Come January 2020, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds will be in Africa, building out tourism linkages there.

Symmonds revealed the above during a Local Investors Conference held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday, to provide details on the proposed Public-Private Partnership, which will eventually see the transfer of the daily operations of the airport moving from under the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) Inc. to a private operator, through a long-term contractual agreement.

Pointing out that we are now in the latter part of our fourth consecutive year of growth in each of our major source markets, Symmonds added that three of the key source markets are now trending towards double-digit growth this year. On this current trajectory, he said, “Barbados is a safe bet and a sure investment.”

He however noted the need to diversify the base from which the country draws its tourists, given a number of external factors beyond our control, which could impact the tourism sector.

Using the example of the UK as a source market from which 35 per cent of our business is drawn, Symmonds acknowledged that Brexit offers a possible threat. As such, marketing has been ramped up in the United States, which offers 30 per cent source market appeal and tourism officials are equally investing heavily in Canada and Europe, which together account for 20 per cent.

He later added: “In January of next year, I will be in Africa because again, we are trying to break new ground in certain strategic targeted areas in Africa, where we feel (there is potential).”

The Tourism Minister, in speaking with the media in more detail, however noted that whilst there are no firm commitments as yet where travel to Africa is concerned, a number of possibilities are being worked on.

“There are no firm commitments because we have to design what routes would look like, but I can tell you the people who have expressed interest. The Kenyan Government has expressed interest; they obviously have their own airline. Equally, we have had discussions with Qatar and this also is an ongoing process. I really don’t want to make announcements, but there are other discussions with Emirates at the same time, so that we have to see where this goes,” Symmonds revealed.

He added, “Part of the process is to be able to work out the appropriate kind of mix in terms of the route that we will travel because there is generally an interest in Barbados, but an airline has to be able to be filled both ways and we have to have the volume of traffic that makes it worth the while going back the other way.”

Stressing that a scheduled type of approach may prove a bit more difficult, he did note that there is a willingness to begin by way of charter.

“I should also say that there is a view that we take along the rest of the Eastern Caribbean with us on this journey and I share that view and therefore, it makes it easier for us to be able to (gain) two-way traffic because we are not just relying on Barbados’ population, but you also bring along the Eastern Caribbean to help flesh out the plane,” the Minister stated. (RSM)

Politicians and political parties are being cautioned to be careful with the polling information they release.

This caution came from political scientist and pollster, Peter Wickham, as he delivered a lecture titled “Polling beyond politics”, which was hosted by the Rotary Club of Barbados West.

Wickham highlighted that the polls were dominated largely by political parties, and he described this as unfortunate.

He noted that a large part of the problem was that the way Americans carry out their line of analysis where they look at leadership and support, and look at polling the whole way through, is not done in the Caribbean because the political parties determine when polls are done and they determine when the information is released, which he viewed as a lot more important.

The political scientist stated that the recent general elections of 2018 in Barbados proved a couple things about polling.

“The election in Barbados proved a couple things, one of them being that polling does to some extent influence public vision; and politicians and political parties have to be a lot more careful in how they release information,” he said.

Wickham highlighted that more polls were being done, revealing that on average, a poll was done in every one of the Caribbean countries.

“Before that was completely unheard of because polls were viewed as cumbersome exercises,” he said.

Wickham was proud to reveal that this year, a decision was made to move towards tablet-based exercises, which he described as “a brilliant idea”.

“We are completely paperless and that’s a good thing and it helps to speed up the process,” the pollster said.

He went on to note, however, that sadly now, there was not a lot of academic research done in polling, and this was something that needed to be addressed.

Wickham believed that it would be important to address these issues as polling revealed much about the society we live in. For example in 2008-2009, he carried out a survey that looked at domestic violence in households, and this survey revealed that domestic violence in Barbados stood at 30 per cent.

BARBADOS can sell its civil administrative services to the world.

This is the view of Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sandra Husbands, while speaking in the Lower Chamber on the Economic Partnership Agreement Bill 2019.

Saying that the country has people who are “at the top of their game”, the Minister lamented that the general public is not aware of what they are doing and what they have done.

“We have to blow our trumpet. We have to show up to the world what we can do. We have to showcase Barbados excellence.”

Minister Husbands told the Honourable Chamber that time and time again, Barbados has been able to come out on top and leading in a number of areas because of civil servants who were able to take initiatives and implement them in a way to produce results. “That is how the Barbados brand was born. It was not born out of the private sector, it was born out of the civil service. We have issues, but we also have some wonderful people that have done some wonderful work.”

She added, “So when I say we have civil administrative services, if we take time to document them, we take the time to improve them, especially now that we are using smart technology to be able to improve efficiency and improve the processes ... Then we could have a set of people who could go across the world offering civil administrative services to help other countries to transform their governments, so that governments will be able to serve their population with high-quality efficient services that will cause the colonies to grow.

“The intended purpose is to be able to bring the necessary public sector reform and Barbados to develop ourselves to go to that very highest level and I am trusting that when we are able to do that, we will be able to create the spin-off civil administrative services that we can earn foreign exchange. That civil servants can look forward to being able to buy shares in a consultancy. A civil administrative consulting service that they are able when they retire, they take their skills and go into that consultancy and be able to offer what they have learned to other countries across the world. It is important.”

Though the situation is currently under control, efforts by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) to stabilise the pumping situation at its Hampton station, has intensified over the last week.

This promise came from the Director of Engineering at the BWA, Charles Leslie, as he gave an update to press yesterday about the work that has been carried out so far at the southern pumping station, after equipment was damaged due to the two-day blackout the country experienced the previous week.

“The electricity interruptions both from the blackout and then afterwards from the connection we had at the Hampton facility, knocked out all of our variable-frequency drives and our guys had to troubleshoot them,” he began.

These variable-frequency drives (VFD) act as the brains for these pumps as they control frequency and voltage of the power supply being delivered at any given point in time. The island wide blackout wreaked havoc on these systems to such an extent, that normal service to the areas which receive water from the Hampton plant, still continues to be affected.

“We had to cannibalise some of our spare equipment in order to do the repairs at the site. We also had to rebuild pumps, and we also had issues with burnt cables. The station is operational now, and producing the six million gallons it normally does, but that particular well normally has a redundancy, which we do not have at this time,” he said.

BWA customers receives 50 percent of their water supply from water pumped between the Belle and Hampton stations, so having the latter back online to full capacity has been a matter of urgency for the workers. To get the VFDs back up and running to full system specifications, the BWA has contacted the drive manufacturer, and they have promised to have their technician arrive on island by at least Friday or Saturday of this week from a nearby service centre in Panama.

“We are currently making plans for the technician from that service center to be here in Barbados with some additional parts, to conduct the replacement of some of those parts in the drives that we have not been able to restore,” Leslie indicated.

Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, acknowledged the frustrations many Barbadians have expressed over the last week with respect to the uncertainty surround the water supply, but stressed that because of the nature of areas the Hamptons services, the unfortunate circumstances that led to the outages simply could not have been avoided with the present state of the plant.

“Nowhere in our history, have we ever had a situation where ten of our pumps were disabled at the same time. I understand people are frustrated, and were real unhappy over the last ten days but that was not normal – ten days for us. Despite how it looks, the engineers and the support staff at the BWA have been working around the clock to fix it,” Abrahams explained.

The Barbados Building Code would be used in accordance with the regulations of the proposed Planning and Development Act.

This was noted by Chartered Town Planner, President of the Barbados Town Planning Society and Member of Government’s Consulting team for Planning Legislation Reform Dr. Yolanda Alleyne during a joint technical meeting which brought together practitioners in the construction and building sector to hear more about the changes to the Planning and Development Act.

According to Dr. Alleyne, “This legislation provides us with an ideal opportunity. A piece of legislation that requires you to use it. So this Planning and Development Act requires you to build according to the Building Code and append it as a part of the regulations of the Act, that is the proposal,” she said.

President of the Barbados Institute of Architects, Vicki Telford, explained that typically the architects and engineers on a project will refer to the Building Code.

“Whether it is the Barbados Building Code or the International Building Code. But... 85 per cent of the projects are not often done by architects and engineers. It is those then that would be lacking the Building Code’s guidance. So as we go into this new legislation the Building Code is referred to. So it has to be reviewed to see how it is going to work within this whole structure,” she said.

President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) Trevor Browne added, “We have a Building Code since 2013. The problem we have is that there is no law in Barbados that you have to adhere to the Building Code. So it’s like an advisory piece of work.”

According to Browne, “the Building Code is the acceptable minimum. That in a hurricane region like us, the minimum, we would want something that stands up to 130 miles per hour. So the Building Code will specify things like that. You see the problems that we are having with sick buildings. The building code specifies the type of ventilation- installed and maintain.”

Browne highly commended the proposed legislation saying that it will revolutionise the way engineers work in Barbados.

“This has been a work in progress for 18 months now but it has been the first opportunity for our members en masse to sit down and hear what is going to happen, what is contemplated. What the challenges are.”

Telford also commended how the proposed changes are being made to the legislation.

“I think that is great because you are going to have the architects, the engineers, and land surveyors, contractors working with the consultants who know the legislation as well as the law and the loopholes and everything that relates to the legal aspect of it which the stakeholders, the professional in the building industry are not going to know it in that detail.”

“We support it entirely. Granted it needs to be fleshed out, discussed and so on but the organisations are in full support,” she reiterated.

Dr. Alleyne also noted that the changes are long in coming. “It is something that the Town Planning Society, in terms of transparency and modernising the system, we have been talking about that for years. So it is an opportunity that we couldn’t let slip, an opportunity to lead and be a part of it. We jumped on that because we really want to see the change,” she said. (JH)

With drought conditions still having and adverse effect on the island’s water resources, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) is taking steps to bring two additional desalination plants on stream to help with water distribution.

This news came from the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, as he addressed the press at his offices yesterday during a brief press meeting.

“As part of the settlement with Innotech, we are going to have access to two desalination plants. One will go into St. Lucy, while the other is going to go into area of Joe’s River to try and provide more water for St. Joseph,” Abrahams stated.

New trucks have also been sourced by the BWA, with their arrival into the island being estimated in April of 2020.

“We had some water trucks that came in previously that caused us a world of problems because they do not have the specifications for Barbados. As it stands now, all of the trucks we have, ten are currently on the road. We have five new tankers coming in at the end of April next year, at a cost of USD350 000 per tank, with the funds being supplied by the Green Climate Fund (GCF),” the minister revealed.

These new plants and trucks will aid the BWA in its efforts to help provide a more reliable service to residents at these often disadvantaged communities, however the Minister was quick to remind Barbadians that the effects of the drought are still prevalent on the island even through this current Hurricane Season.

“We are going to have to look as a country, not just at our distribution network, but also how we consume water. Barbadians are going to have building or buying water saving devices. We are not in normal times. This is the hurricane season, but people should still be storing water.”

Healing Waters International Ministries (HWIM) through its new project is encouraging youth to look to a cleaner, greener future.

Yesterday at Princess Margaret Secondary School, HWIM, grantee of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) implemented by UNDP, formally launched ‘Go Green Teens!’

The project, which was approved in October 2019, seeks to bring awareness to teenagers across the island, educating them about organic-based products and their benefits to health and wellness, as well as develop CVQ training for the production of organic based personal care products and; train, certify and intern young persons on how to manufacture, market and distribute both male and female organic self-care products. Several of the products are made from Sargassum Seaweed extract.

“This project seeks to empower the youth of the nation to go green. Not only go green in terms of using organic products, but also in terms of living healthy and building self-esteem,” Dr. Angela Moore, President of Healing Waters International Ministries told the media.

“We are trying to actually replace the chemical substance that students use in the homes – we make natural deodorants, tooth gel, acne scar removers... Everything a child would use in their home, we are attempting to replace them with organic products, so that they can have a healthier life.

“It is not just about the students using the products, we will hold classes to teach them how to make them and retail them. So, we are also trying to promote entrepreneurship in the school, so the students can make their own pocket money – making them more independent,” said Dr. Moore, who is a former student of Princess Margaret.

Commending the project, National Co-ordinator, GEF SGP UNDP, David Bynoe expressed, “We are extremely proud because it aligns very carefully to our new strategic initiative on the blue economy. Barbados is seeking to develop the blue economy and UNDP is a very strong partner in facilitating that.”

“In addition, we recognise that the youth are going to play an integral role in terms of Barbados’ economic development. If you look at the statistics in 2018 – we had a youth unemployment rate of just over 27 per cent, which means about over one in every four youth, when they graduate, whether from secondary or tertiary education, they are unemployed.”

“This initiative presents a great opportunity for them to be gainfully employed, if they can’t find a job directly in the job market, this provides an opportunity for them to create their own. This is the mentality that we have to adopt. It is not always about going out there asking for a job, but having the ability and skills to create your own employment. We believe the blue economy provides this new opportunity for additional jobs and this is an area we are going to push,” Bynoe said. (TL)

St. Philip Resident Leon Mayers has gone all out for this country’s 53rd Anniversary of Independence.

He is affectionately known as “Lightman” to the Kirtons community, gaining his popularity over the last decade with the must-see lights and decorations at his home during the Christmas season. However, in recent years he has also been making his mark at Independence.

When The Barbados Advocate visited Mr. Mayers yesterday, he proudly showed off his garden themed “A Bajan Independence”, decked out in the national colours of blue, yellow and black.

He has also adorned the residences of four neighbours who have embraced his community spirit.

“I went all out, I am passionate about this project. And I love that more and more tourists and Barbadians pass by to see it,” the carpenter/joiner expressed.

“It’s a lot of hard work and I am grateful to the sponsors who come on board to assist… It’s a month of planning, but three weeks to set up – day and night, long hours into late night. Yes, a few persons in the community would assist, but too many cooks spoil the broth, I like to do it myself and my way.”

Reminiscing on winning the 50th Anniversary Competition Best Dressed Community Project, Mr. Mayers emphasised the need for such a national competition annually.

“I want someone to challenge me one of these days. They would have to come at me hard because the Lightman pace don’t be easy to catch. But, I think the Government needs to establish a competition. I think its time that people like me, who do such an initiative should be awarded or let’s have a competition offering some prize money, so we can get something back,” he said. (TL)

A law enforcement officer has urged those responsible for the administration of schools to respond to reports of bullying in a timely manner.

Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, William Yearwood issued this advice while he delivered the featured address during the graduation ceremony of the Prince’s Trust International Team Programme Thursday evening.

“Within our schools today, there is a culture developing, where bullying is becoming a norm and this act of bullying seems to influence individuals to arm themselves with offensive weapons to take into the schools. Some children have also formed groups to attack individual children and have also been engaging in fights against other groups,” he said.

He acknowledged that the fights between school children can be seen on social media ever so often, not only in Barbados but across the wider Caribbean and beyond.

“Such behaviour is unwarranted. The administration of schools is therefore challenged with this situation and must deal with it in a forthright manner,” he stated.

“More must be done by the administration of the school system to remedy this situation. The accusations or complaints of bullying must be responded to in a timely fashion.

There is no room forprocrastinating.”

Yearwood asserted that the parents of the pupils should be engaged at early notice and the utmost measures should be brought to bear, as far as the system permits when desired.

He strongly believed that there was no room for hiding such breaches in schools with a view of protecting the esteemed name of the school.

The Acting Assistant Commissioner noted that there was a lack of discipline amongst children in our schools, as well as a difficulty in being able to solve conflict without violence.

It is against this backdrop that Yearwood was pleased to see the nine young people that took part in the 8th Prince’s Trust International Team Programme successfully complete the 12 week

programme.

“The Administration of the Royal Barbados Police Force has endorsed The Prince’s International Team Programme and will continue to do such,” he said.

The author of the lyrics of Barbados’ national anthem has passed away.

During yesterday’s 53rd Independence Day celebrations at Kensington Oval, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley announced that the singer and songwriter had passed in his sleep Friday night.

After observing a minute of silence for the passing of this grand character of a man, Mottley called for the people of Barbados to reflect on the kind of Barbadians they wished to be.

“Pause with me and reflect on the words of the gentleman who we just paid tribute, to our national anthem as to what kind of Barbados do we want to live in in the future. Will we write our name on history’s page with expectations great? What kind of fate will we be firm craftsmen of - and I ask you this because the choice is in our hands,” she said.

“And as we reflect today, I ask us to do so with purpose because each and everyone of us in this stadium, within this country has the capacity to alter the nation’s course and destiny. And we ask you what kind of country do you want to live in; what do you want people to say about Barbados 20 years from now and read about Barbados when they Google it 10 years and 20 years from now?”

“We have to ask ourselves these questions because where we want to be will not happen by accident or by serendipity, it happens because we have set to out to build a nation and mold a people and in so doing we remind you that as of the 1st of January 2020 we have invited all of our own to return home for We Gathering 2020.”

Mottley also extended congratulations to those 26 persons who were honoured during the Independence Day celebrations, adding that she was also especially proud of those persons who were the first to be recognised in the new category of National Honours, the Order of the Freedom of Barbados. (CLJB)

A kaleidoscope of colour and sound descended upon the city of Bridgetown yesterday, as the nation celebrated 53 years of independence with a parade through the heart of the city.

At the end of a ceremony in Kensington Oval to mark the special occasion, detachments from the armed and unarmed forces, as well as representatives from other organisations from around the island, took to the streets, as they made their way down to parliament building where the Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley took the salute.

Earlier on in the day, showers had threatened to impede the initial start of the procession, however dark clouds quickly gave way to blistering sunlight just moments before the parade made its way outside of the Oval.

It was just after 10:30 a.m., when the Barbados Defence Force Band made out of the Oval, leading the various other groups down to Heroes’ Square and past the hundreds of Barbadians and visitors who had lined the streets from earlier in the morning.

Other uniformed groups such as the Barbados Cadets, Girl Guides, Barbados Landship, The Barbados Fire Service and others quickly followed suite after the other armed forces, and were decked out beautifully in their uniforms as they made their way past the scores of onlookers.

Joining the parade this year, was a special contingent from the Barbados 2020 committee, as they decided to include a specially made float to help mark the upcoming big celebrations slated to start in January 2020.

This occasion was also a unique experience for visitors as the island, as many of them also made their way down to the city in order to not miss this photography opportunity, with many of the locals who were decked out beautifully in the island’s national colours.

As Barbados celebrates 53 years of Independence, President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla DePeiza, acknowledges the long strides made by our forefathers in the march to reach this milestone, and the several steps taken by Barbadians today to pave the way for future generations.

However, she indicated that it has not all been “smooth waters,” describing this past year in particular as “a watershed in our history”.
“As a country, we rode a page which ushered in a period of severe austerity from October of 2018 and which is blotted with the blood of our sons and daughters,” she pointed out in the Political Party’s 2019 Independence Message, yesterday.

“One of our nation builders Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, asked the poignant question “How did we get here again?” Today, I pose a different question to you - The Democratic Labour Party is convinced that as a people, we have the fortitude to withstand these winds that battered us at this critical point in our history. We truly have been here before, but this time we need to take stock of the lessons of history to ensure that we do not repeat this period again,” she stressed.

DePeiza is therefore inviting Barbadians to consider the type of society that they want to live in, “One where the graphs and indexes of economic progress point upwards, but our people are left behind as their quality of life diminishes, or one where balance is struck and maintained between the needs of our people and what we are willing to contribute to achieve both our economic and social goals.

“This is an image crafted by ourselves, rather than one imposed on us. It is the opportunity to till the land, both literally and figuratively, so that the seeds we sow today are fruitful for generations to come. This is what drives us in the Democratic Labour Party, to lead the charge, to guard the four corners of our heritage, to shape our landscape for the greater good of our country. We invite you now to share and contribute to this idea of hope for the future, a future drawn by me for you,” the DLP President said.

While announcing that the Government was playing its part in ensuring that Barbados remains clean and beautiful, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley urged persons to take responsibility for their surroundings as well.

The Prime Minister was proud to announce that the first two, much needed garbage trucks arrived in Barbados on Tuesday, with ten more due within the next two weeks and more to come within a matter of weeks.

“But no matter how clean the Sanitation Service Authority makes this country, if we as individuals and households don’t agree to take responsibility for our surroundings as was done by our grandparents and great grandparents, we will not have a clean nation,” she said.
“My friends, our people, our family, our friends are returning home next month, from the 1st of January, and we have a duty just as you do in your home to keep it clean, to keep Barbados spotless.”

She urged persons to have the same spirit of cleaning that they usually have during the month of December, where they were taught to clean for the whole month and add the cleaning up of their surroundings outside of their home to their list of things to clean.

Mottley assured that the Government would be making arrangements to have persons in charge of different districts to assist with the cleaning up duties. She revealed that persons would be contracted to keep the communities and along the highways clean, so as to minimise incidences of flooding, as well as keep the nation how they believe it ought to look.

“My cabinet will tell you this is the one thing I complain about incessantly because I know as a people and nation, we can do better,” she said.

She asked the young people to be the eyes and ears and help the Government to achieve this goal as they aim to keep the nation clean, especially with We Gathering 2020 around the corner.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Dale Marshall is urging Barbadians to find amicable ways to settle disputes and not to resort to violence.

He made the call in a statement yesterday as he reflected on the triple homicide in Walkers, St. Andrew, maintaining “this is not the way we settle our issues”. Yesterday as Barbadians celebrated independence, the day was marred as that quiet rural neighbourhood grappled to come to terms with an incident that left three dead, reportedly as a result of a cutlass attack, bringing the number of homicides for the year to 47.

According to AG Marshall, while investigations were ongoing, the tragic incident appeared to have stemmed from a family dispute related to land.

“The tragedy about this situation is that when the deaths occur the thing that is left is the real estate, and there has to be a better way for Barbadians to look to resolve these kinds of disputes,” he contended.

Marshall added, “I think that anybody who has practised in the courts of Barbados would recognise that a tremendous amount of energy and effort is expended on exactly this issue – disputes related to ownership and possession of land”.

With 2019 fast coming to a close, the Attorney General appealed to Barbadians to think more about what the future holds and how we can better live in peace in communities across this island. He made that call as he reiterated that disputes related to real estate should not be settled by violence, as he contended that there are other ways to handle such situations including mediation and alternative dispute resolution.

“We so eagerly resort to weapons, we so eagerly resort to knives, vicious implements to settle disputes that really have no business ending up in death. Today the loss of life for these families is something that will last with them forever,” he stated.

With that in mind, he said that as Barbadians continue this weekend to celebrate the country’s 53rd anniversary, Government is asking that the “spirit of peace and tranquillity” prevail, and expressed hope that such an incident not occur again. His comments came as he extended condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

“Three deaths in one day through any kind of misunderstanding, any kind of dispute or argument is tragic. The communities in St. Andrew will feel the loss, but that loss reverberates all across Barbados because the people who have died are our brothers and our sisters… As the Attorney General of Barbados I am asking that Barbadians seek to find always different means of resolving these disputes, they need not end in violence or the loss of lives. Our lives are too precious to be lost in this fashion,” he maintained. (JRT)

On Thursday evening, nine persons successfully completed and graduated fromthe Prince’s Trust International Team Programme.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony that took place at Accra Beach Hotel, Acting Inspector Roland Cobbler, Delivery Partner Manager expressed that they were all pleased to gather tocelebrate the achievement of these nine youngpeople.

He explained that the programme, which was delivered by the Royal Barbados Police Force in conjunction with the Prince’s Trust International, was designed to assist young people between the ages of 16 to 25 years of age that were unemployed or engaged in formal aspects of educational or vocational training and commenced September 9, 2019.

The 12-week programme, which was described by Cobbler asa pre-employment programme, supported the personal development of these young people and helped inspire them to develop new confidence and ambition.

“After completion of this 12-week programme, participants were provided with a level of support to find a job and training opportunities to further education. To assist in this aspect of their development and provide the additional support, we have embarked on a mentorship programme where our participants will be assigned a mentor who will provide with support, advice and friendship,” he said.

“This initiative provides us with additional strategies in which we can engage some of the more vulnerable members of our communities.

“In today’s society, where violence is a growing concern it is imperative that opportunities are created to assist young people in recognising that they are positive alternatives that are more rewarding than getting involved in crime and violence.”

Cobbler highlighted that as a law enforcement agency, one of their primary roles was the prevention of crime and in this regard, the Royal Barbados Police Force in partnership with various entities was committed to the process of finding alternative activities for young people who were unemployed or not engaged in academic or vocational pursuit.

“This particular group started with 15 participants and unfortunately only nine made it to the end and the reality is that although there are interventions there to try to make the difference our young people have to realise that they themselves have to want to change,” he said.

In recent times, the issue of crime has been a major concern to members of the public, however, according to one law enforcing official, they can rest assured that the Royal Barbados Police Force remains committed to ensuring their safety.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony of the Prince’s Trust International Team Programme, which took place at Accra Beach Hotel and Spa on Thursday evening, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, William Yearwood highlighted that even with a shortage of over 250 police officers, they will work to leave no stone unturned and keep the streets and communities safe.

“As you are aware, Christmas Day is drawing nigh and shoppers will be out in their numbers. With our reduced numbers we will be strategizing to keep the country safe. We will be stepping up on police visibility with patrols paying special attention in the city, rural areas and on beaches; also in commercial areas where there is likely increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic,” he said.

“We are asking our citizens and visitors to be careful whilst going about their business. Be careful whilst driving or riding, whilst doing do, observe the driving code and keep within the traffic regulations.”

He urged pedestrians to be careful whilst crossing streets and shoppers to secure their items of purchase.

Noting that the RBPF had a shortage of police officers, Yearwood made a call for suitable persons, especially young qualified men, to keep their character unsullied and choose the Force for a career.

“Throughout the years the Force has shown interest in the youth of our island. We recognise that the youth are the future leaders and certainly we hope that more of them will be attracted to the Force, to take over and to assist in keeping the state of our island safe,” he said.

Barbadians are coming forward to be tested for HIV, but not in the numbers that the National HIV/AIDS Commission would like to see.
Director of the Commission, Dr. Jacqueline Wiltshire-Gay, made this comment during the service at the St. Michael’s Cathedral on World AIDS Day, which was celebrated yesterday.

She explained that every year the organisation is still detecting positives (HIV results) that were not caught during community testing sites and activities. She added that there is a need to push people to know their status by getting tested.

“There is no way you can work on your treatment or work on any of the areas to help you if you do not know your status,” said Dr. Wiltshire-Gay.

The National HIV/AIDS Commission Director said that her organisation does not have statistics on the current number of persons with HIV, as the focus of the entity is on stigma and discrimination while complementing the work of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which focuses on diagnostic and treatment.

Worrying statistics
Dr. Wiltshire-Gay said that the National HIV/AIDS Commission was “making great strides” in the area of the age of sexual debut or when people first had sex, however there seems to be an increase in that group.

She added that other increasing statistics are in multi-partnering (having multiple sexual partners) and in a lack of condom use. She urged Barbadians to increase their condom use, saying this is important since incidences of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on the rise.
“These are worrying signs for (the National HIV/AIDS Commission),” said Dr. Wiltshire-Gay.

In response to a question from the media as to the reason for these increases, Dr. Wiltshire-Gay stated that the causes were “multifaceted”. She suggested that during a period of recession, there will be more transactional sex and intergenerational sex and these could result in cases where people go into survival mode and not take the type of care that they should take.

She said that the Commission has attempted to address each issue with the groups they considered the most vulnerable or high at-risk groups.

This year, the theme for World AIDS Day is “Communities Make The Difference” and it marks the 31st World AIDS Day since its establishment in 1988.

It is clear that the art of listening and forgiveness needs to be taught to the children of Barbados.

This is the view of Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley.

As she addressed the nation during Saturday’s 53rd Independence Celebrations at Kensington Oval, she stated her belief that this is important if we are to make Barbados a better place.

“The art of listening and the art of forgiveness is something that needs to be taught to our students. We can do better,” she said.

She believes that in life it is important to talk with people and not at, or to, them; to care about one another, and to recognise that caring is the first step in wanting to protect someone and not harm them. The PM urged people to remember these simple things.

She believes that if these basic things are instilled in all of our children, then the future of our nation will be assured.

However, Mottley was also quick to note that this would not be possible if people are not prepared to listen to each other, tolerate each other, and learn the power of forgiveness.

She asked the church to step up to the plate and to bring back a level of parenting in this country, such that each person takes responsibility for raising young people.

She went on to note that if they were to improve the future; the health of our children also needs to be addressed.

She believes that the number of children with diabetes is entirely too high, and as such, urged persons to change how they eat, to exercise and to be more active.

According to the prime minister it is time for the people of Barbados to increase the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, “because if the price of vegetables is outside the reach of a household, they will feed themselves on a diet that will only make them worse off, so my friends, let us work together to be able to increase the production of fresh foods, and vegetables in this country,” she said.

The guests at Turtle Beach Hotel received a special treat recently during breakfast, as the students of KG 4, Rock Christian Primary School serenaded them with popular Barbadian folk songs.

Juann Merritt, KG 4 teacher at the Rock Christian Primary School told The Barbados Advocate that when they realised that Independence was approaching, she thought it would be a special treat to perform for the guests and give them a little taste of their culture.

“We thought, ‘what can we do to let guests know that we still care about our culture and to educate the children in the process?’ and so we decided to do a small performance. We know at this small age it is the best time to teach them all about Barbados,” she said.

“The practice was fairly easy because the children were so excited to rehearse. And this morning they were at school since 7:30am and they were all excited to perform.

“The reason why I started this in Social Studies is because if you look at the Independence activities now, most of them are domino matches and the like, but we need to let our children know what was happening in the past; I even showed them the jucking board, which was used instead of the washing machines. As you know these children were raised in the time of the washing machines, so they really did not know what a jucking board was.”

She believed that it was important to teach the children about the history of their country.

“It is important, you have to start at this young age, you can’t wait until they get older because it’s not going to register,” she said.

“So all of these are things we try to instill in them, this is what Barbados was like before, yes we have become independent, but we don’t want to forget what it was like.”

One guest was particularly thrilled by the young students’ performance that she approached them after the performance to let them know that they truly made her trip more special. She also encouraged them to work hard and keep up the good work in the future.

Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Christ Church West Central, Joseph “Joe” Edghill was honoured in a special way recently when a play park was renamed in his honour.

The Park, now called the Joseph ‘Joe’ Edghill Play Park’, is situated in Gall Hill, Christ Church. The renaming was done to commemorate his over 14 years of service to the constituency and the country.

Edghill’s wife, Angela Edghill and family members were in attendance for the occasion. Also present were several MPs including the current Member of Parliament for Christ Church West Central and Minister of Youth and Community Empowerment, Adrian Forde.

In his address, Forde said that “Joe Edghill” was a household name and he has influenced the lives of many persons in the constituency and the parish. He spoke about the role Edghill played not only as a politician but as a pharmacist, where he ran two pharmacies in Oistins. He additionally highlighted the assistance he gave to football teams within the community.

Forde also highlighted the role Edghill played in his own life in the area of pharmacy and in encouraging him to become a politician. He described the former MP as someone who practiced the “tenants of hard work, discipline and selflessness.” He stated Edghill’s “presence, your spirit, selfless philanthropic nature will always be embed in Christ Church West Central and there izs always a place for you here amongst the good people of Christ Church West Central who always have that love and respect in their hearts for Joe.”

Also addressing the audience and delivering remarks on behalf of Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley was Education Minister, Santia Bradshaw. She stated it is always important to recognise the good work on an individual when they are still alive and in a position to hear what is being said about them. She thanked the former Christ Church West Central representative for the work he did from 1994 to 2008 when he was in office.

“To Joe, I just want to say thank you from the bosom of the Barbados Labour Party for being someone who as a politician has been honest and truthful, transparent, has been an excellent community leader, someone who all of us as young politicians can look up to, someone who I believe has basically set the bar high so that all of us have something to look forward to and a legacy that we can fulfill.”

During last Friday’s renaming ceremony, awards were presented to persons who have made invaluable contributions to the constituency. The awardees were Hilda Howell, Calvin ‘Cully’ Chase, Marva Hunte, Cedric Nicholls, Leroy Husbands and Eyrie Sealy.

Sealy, who is the former club captain and coach of the Pride of Gall Hill Football Club, in his tribute to Edghill spoke fondly of the work he did with that club and the Hampton Club. He also used the occasion to remind residents of the Gall Hill and surrounding areas to treat the play park with care. He urged them not to see it as government property but their property and to maintain it.(MG)