year which has put some strain on the tourism body and the organisation was exploring new avenues to gain financial support.

The TDC has engaged the services of a social media specialist to help the corporation engage with a wider audience and foster a stronger connection with its stakeholders to bolster its outreach programme. 

(SZB)

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Christopher Laurie intends to use his newly awarded scholarship to pursue research on how to improve the fledgling nutrition policy in the nation’s schools in the quest to fight lifestyle diseases.

He made the declaration after receiving this year’s Arnott Cato/City of Bridgetown Credit Union Scholarship on Wednesday.

The scholarship is awarded to one Barbadian Master of Public Health (MPH) student every year to assist with their tuition. It is the collaboration between the credit union and the Cato Burton Foundation.

Laurie said that after working with the Heart and Stroke Foundation and other organisations on the National School Nutrition Policy and other initiatives aimed at the rising number of people with noncommunicable diseases in recent years, he needed to continue his research in the field to develop more effective programmes.

“My intended research seeks to both support and evaluate various aspects of this policy, identify implementation gaps, and suggest areas for improvement. Such research is essential if we are to realise our aim of achieving a 50 per cent reduction in new cases of non-communicable diseases by 2023, as highlighted in the 2023 Bridgetown Declaration on non-communicable diseases and mental health,” he said.

“It goes without saying that this cannot be achieved without collective action. I must thank the Cato Burton Foundation, as well as COB for facilitating this award to further public health training in Barbados.”

Launched one year ago, the National School Nutrition Policy aims to create healthy school environments that promote and support the development of healthy lifelong eating and activity behaviours for all children ages 3-17.

In a brief presentation ceremony at the Errol Walrond Clinical Skills Complex on Jemmotts Lane, Dr Heather Harewood, head of the Public Health Group and a lecturer in public health and epidemiology at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, said the scholarship is always appreciated, given the importance of a strong and stable public health system.

“The strength of the health system response is predicated upon having a well-trained and agile public health workforce. This requirement was one of the primary reasons for the development of the MPH programme at Cave Hill,” she said.

“A strength of our MPH is the integrated delivery [in] which students are able to benefit from interaction with technical experts from the Ministry of Health, the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, as well as other regional and global academic partners, many of whom are adjunct faculty. These opportunities, along with selected field trips and directed activities have equipped our graduates with the needed authentic exposures to enhance their ability to integrate into various workplaces and fields of interest.”

UWI’s MPH graduates have contributed heavily to various public health projects both locally and abroad, she said: “This MPH focuses on equipping persons with the knowledge and skills required to provide leadership and effective management within health and allied sectors and disciplines, regionally and beyond.

“We are happy to highlight that many of our graduates and several of our past scholarship recipients are making sterling contributions in areas such as breast cancer research among women of the African diaspora, management of a multicenter household food and nutrition project and contributions to academia and key stakeholders in health planning and health service delivery at the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Queen Elizabeth hospital, respectively.”

Dr Clyde Cave, Board Trustee of the Cato Burton Foundation, stated that the organisation has always been drawn to UWI’s public health programme since public health is vital not just for individual citizens but also for the community as a whole.

“Public health has been one of the areas carrying the banner to say it’s not just about your health, you are part of a community. How you fit into this is extremely important, and as we learned recently in an epidemic and pandemic, perhaps even more important than individual health is how we collectively move forward.

“This course has always been attractive to the Cato Burton Foundation. Initially, when it was the Sir Arnott Cato Foundation, the purpose of that foundation was to assist in the human resource development of health workers in Barbados and St Vincent,” he explained.

The scholarship is named for St Vincent-born surgeon Sir Arnott Cato, a UWI graduate, who was a prominent figure in medicine, medical education and public life in Barbados for over 60 years. A former senator and chairman of the Public Service Commission, the Privy Councilor acted as Governor General on many occasions before he died in 1998.
(SB)

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The return of polio and measles in the industrialised North represents a “very big step backwards” for medicine, a leading paediatrician declared Wednesday as he warned Barbadians to take immunisation against the crippling childhood diseases seriously.

Dr Clyde Cave said he is baffled that adult Barbadians who were immunised as children in the last century’s drive to wipe out the diseases were now opposing the same vaccinations for their children.

“I have families who are much more committed to having their new puppies get all their shots than they are [with] their children,” he said.

Once thought to have been eradicated, the rising numbers of the two communicable diseases in Europe and the United States in the last several months should be seen as a worrying trend for all healthcare providers, said Dr Cave, a former Director of Medical Services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“The specific concern with the communicable diseases that we thought we had eradicated – largely, polio and measles – is because that is dire,” said Dr Cave. “We had polio centres throughout the Caribbean for affected people who were left with deficits and difficulty walking and using their limbs. [There] had to be major assistance programmes, the hospital level of care, the intensive care, the ventilators [for] breathing…we haven’t had to do that in years. In fact, a lot of those polio rehab centres have closed down.

“With the re-emergence of polio, we are going to start seeing a need for those kinds of things. It certainly represents, from a medical perspective, a very big step backwards.”

He also noted that it was peculiar for some adults in the current generation to refuse to vaccinate their children, given that they themselves would have benefitted in a big way from the vaccination push during the last century.

“It is a little bit unusual, to my way of thinking, that when you don’t have a disease because you are immunised, you think that if you stop immunisation you will no longer have that disease. I am not quite sure how that has become a pervasive thought, but it seems to have resulted in a lot of parents, who themselves were vaccinated and who themselves immunised other children, somehow not keeping it as a priority for their younger children,” Dr Cave said.

Polio is a viral illness that attacks the central nervous system. In severe cases, it can lead to paralysis, trouble breathing and sometimes death.

Once a crippling scourge, global vaccination efforts that followed the development of a polio vaccine by the American Jonas Salk and a team of University of Pittsburgh researchers in 1952, led to a 99 per cent reduction in cases worldwide by the late 1990s.

Measles can cripple the immune system for years after infection, leaving people susceptible to other diseases. In rare cases, it can cause inflammation of the brain – encephalitis – which can lead to permanent brain damage.

Dr Cave further stressed that though measles is often thought of as a disease from a bygone era, the effects of the virus can be deadly.

“Measles is a disease that people, particularly children – and that would be unimmunised children – can die [from]. What we are really worried about is how fast measles would spread. It’s notorious [for] being highly contagious,” he said.

The doctor insisted that Barbadians take their immunisations against viruses seriously, particularly given the reported decline in immunisation coverage.

He said: “We were fairly safe five years ago when we had a really high immunisation coverage from measles. We have won awards for having coverages of 95 and greater per cent. The more recent surveys seem to indicate that our coverage has significantly fallen and some of the new cohorts are showing only 80 per cent.

“Now 80 per cent on a test would sound like a high mark, but to actually interrupt the spread of a virus like measles, that’s not sufficient, especially for a tourist economy,” Dr Cave added.
(SB)

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By Sheria Brathwaite

Top agriculture officials from both the government and the farming community have urged small-scale livestock owners to reach out for help from established farmers and organisations when they run into difficulties rather than letting animals suffer.

And a St John farmer who sold animals in what is now a case of suspected animal abuse is expressing seller’s remorse for letting go of the animals he later discovered in appalling health.

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul joined Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Trotman in the appeal amid an ongoing investigation into pigs reportedly being neglected and in poor condition.

The farmer sold eight pregnant sows to a St Thomas resident on November 18 and some of the animals were not fed for several weeks, Barbados TODAY has learned.

It was only after a recent visit to where the animals were being kept that it was discovered that some of them had died and were decaying in their pens, while others were severely malnourished.

Describing the situation as “very unfortunate”, Paul said it was important to reach out for assistance when a farming venture went awry.

“Agriculture is something that everybody feels they can get into. The problem is when people go into agriculture and they see the challenges, very often many of them do not cry out for help and because of that the livestock suffers in some cases,” he told Barbados TODAY. 

“This is something that is unfortunate – to see an individual keep animals and they get to this stage. It is clear that the individual did not reach out and turned their back on the animals. We cannot go onto people’s property unless they invite us to come, but if you are having challenges, reach out to other persons in the industry and try to get some help to prevent outcomes that are undesirable.”

Trotman confirmed that Veterinary Services, an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture, was investigating the matter but could not make public any details of the case. Veterinary Services dispatches officers to investigate complaints of animal abuse or neglect island-wide.

“We will dispatch a qualified officer to investigate what is going on and try to get as much information as we can,” the vet official said. “Sometimes it’s a case where the owner really did not know how to properly take care of the animals and therefore, we would educate them on how to ensure the animal is properly protected, well fed and in a comfortable environment. Then we would follow up to see if the owner has done what they need to do. It is only after we give them the opportunity to correct any issue that we find would we take any further action.”

Trotman added that if animal owners found themselves in difficulty, they should call the department for assistance before the animal’s condition worsens.

Meanwhile, the St John farmer told Barbados TODAY he was saddened to see the pigs he had sold in such a poor state.

He said: “At first I was shocked, I could not believe it. I sold him eight pregnant sows at $500 each. He paid me half of the money and when the time had come for him to pay the other half, I was unable to reach him and decided to visit him. When I saw the animals I felt bad. I would have taken care of these animals to a certain point, making sure they were in prime condition and market-ready.

“It is not sitting well with me at all. The animals were starving, some of them were rotting away and the scent was stink[ing]. It was evident that some of the sows either aborted their young ones or gave birth and ate them out of starvation. It was a horrible sight.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb

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Exactly who, how and why St Bartholomew Primary School closed midway through Tuesday is now the subject of fierce contention between the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Ministry of Education.

Classes resumed on Wednesday.

But union president Rudy Lovell declared there were some inconsistencies in the ministry’s statement on what transpired at the Parish Land, Christ Church school and what led to its early closure. 

While the union contends that a foul odour from the incinerator at the Grantley Adams International Airport drove students and teachers from classes, the Ministry of Education blamed an unidentified individual for turning away students from the school and said a check with the airport revealed the furnace had not been fired up that day.

“The Barbados Union of Teachers is shocked by the comments made in a recent press release by the ministry, which suggests some impropriety on the part of an unknown individual at the St. Bartholomew Primary School,” Lovell told Barbados TODAY. “The union reminds the ministry that under Part 11 of the General Duties of the Safety and Health at Work Act, the ministry has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all of its employees. The staff at the St Bartholomew Primary School is still waiting to hear from their employer regarding the impact of the incinerator on their physical and mental health. Issuing inaccurate press releases is not the way to communicate with your employees.”

But in response, ministry spokeswoman Gaynelle Marshall said: “The ministry will not be engaging in this, rather it will continue to work with all stakeholders to find a solution for all involved.”

On Tuesday, St Bartholomew was closed early on what was supposed to be the first day of the resumption of classes since last Thursday’s premature closure. The ministry said in a statement that it was informed that only seven students were in attendance and that “an individual at the school was reportedly turning away parents with their children, citing air effects from incineration activity at the Grantley Adams International Airport”.

When a Barbados TODAY team visited the school during lunchtime on Wednesday, several students were playing on the hard court. (SZB)

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By Ryan Gilkes

The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has made an urgent call for talks with the public service and information ministries, saying that the merger of two government information agencies – one with a 66-year track record in getting out the government’s message, the other a six-year-old creation of the Mia Mottley administration – is a source of stress for employees.

The impending merger between the Government Information Service (GIS) and the Public Affairs Department, which is slated for April 1, the start of the government’s new financial year, triggered apparent industrial action by GIS staff when several employees called in sick on Wednesday.

While the majority of GIS staff are unionised, it was not immediately clear who among the workers at the fledgling Public Affairs Department had union representation.

Deputy General Secretary of the NUPW Wayne Walrond told Barbados TODAY: “For quite some time, over several months, staff have been mentally stressed over the cloud of uncertainty which hangs over the GIS [regarding] the proposed merger. We have been hearing a lot about the mergers. They have been just hearing things.”

He said that a pronouncement was made during the Estimates in 2023 that the GIS would be subsumed into the Public Affairs Department, but he expressed concern about the lack of clear communication and consultation regarding the merger. 

With just over two months to the deadline, key details remain unclear, the NUPW official said.

“The union has not been engaged in any dialogue. We have not discussed the organisational structure, people do not have a defined job description.  What jobs will remain relevant? What new jobs will be created? The staff has also observed that a lot of their [portfolio] has been taken over by [the] Public Affairs [Department],” Walrond said.

“This has created for them a bit of uncertainty and confusion about what is the intention of the Government Information Service. GIS has been there for decades . . . as the public relations arm for the government, receiving numerous awards for their work. Now this department is being marginalised, even to be subsumed into another department that has been recently created, you would expect them to feel hard done by this situation.”

Walrond said the GIS staff had sought clarity from management but answers were not forthcoming. As a result, the union plans to write to the Ministry of the Civil Service for urgent discussions on the merger. 

“What is the status of the proposed merger? What about the intimate details that needed to be discussed like job descriptions and salary scales? What jobs are going to be redesigned, what jobs do you abolish?” the union’s deputy general secretary said.  

“You have to know these things. Within the public service, it is an intricate place where you have to understand how it works in detail. There is a whole [legislative] process that you go through when you are doing mergers and reforms. It is not about saying the deadline is April 1st. In recent times, the public service has not been engaged to the extent that it used to be in the past in terms of transitions and ironing out issues and positions being imposed. There needs to be a lot more dialogue in terms of the arrangement,” Walrond added. (RG)

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New tools to forecast excessive rainfall and rainfall deficits – critical issues in an era of climate change – have been unveiled to water managers and weather forecasters at a two-day workshop that ended on Wednesday, in a bid to better manage water resources amid unpredictable weather patterns.

Climate scientists have shown the participants how to use forecasts to predict flash floods and dry spells as part of a larger plan to share early warning information about climate change in a worldwide short-range forecasting system set to be rolled out this year.

The two-day workshop at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) was organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and hosted by the CIMH at its Husbands, St James base.

The workshop, part of the Intra-ACP GCCA+ Programme in the Caribbean, was in collaboration with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) of Columbia University, the workshop received support from the European Union. The CCA/GCCA+ is a platform for dialogue and sharing of experiences between the EU and developing countries on climate policy and practical approaches under the global climate accords.

Climate scientist Dr David Farrell, the head of the CIMH, said the workshop provided an “invaluable platform” for water managers and meteorological forecasts to understand forecasting for predicting water availability not only by the six-month wet/dry season but at a much shorter sub-seasonal range – typically two to four weeks.

“By collaborating with our partners in CARIFORUM countries, the CCCCC, and the IRI, we are strengthening our capacity to address climate resilience and improve water resources management in the region,” Dr Farrell said. The workshop’s goal was to prepare for the impacts of climate change and make better decisions about water, he explained.

CCCCC lead project manager Ansel Dubon said what was learned in the workshop is key to reducing risks from climate change in the region.

“The activities, inclusive of the workshop, being undertaken by the CIMH and IRI are essential to achieving the overall objective of the GCCA+ programme, which is to reduce risks and vulnerabilities from climate change to human-made and natural assets in CARIFORUM countries,” he said. “We look forward to the various officers who participated in the training applying the new capacities to benefit the supply of water in their respective countries and by extension, the region”.

Dr Simon Mason, the chief climate scientist at Columbia’s IRI praised the CIMH as a member of the global rainfall forecasting initiative.

“There have been some exciting developments in the last few years in the science community’s ability to predict heavy rainfall and dry spells two to four weeks in advance, and these so-called sub-seasonal forecasts will become routine from some of the leading global centres early in 2024,” he said.

He added: “Such forecasts provide valuable potential to improve water resource management and flash-flood control in the Caribbean region, but collaboration with the water management community is required to ensure that the forecasts are adapted, designed and interpreted to maximise their benefit. This water managers’ workshop is an excellent opportunity to take these important next steps to strengthen resiliency in the region.”

CIMH produced its first-ever experimental sub-seasonal forecast at the most recent Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum held in Dominica in November.

During the workshop, participants were introduced to sub-seasonal forecast potential for flashfloods and dry spells as part of a range of climate early warning information products delivered by the Caribbean Regional Climate Centre hosted by CIMH.
(PR/BT)

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Barbadian, regional, and international businesses now have access to a premium cold storage facility on the outskirts of Bridgetown for short and long-term usage.

Country Cold Storage Refrigerated Warehousing, situated at Lot 1 Crystalline Hub, The Mighty Grynner Highway, St Michael, boasts 22 units ranging from 220 to 335 square feet. They feature a top-of-the-line interior to guarantee freshness, with backup capabilities and a holding bond on the ground floor, making logistic processing easier.

“This new facility has the ability for clients to adjust their storage needs based on seasonal fluctuation or changes in demand for their product,” said CEO Calvin Alkins.

“The units are state-of-the-art with modern temperature controls and keys to each space. It is ideal for businesses that must store perishable goods, whether in food and beverage or the medical field.”

Businesses or individuals can call 435-2826 to arrange for a site visit or book a space.
(PR)

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Settling into her new role as Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, Marsha Caddle has urged Barbadians to put aside cynicism and be more confident in technological advances to benefit the nation in 2024 – including digitised identification.

But Caddle acknowledged the task of winning public support for the high-tech solutions may be an uphill battle.

“I realise that it will not be a simple question of just bringing effect to the technology. It has to be a conversation, not a fight nor a quarrel,” she said.

A decades-old laminated identification card system is now in its last week of validity, to be replaced by a new digital identification card which contains the bearer’s personal information. The move has generated debate on privacy and security of government-held information.

The Democratic Labour Party has urged citizens not to adopt the new digital cards, even as the Mia Mottley administration has indicated the old ID cards will no longer be valid after next Wednesday, January 31.

Caddle told the House of Assembly on Tuesday that a “unique identifier” is one of the most important opportunities that her ministry needs to deliver for the people of Barbados.

Speaking about the interaction of the public with the government, Caddle said that the objective is to use the technology through the unique identifier to facilitate business between the parties.

“The idea is that once you present yourself to the government as a client one time, that is the only time that you would have to make that presentation to the state,” she said in her first speech to the House of Assembly as Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology.

“Through a simple, unique identifier that may be your ID number – should be a digital ID – you are then able to carry that identity across all the Government services that you need to access.”

The minister, who took up her new portfolio less than two weeks ago, suggested that in order to fulfil the ministry’s mandate, the office of the Data Commissioner needs to be properly resourced and empowered to cater to the needs of the country with regard to data protection. Part of the commissioner’s responsibility will be to make Barbadians confident that the data to which the State has access will be protected, she declared.

“That is a key part of what the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology will have to continue to do going forward,” she said.

Caddle, a former finance minister responsible for investment, said all Barbadians must see the benefit of joining the rest of the world in the 21st century. She told Parliament that while people are exposing information about themselves on social media platforms “availing the public of our entire selves”, they are concerned when government departments share a piece of information with each other.

“I believe very much in the importance of data privacy,” she stressed. “The legislation that we recently brought puts huge emphasis on the importance of data privacy, but it is possible to share data but retain its integrity and privacy.”

Speaking during the pre-lunch session in the House of Assembly, Caddle said a priority of the State is to protect the information of its citizens. But this, she said, would require a belief in the strength of the legislation to protect citizens and a suspension of “cynicism”.

Noting her ministry’s responsibility for achieving efficiency and for using technology to make people’s lives easier, Caddle said the legislation guides the creation of the environment for which her ministry has responsibility, adding that private sector input would be critical to its success.
(SP)

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The parish of St Thomas is now benefitting from the government’s Accelerated Mill and Pave Programme.

Touring the Arthur Seat area on Wednesday,  Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw said while Barbadians wanted to see road works all across the country, it had to be done in a systematic way.

“For the sake of clarity, this particular programme is targeted at those roads where they are in bad condition, yes, but equally there are little or no utilities that have to come in to be able to come and do any major works. Arthur Seat, therefore, falls within that criteria, and we are starting this today. There is also the Canewood to Proute [road] as well that will be also done from tonight in St Thomas, and for the benefit of those who would have been asking about the Shop Hill to Content [road], that will also be sorted very shortly, along with Cane Garden to Bridgefield.

“Those last two roads . . . are roads which require not just straight mill and pave but they require a bit more rehabilitation to ensure that issues in relation to drainage are properly addressed,” she said.

Bradshaw also gave an update on the mill and pave programme that began in Salters, St George some weeks ago: “I think the first road that was started was in Salters in St George; Salters to Content. I am pleased to say that those road works have been completed, and when you visit the area you will also see that there also has been some pothole patching done very clinically in a number of areas along that road. As we wouldn’t do the full area, we would have been able to identify a number of the soft spots to be able to rectify [with] pothole patching.

“The nature of that work is very similar to what is going on across the rest of the parishes. We have completed a number of roads in St Peter, in particular around the Speightstown area – Chapel Street, Bovell Road, Mango Lane – and others in close proximity have been completed to date. Crab Hill to Archers Bay in St Lucy has also been started and extensive paving has also commenced in those areas and has made the road to Archers Bay, which is a popular tourist attraction, particularly more attractive than it has been before.”

Member of Parliament for St Thomas Cynthia Forde, who was happy to witness the start of the road works, urged Barbadians to be patient: “I hope the citizens will pay attention and respect when they have to have detours and all of that because it’s only temporary . . . to get the improvement, we have to have a little bit of suffering in between, depending on whatever the project is.” (SB)

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The date for the rape trial of former Deputy Speaker of the House and Member of Parliament Neil Rowe has been set for June 11.
Rowe was arraigned this morning in the No. 5 Supreme Court before Madam Justice Pamela Beckles. He pleaded not guilty to the charge that he had sexual intercourse with a woman on September 18, 2022, without her consent, knowing she did not consent or was reckless as to whether she consented.
He was represented by Senior Counsel Michael Lashley.(JB)

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

By Ralph Jemmott

The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration has recently announced its intention to examine the current state of poverty in Barbados. It hopes that by the end of 2024, it will have available data regarding the number of people actually living in poverty, the nature of that poverty and what measures it might best implement to mitigate the scourge of impoverishment.

It is always good to know the phenomenon that one is attempting to confront and improve. I say ‘improve’ rather than ‘abolish’ because it is nearly impossible to eradicate poverty from human society given the nature of the species. The Good Book says that the poor will always be with us. One takes that to mean that given our flawed natures, perverse and foolish, people will always connive in their own impoverishment. 

I was watching a TV programme on homelessness in San Francisco and I was shocked at the number of relatively young people living on the streets. The production revealed that a large percentage of those people were victims of self-inflicted personal vices of one kind or another, the most common being illicit drugs.

However, collective poverty is invariably systemic in the sense that it is inherent in the socio-economic model. Talk show host Walter Blackman keeps lamenting that for nearly 400 years Black people in Barbados have been at the bottom of the socio-economic structure. He calls for a ‘new economic-financial model’.

Assuming that he knows what he is talking about, Blackman needs to tell us what that ‘model’ would look like. How would it operate outside of the confines of the global capitalist economic order? Sometimes I think that Walter is still hankering after the socialist ideals that we, as young men, pondered so idealistically back in the 1970s and 80s.  

What governments can do is to tweak or reform the system to eliminate the more egregious examples of abject (as opposed to relative) poverty. Absolute poverty in its worst aspects refers to the lack of the three basic requirements of human existence: access to food (the avoidance of hunger), clothing (the avoidance of nakedness or raggedness) and housing or shelter (a roof over one’s head).

Most capitalist economies produce some degree of relative poverty because capitalism, though it produces the goods and services perhaps more abundantly than other systems of production, hardly ever produces full employment and invariably produces a level of the working poor that may constitute a sunken underclass that is welfare-dependent. These are the people who in the words of the Tracy Chapman song are “standing in the welfare lines waiting on the armies of salvation”.

Poverty reduction does not represent a linear line of progression. The government’s own figure would indicate that it does not. In 1997 the number of households living below the poverty line in Barbados was 8.7 per cent. In 2010 the number was 15 per cent and in 2016 it had risen to 17.3 per cent. Unquestionably the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem. Even large economies are subject to booms and busts, going from prosperity to minor recession or major contraction that may adversely affect people on the margins. Eunice Goes, the Portuguese writer and commentator, who was a regular on the BBC programme Dateline London, noted that in Italy some 10 per cent of households lived below the poverty line.

Small open economies like Barbados must be even more vulnerable. This is unless governments are committed to policies of income redistribution and even then there has to be enough income to effectively redistribute. Redistribution is itself an ideologically politically informed process which has its hazards.  

One stated purpose of the proposed Barbadian study is to better cater welfare resources to those most in need and if possible to try to stem the tide of homelessness and vagrancy. But that would be a long-term effort that would call into account a lot more than welfare expenditure.

A few weeks ago someone stated regarding Black people that we needed to create generational wealth. This is true. Black redemption will depend on three things. The first is the restoration of the Black family as a coherent structure, nuclear or extended. The second is a true sense of racial pride, not the ephemeral outward show in dress and ostensibly pro-African hairstyles, but substantively in the ways we relate to each other. The third is the imperative of economic consolidation where we own something rather than where we work for and buy from other people. 

But instead of creating generational wealth and psychic well-being, we see that throughout much of the Black Diaspora, we are creating intergenerational poverty and generational pathologies of one kind or another. Drug trafficking and abuse, Black-on-Black crime, sometimes of horrendous proportions and the perennial tragedy of fatherless children, stand-alone dependent motherhood and foul displays of indulgent toxic masculinity.  

Black politicians and petit-bourgeois academics invariably do not speak to these matters. The former is because a naked truth which needs to be spoken will not procure votes in an election. They prefer to make empty promises that they invariably cannot fulfil. Take for example the promise to make Barbados something called ‘a rent-free democracy’, where presumably everybody will own their own home. Balderdash.

Issues such as poverty and crime reflect complex socio-cultural and economic phenomena. They will not go away because we do a study or appoint a czar or make someone a Minister of State in some office. It requires conscious critical thought on broad social construction about the kind of society we want to create. 

That kind of vision must go beyond macro-economic obsessions and political wishful thinking.

Ralph Jemmott is a retired educator and frequent commentator on social issues.

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Barbados’ Sea Island cotton industry could be on the brink of collapse with just a single field planted of the prized fibre, the industry’s top official has confirmed.

While Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has vowed to not let the industry die, Adlai Stevenson, the head of the state-supported cotton ginnery has predicted that the survival of the sector now rests on the success of an ongoing negotiation with the cooperative that has taken over the sugar industry.

The recently divested, state-owned sugar growing and milling enterprise, the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Co. Ltd (BAMC), also grew most of the island’s cotton.

Despite huge global demand for West Indian Sea Cotton, one of the highest-priced varieties in the world at more than $20 (US$10) per pound, domestic production has continued to plummet as pest infestation and labour shortages took hold.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Stevenson, chief executive officer of Exclusive Cottons of the Caribbean Inc., the 20-year-old joint venture between the government and cotton growers, said only one field of cotton was planted across the island this year. That four-acre field at the Ministry of Agriculture in Graeme Hall, Christ Church is expected to produce only about 4 000 pounds of cotton and an extremely small quantity of lint to sell on the international market.

Before a pest invasion devastated the industry, Barbados would generate approximately $1 million in revenue from exporting the high-quality cotton lint. Stevenson said he expected this year’s earnings to be less than half of that figure.

“There clearly is a shortage and this means that we don’t have the product to sell, that our customers are going to have to look elsewhere for cotton to buy,” he said.

Italy is the main export market for Barbados’ cotton which has been growing here since the earliest years of settlement nearly 400 years ago.

Stevenson explained that the recent sale of the state-owned BAMC had critical implications for the cotton industry. He confirmed that the new entity overseeing the former BAMC lands – the cooperative-owned Agricultural Business Company Ltd. (ABC) – is in negotiations with Exclusive Cottons.

Prior to privatisation, BAMC produced more than 80 per cent of the cotton. In some instances, as much as 50 acres were planted in the fibre, spanning several estates, including Mount Pleasant and Parish Land, St Philip and Wakefield and Edgecliff, St John.

“We’re still hopeful that they come back in and continue in that role,” Stevenson said, adding that he hoped the discussions would conclude around March/April as planting is scheduled to begin in August.

Cotton harvesting usually runs from late February or early March to May.

In order for the industry to thrive, the island needs to produce at least 80 000 pounds of lint, said Stevenson.

This year, people interested in picking the crop will have handheld harvesters to make their job easier. About 40 harvesters were imported at a cost of $16 000.

The pickers are also set to benefit from a 50-cent per pound increase if they reach a certain benchmark, Stevenson said, adding the price of each pound picked over the past 15 years was $2.00.

Minister Weir reported that he was putting measures in place to save the industry from demise. He said cotton would be a rotational crop on the ABC lands for non-sugar and energy production purposes.

“Cotton is one of the crops that we’re gonna use for rotation but our first objective is to get the sugar industry settled, obviously, because of the privatisation,” he said.

The next step is to work with Exclusive Cottons and the Agriculture Research Department to plan out how much cotton we are going to grow going forward and to also make sure that we put more effort into getting cotton [production] back up to where it used to be. It is going to take time.

“I’m including a project in the Estimates to speak to how we’re going to rebuild the cotton industry and this is not just going to be some knee-jerk approach. This is going to be a full project that calculates the amount of land we’re going to need, the amount of cotton we’re gonna produce and how it’s going to be managed.”

Weir declared that the previous manner in which the cotton fields were managed was unacceptable.

He said that the ministry would also be establishing a new unit and a local industry expert would oversee the industry’s management. He said there were a handful of candidates with strong knowledge of the domestic industry and it was merely a matter of selecting the right leader.

Weir told Barbados TODAY: “I want a manager to work with Exclusive Cottons so that we can produce for them the amount of cotton they need for export and then look at how we can re-establish a ginnery here in Barbados to be able to deal with our own cotton . . . . Now that the sugar industry is settled, I can now get around to this project I wanted to establish since I took office.

“I’m saddled with trying to get a whole set of land that is out of production back into production [and cotton is one of the crops I want to focus on]. We have to get the private sector on board and that is where my focus is – the private farms [other than those operated by ABC]. They used to do cotton before and we have to get them back on board. We have to have a real cotton project because if you don’t have the scale that would attract people for the economic value, then you would find out people don’t participate.

“I am in the process of setting up a Crop Production Unit within the BADMC [Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation] and coming out of that unit, I’m going to have some of the most experienced farmers in Barbados. So, therefore, I think we would be in a good place to plan our agriculture, plan food security and plan all the rotations that we have to do around sugar, vegetables, root crops and of course cotton.”

Asked if there would also be a pay increase that cotton pickers could benefit from, the minister said: “We are going to do a full project. So once that project is done, we will consider all the variables and we would then determine how we’re going to approach the harvesting of the cotton as well. We can’t continue with business as usual where this is concerned.”

Stevenson declined to give statistics on the island’s performance last year but cotton production has fallen steadily over the years. In 2022, 17 956 pounds of cotton was harvested, producing 6 000 pounds of lint, earning $138 000.

In 2021, the harvest was 27 845 pounds of cotton, from which 9 282 pounds of lint was produced. In 2020, 32 703 pounds of cotton produced 10 901 pounds of lint.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb

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