As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade seeks to connect with the Barbadian diaspora and compile a database of such individuals, the Ministry has a new tagline for its competition intended to help reach out to those persons.

The announcement came recently in a brief prize giving presentation, which was held in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The new tagline – “Parish to Parish and Sea to Sea, We Gatherin’ fuh we”, was conceptualised by employees of the Research Unit of the Ministry of the Public Service – Rashida Rowe and Sheena Headley. They received a cheque for $1 000, compliments Republic Bank, which sponsored the competition that was open to employees across the public service.

Speaking at the presentation, Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Sandra Husbands said the diaspora competition is important to assist the ministry in making contact with Barbadians living abroad. Her comments came as she said that most Barbadians do not contact the embassies overseas unless there is a problem and so she said there are probably only about 10,000 persons who are actually registered as Barbadians with the embassies.

“But we know that we have hundreds of thousands more persons of Barbadian descent who belong to us, we are now into second, third and fourth generation Barbadians and some of them have not had the opportunity to bond and connect with us in the way the first generation would have had those experiences because they were born here... We need to reconnect with them,” she stated.

She added that the Ministry is relaunching the diaspora competition with the view of running a number of promotional ads on various media, inviting persons who have already registered to get others on board.

“Especially Barbadians coming home for the We Gatherin’, if they can help us to be able to find and locate our second, third and fourth generation Barbadians, then what we will have is an asset base. We can look at it and identify what are some of the things people wish to do, ways in which they want to help Barbados and ways in which they can help us export goods and services. One of the other critical things they would be able to do, is help us with political lobbying because they are there in capitals where decisions are being made that would affect us,” she said.

Meanwhile, Minister Husbands applauded those who participated in the tagline competition and Republic Bank for also coming on board without hesitation. Speaking on behalf of Republic Bank, its Marketing Officer/Communications, Sharon Howell offered heartiest congratulations to the winners.

“As Minister Husbands alluded earlier, it was a no brainer for Republic Bank, we are always interested in getting involved in community initiatives such as this. We are excited to come on board and provide this prize for you deserving young ladies,” she stated. (JRT)

Citizens of Barbados, especially farmers  are being encouraged to find alternative ways to insure they

have a constant flow of water

supply to their homes and

businesses.

This advice is coming from local farmer and Co-director of J&P Farms Ltd. Bernice Chase, as herself and colleagues continue to deal

with the extended drought

conditions the country has been

facing.

When asked about how the current situation was being dealt with, Chase revealed that because of the Barbados Agriculture Development Marketing Corporation (BADMC), the dire situation was stable for the time being.

“As far as the drought is concerned we have a drip irrigation from BADMC. It gets rationed but we are also putting in a water catchment system to store rain water. We had some issues with the implementation in the past, however most of those have ironed out by now. Under this new administration they seem to be doing a better job with it, however time will tell,” she said.

Though more could always be done, Chase believes it is incumbent on normal citizens, as well as agriculturalists to find ways to deal with the drought issues in their own way.

“My take on this is that all farmers and householders should harvest rain water. We have too many roofs in Barbados for it to be labelled a water scarce country. Efficient use of our roofs, gullies and water courses would fix that problem. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel and there is no lack of innovation on our part, somebody just got to do it and that is us,” Chase explained.

When asked about how realistic it would be to source the needed materials locally to make such projects viable, Chase was confident that local suppliers would be more than able to meet the demand.

“Most parts for such systems can be sourced locally. If you are thinking of making a pool in a pond or water course, the pond liner might not be readily available here and might need to be brought in. Catching water from roofs requires drums or other forms of receptacles,” Chase outlined.

With the drought conditions on the island predicted to continue for some time into 2020, Chase is hoping more is done within the public and private sectors, to influence important stakeholders in pushing more of these water catchment initiatives into the mainstream. (SB)

There must be an aggressive approach to the hearing of murder and gun-related cases in order to let people know that there are consequences to their actions.

Prime Minister, Mia Mottley expressed that she believed it was time for Barbados to have this discussion and put things in place to achieve this, as it cannot be business as usual.

“This notion that persons can be on bail for murder is so repugnant to me, I can’t even begin to understand how a person who is on bail for murder can be charged with another murder. But I

speak not as a defence lawyer but as a defender of this nation’s society and we have to recognise that, to be fair to the defendant, what is required is quick justice,” she said.

“And it is to that extent therefore that the Government has made available the resources such that there is no excuse for us not to be able to turn around a murder case and a serious criminal case, particularly gun-related crime within six to nine months of the charging of the accused person.”

She stated that the small handful of brazen people were a part of the problem and believed that if we could aspire to achieve swift justice, then when persons saw that persons who have been brazen are being held accountable immediately for their actions, there would hopefully, more than likely, be a change of heart of those persons thinking of getting themselves involved with foolishness.

Mottley went on to assure the Royal Barbados Police Force that the current administration will continue to appropriately equip them to do the job.

“We understand that in an evolving Barbados where you are putting your lives on the front line for us, we must do all that we can do protect you and enable you to protect those that you are required to protect,” she said.

There is a call for a bridge to be constructed, connecting River Road and the Constitution River Terminal.

The suggestion is coming Chairman of the Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO), attorney-at-law Kenny Best, who says that this will help to ensure the safety and security of commuters who utilise the Constitution River Terminal after dark.

In an interview with The Barbados Advocate, Best said that such a bridge would put the commuters right into the terminal, and avoid them having to pass through the area where the vendors operate, which is dark and deserted at night.

So convinced that this is something that should be pursued, Best said that the two associations representing public service vehicles – APTO and the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) – met last week and decided that they would put the request officially to the Ministry of Transport and Works.

He explained that the hope is to send that correspondence to the Ministry and the Transport Authority this week, and to forward a copy to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as well.

“Even if the bridge cannot be done right away, we believe that increased lighting should be installed to better light the dark areas to make it safer to commuters, because there is no longer the alternative to go over to the fire station.

“If you are saying you want to provide proper and safe facilities for the PSVs and the travelling public, the commuters must also be able to safely walk to come and catch the buses. So I am hoping and praying that our cries in relation to having this bridge built do not fall on deaf ears,” he stated.

The APTO chairman added, “Having the bridge would encourage people coming to the terminal to walk along the lighted street, where vehicles are travelling all the time and the question then of somebody being robbed or a crime being committed, while not completely ruled out, would be minimised.”

His comments came as he added that the Constitution River Terminal where the minibuses, which operated adjacent to the fire station, have been relocated along with the public service vehicles (PSV), cannot properly accommodate all the PSVs now required to operate there. He said adequate accommodation can only be achieved if the vendors operating in that vicinity were to be moved. Best said while he appreciates the inconvenience this could cause for the vendors, it would certainly provide the much needed space at the terminal and reduce the congestion that persists.

Meanwhile, turning his attention to the Cheapside Terminal, Best said PSV operators are hoping that they can have an alternative area identified for them to operate from at night, given the distance of that terminal from the Constitution River Terminal and isolated nature of the facility. He said they have had discussions with the Transport Authority about this possibility and are hoping to see that come to fruition sooner rather than later.

“We are looking for an alternative to prevent people from travelling further down at night, if we can have a place designated further up town that is lighted to ensure the safety and security of the PSV operators and the commuters. Up to Broad Street there is proper lighting, but after you get to Lower Broad Street and you have to walk down by St. Mary’s [Church] wall and the market, down there is kind of dark. So we are looking at an alternative to help solve that issue,” the APTO head added. (JRT)

The Barbados Embassy in Beijing remains in daily contact with all Barbadians currently in China, and at present, none of them are showing symptoms of the coronavirus.

Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Sandra Husbands, speaking to the media on Friday on the sidelines of a prize giving presentation which was held in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, said they are in contact with the three people in the affected area and the other 75 or so Barbadians who live, work and study across China.

“What they have been doing is collaborating with the ambassadors from CARICOM... they are sitting and discussing in an emergency how we are going to deal with this. So we are making preparations for any eventuality. To date, as far as we know, because of daily contact, they are fine they are not showing any symptoms and we are very grateful for that and we would ask the nation to continue to pray,” she said.

She continued, “But they are trying to make sure, for example, that if they are going to be running short on supplies, how could we get supplies to them [and] what is it we need to do. So this is a daily monitoring that is going on with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both here in capital and in our embassy in Beijing.”

Asked about whether there are any plans to bring those persons back home, she said it is something they have been looking at, but noted the dynamics of doing so would not be easy.

“It is not as straightforward as it would look, bearing in mind that they don’t want people to leave and spread anything, so the Ministry here at capital and the Ambassador are connecting to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussing in the eventuality what would we need to do, what would be the steps and so on. So the discussions are there, but at the moment we are holding pattern... we haven’t seen any reason as yet to be deeply alarmed and we believe they should be able to ride it out. But as I said, we are monitoring them every day, every day,” she stated.

On the matter of the travel bans being issued by other countries and whether Barbados would follow suit, she said that call is one for the Ministry of Health and Wellness to make if they think we have reached that stage.

“...So you are going to have a limitation on people who are actually going to leave China. For them to get as far as this region they have to stop in a number of places – they have to stop in London or they have to stop in New York. They are not going to get any further than there, because once you have come out from there, they are going to ask you to go in quarantine. So as yet there is no need for Barbados to have that on board because the global response will take care of that movement,” Husbands assured.

Nevertheless, she said protocols are in place in case someone slips through and they need to be quarantined, that that can be done. (JRT)

Continuing education must not only be made for those academically inclined, but for all.

Making this statement, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Senator Dr. Romel Springer, said continuing education must foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth, noting this was achievable if areas of focus were linked to the needs of society.

“It is therefore absolutely essential that we conduct a critical analysis of our societal, social and economic needs, with the intention of creating programmes which identify and hone the requisite skills to address the challenges we face as a people here in Barbados,” he said.

“While the courses offered are varied, there is still some scope, once resources permit, for the inclusion of more general interest and skill-based subjects. This would ensure a greater balance between those areas that currently target teachers and prospective teachers, and those that can target persons who may not want to enter into the teaching profession, but may want to enter the industry,” he stressed.

At the time, he was delivering the feature address to the 2020 Graduating Class of the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College on Saturday night on the grounds of the educational institution.

Meanwhile, in her remarks, Chair of the College Dr. Sylvia Henry urged the administrators of the programmes to listen to the needs of the community and to design courses relevant to those desires.

“It is important that these are done with relevance to societal change,” she stressed.

Henry encouraged them to develop the continuing programme to an established Erdiston Continuing Education Centre, offering formal continuing education credits that can be articulated across the tertiary landscape. (JMB)

THE executive of the Association for Barbados China Friendship (ABCF) is throwing its full support behind the Chinese Government and members of Chinese communities. It comes as that country grapples with containing the spread of the novel coronavirus and is working to find a treatment with a network of scientists from across the globe.

In a statement issued by former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. DeLisle Worrell, who announced the formation of the ABCF back in May last year, he commended the Chinese government on how it has been handling the crisis situation thus far.

“We are grateful for the measures that the government and the people of the People’s Republic of China has taken to contain the virus within China. We are full of admiration for the extraordinary speed and decisiveness within which quarantines have been implemented, new specialised hospitals have been built, supplies of food and medicines have been mobilised and support services have been put in place.

“The World Health Organisation has commended the Chinese authorities on the wealth and pertinence of the information made publicly available. The medical authorities and all related agencies in China are in active collaboration with a global network of scientists from leading medical centres in the US, Europe and around the world, in a race against time to find treatment and vaccines for the new virus.”

The former Central Bank governor noted that there is a wealth of information that can keep persons up to date with ongoing efforts being undertaken by China.

“Comprehensive up to the minute information on developments with respect to the novel coronavirus is available to Barbadians from the China Global Television Network to be found in English on MCTV Channel 209 and on YouTube. CGTN programmes include a daily news conference from Hubei Province – the epicentre of the virus; data and informed discussion panels by leading experts from all around the world; and live reports from Wuhan and other locations within China and abroad.

“There are videos of new hospitals being built and equipped, interviews with medical staff on the frontline of the fight against the epidemic and other real-time coverage of life in China and how it has been affected by the crisis. Information on the virus is also available on the website and Facebook page of the Chinese Embassy in Barbados,” Dr. Worrell said.

Break gender stereotypes that link science to masculinity and expose young generations to positive role models – women engineers, astronauts and researchers.

That’s the call of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, ahead of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 11.

She said that science will be essential for decent work and jobs of the future, including in the green economy, and it can create a market for women’s innovative ideas and products. However, she is adamant that there is still a long way to go to tackle the challenges that remain for women and girls in science.

Less than 30 per cent of the world’s researchers are women, with studies showing that women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are published less, paid less for their research and do not advance as far as men in their careers.

“We need a dedicated strategy not only for increasing the representation of women in the talent pipeline for STEM jobs, but also for ensuring that they thrive, incentivizing them to remain in these high-paying jobs and institutionalising organisational cultures that enable women to advance in these fields,” she stressed.

“This year, we have an opportunity to work together across sectors to address these challenges. As we mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the most visionary agenda and roadmap for women’s and girls’ rights, we need to reflect on the ways in which the rapid spread of digital technologies has reshaped every aspect of public and private life in the decades since, and what this means for the ongoing struggle to achieve gender equality in science.

“This is a vital part of UN Women’s Generation Equality campaign, which is assembling six diverse Action Coalitions to tackle the unfinished business of gender equality. One of these will be focused on ‘Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality’, with the aim of catalysing action for game-changing approaches that provide new opportunities to women and girls, while addressing barriers to connectivity, digital inclusion and digital equality,” Mlambo-Ngcuka pointed out.

Furthermore, the UN Women Executive Director expressed that generation equality is a chance to ensure that the business community, including those in the STEM sectors, has a stake in and a responsibility for gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. (TL)

District Education Officer, Lomer Rock, is cautioning parents and guardians to closely supervise how their young charges use electronic devices such as tablets.

His comments came as he voiced his agreement that technology can be useful, especially to assist students learning concepts on their own.

“If it is not supervised, then students can get distracted and they can spend lots of time on it doing a lot of things that are not connected to their education, so it has to be supervised.”

He added, “But in terms of students learning on their own and guided discovery, that is where the most important component of it lies, in getting the student to research even before they come to a class and also getting the student to reinforce after the lesson has been taught. You can go on YouTube and you can see the very same thing that the teacher taught you and you say, ‘Oh, that is how it works.’ So the importance is reinforcing and discovery.”

Rock spoke on the sidelines of last Friday’s presentation where 28 Class 3 pupils of Welches Primary School received tablets. These were given through the Tablet Project of the Aron and Christina Foundation.

Rock expressed gratitude to the Foundation on behalf of the Education Ministry. He lauded the work the Foundation does annually, providing students with tablets.

“Thank you from the Ministry of Education and we trust that this will continue and that we will forge greater partnerships, so that the future of our children as they go from school to school, will be indeed brighter because they have an avenue which they can absorb much information.”

Erdiston Teachers’ Training College may soon add another set of offerings to prospective students – online courses.

Addressing the 2020 Graduation Ceremony at the College’s grounds on Saturday night, Principal Dr. Patricia Saul said technology was available to increase access for adults who may find it difficult to arrange their schedules to physically enter classes and the institution must embrace this.

“Through mobile devices, electronic networking, social media and online courses, adult learners can have the opportunity to learn anytime and anywhere. Hence, it is our hope, that in the very near future, some of our continued education courses can be offered online,” she said.

In preparation for this, she revealed training had begun for a cadre of full-time staff in teaching in the online environment, “and it is our hope to expand this training to our part-time staff, so that some of our continuing education courses could be accessed online”.

“This would provide a wider cadre of persons innovative possibilities to realise lifelong learning and reduce their dependence on traditional face-to-face modalities,” she continued.

Saul highlighted only moments earlier that it was the wish of the educational institution to continue to provide suitable structures and mechanisms for the development of continuing education programmes in Barbados, while ensuring that the courses developed were enough to help participants adapt to future needs, issues and challenges of our evolving society.

Outlining the various courses offered by the college, she expressed concern that out of the 263 persons who enrolled in the programme last year, a mere seven had been males.

“This is a clear indication that our females continue to outdo the males in terms of accessing continued education opportunities and it might mean that as a college, we may have to look at some other options that may be more attractive to the males,” she added. (JMB)

Non-medical use of prescription drugs is growing in Barbados and the Regional Security System (RSS) is putting measures in place to help reverse the trend.

Addressing yesterday’s opening ceremony of the RSS Drug Investigations for Female Officers Course, Executive Director of the RSS Headquarters Captain Errington Shurland said the range of drugs and drug markets were growing and diversifying like never before and pointed out that non-medical use of prescription drugs such as opioids has reached epidemic proportions in various parts of the world.

He said the Caribbean has not remained untouched by this scourge, while citing the growing use of Zesser pills in Trinidad and Tobago. These pills, which are designed to look like sweets, combine a mixture of ecstasy and cocaine.

“Similar challenges exist in Barbados. The Barbados Drug Information Network has reported problematic use of opioids and amphetamines in 2017, ecstasy and crystal meth in 2018 and also crystal meth, ecstasy, xanax and hasheesh in 2019,” he said.

Shurland noted new psychoactive substances (NPS) and emerging drugs were presenting a number of challenges for persons working in the area of demand and supply reduction.

“These problems and challenges are a lack of knowledge about their safety and toxicity, risk and consequences; unawareness of the part of the users about what they consume; increase in the number of overdoses and fatal cases associated with these substances and that these substances are outside of the control of the international and national legislative framework.

A report from CICAD- Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission indicated that NPS (non medical prescription drugs) and opioids presented not only challenges for drug supply reduction and drug treatment, but also for drug treatment overall,” he told the group gathered at the RSS Training Institute in Paragon.

Over the course’s two week period, the officers will be gain further insight to drugs and trends, valuation of drugs, forensic awareness, precursors, slang in the drug trade and drug trafficking in the Americas, case investigation, intelligence, interview, briefing and debriefing techniques. (JMB)

The Government of Barbados is partnering with the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto to establish a Centre of Paediatric Excellence at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), which is expected to see a greater number of paediatric health care personnel being trained and fewer children here having to seek treatment overseas for various conditions.

The Centre which will be known as the Shaw Centre for Paediatric Excellence is being made possible through the support of the LesLois Shaw Foundation in collaboration with the Clinton Foundation. Word of the centre, which is to be of benefit not only to Barbados, but the countries of the Eastern Caribbean, came yesterday in a ceremony held on the grounds of the Prime Minister’s official residence, Ilaro Court.

Speaking yesterday morning during the event, Director of Capacity Building, Centre for Global Child Health, SickKids Canada, Brian Smith said through the Centre they will develop a specialist nursing programme through which 40 paediatric nurses will be trained to help support the QEH and the various polyclinics. Additionally, he said, four physicians are to be trained in targeted, high-need paediatric subspecialties through fellowships at the Hospital for Sick Children and support will also be offered for six international observerships in quality improvement that will twin their experience at the Hospital for Sick Children with health care settings in Barbados.

Smith went on to explain that this training falls within one of the four work streams – excellence and innovation in paediatric education – through which the Centre intends to meet its three main goals – to establish a critical mass of health workers with expertise in paediatrics and maximise the quality of the environment in which they work; to leverage new skilled health workforce to improve the quality of paediatric care and establish a culture of continuous improvement and finally to invest in research and advocacy that informs policy and drives sustainability. Smith indicated that other work streams are improvements in patient and family experience and clinician environment; paediatric research and innovation; and excellence and innovation in paediatric care.

The Director of Capacity Building said in respect of improving patient and family experience and clinician environment, the paediatric ward at the QEH will be refurbished. In addition to installing new furniture in the ward and waiting room, he said any necessary medical equipment will also be procured.  Moreover, he said that the same will be done in respect of the child health spaces within the polyclinics.

In terms of the excellence and innovation in paediatric care, he said eight high-priority clinical quality improvement initiatives will be developed. He further noted that as part of this initiative, a patient amenity fund to help support families from the Eastern Caribbean access care at the QEH will also be established.

Finally, Smith revealed that as it relates to paediatric research and innovation it will be focused on Barbados and three catalyst grants and two local post-doctoral fellowships in paediatric research will be made available He went on to say that they will also work with the Chronic Disease Research Centre to complete the national childhood obesity surveillance project.

Chair of the LesLois Shaw Foundation, Virginia Shaw Hutchinson said earlier that the Centre will be established over the next seven years.

“It is our hope to create a modern environment for patient and family, while aspiring to establish a centre of innovation for paediatric research, education and care. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the people of Barbados, I know it will be incredible. I believe this incredible partnership will have a lasting impact,” she said. (JRT)

Construction on an expanded Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is expected to get started soon on a site next

to the current department.

That’s according to Executive Chairman of the QEH, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland. She was speaking yesterday afternoon to the media on the sidelines of the launch of a partnership between Government and the Toronto-based Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) at Ilaro Court to establish the Shaw Centre for Paediatric Excellence.

She said after exploring several options for the build out of that department, including the nearby Enmore Complex as well as within the hospital itself, it was decided that they build next to the department.

“As we speak now we are really building back up the project team. You are going to soon see work starting and we are going to give you a date officially for the groundbreaking of the new A&E. We would have done a lot of the preliminary work already and we decided that we would settle on the original site for expansion, which is next door to the existing A&E and it will call for some reconfiguration of driving and parking,” she told media personnel.

She explained that by building on that site as opposed to expanding the current department, will allow the department to continue to operate and cater to the needs of the public.

“That’s why it was considered the best option, because you can encase the location and do the building within that site and not disrupt the operations and as you move out and start up, you can do some retrofitting of the existing A&E. So all of the other options that we looked at within the facility just were not the best fit,” she stated.

Bynoe-Sutherland said that some $11 million have already been allocated within the budget to execute this project and she said that persons can expect that with the expanded facility will come additional staff to get the job done. Noting that healthcare is a very human resource-intensive area, she said part of the planning for this expansion of the A&E has looked at increasing staff, bed capacity and the services that are delivered by that department.

“It is important to note that building out or strengthening the existing capacity of the A&E is not the only thing that is needed to improve the delivery of accident and emergency services. Very often blockages are encountered within the hospital. When you hear sometimes people are waiting a long time for a bed, it is because they are waiting essentially to get into beds on wards in the hospital and we have been impacted by a number of variables,” she added.

The QEH head explained that such variables include the large population of elderly for care who remain at the hospital long after their acute condition has been addressed, and limited bed capacity at the hospital. As such, she said it is imperative that the hospital strengthen its discharge planning, increase the bed capacity and do a better job in the area of ambulatory care.

“There are a number of procedures that are now increasingly able to be done as a same day procedure – so you can come into the hospital have a same day procedure and then be discharged. So if we can get ambulatory care services more deeply established and instituted into the hospital, it would go a long way towards reducing the number of persons who are required to stay within the hospital. That would help significantly with improving the delivery of care,” she added. (JRT)

The Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) is working towards becoming more citizen-centric, by providing options which allow taxpayers to interact with its services at a time and place which is convenient to them.

As a matter of fact, Revenue Commissioner (Ag) Wayne Forde admits that BRA’s intention is for taxpayers to visit its offices only when they have an issue.

Yesterday, he pointed to this while officially announcing that BRA has marked another milestone in its journey to improve service delivery and integrate technology – the availability of Cave Shepherd Card Services Mobile App as a payment platform for Land Tax.

This is in addition to Government’s recently rebranded and relaunched payment platform EZpay+, giving property owners two digital channels through which to pay Land Tax.

“Both of these initiatives were born out of the mandate to make doing business with government institutions easier for those persons who have to access the services. With Government spearheading the modernisation and digital transformation of the public sector, this is but one aspect of how we at the Revenue Authority are helping to fulfil that vision.”

Forde went on to explain that the initiative with Cave Shepherd Card Services, is a good example of public and private sector partnership towards facilitating ease and increasing efficiency in its operations. 

He said that rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, BRA is engaging stakeholders from within the public and private sectors, “so that we can better streamline our processes such that we can deliver better services.” 

“Working collaboratively is key to the betterment of Barbados. This is another step in enhancing our service delivery journey and it is definitely not the last you will be hearing from the Authority in this regard,” he stated, further revealing that other plans are in the works for BRA to further support Government’s digital transformation vision while simultaneously enhancing the service experience.

“I can share that we are currently working on expanding online payments to the other taxes in the not too distant future, but I cannot give you a definitive date at this time. You can be assured however, that it is an initiative on which we are working.” (TL) 

PRESIDENT of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr. Warren Smith while highlighting the strides made by the Bank over the past five decades to assist in the socio-economic development of the region, also highlighted the critical role played by past leaders of that regional institution.

Dr. Smith paid tribute to this distinguished group during a service of thanksgiving held at the Frank Collymore Hall on Sunday evening as the CDB celebrates its 50th anniversary.

According to Dr. Smith, “From its conception and in its early years of operation, this institution has been blessed with leaders and a cadre of staff who have been dedicated to our mission.”

“Four past Presidents – Sir Arthur Lewis, William Demas, Sir Neville Nicholls and Professor Compton Bourne – provided the solid foundation for the CDB which I inherited in 2011, when I became President. Today, I pay tribute to their legacy.”

He highlighted that Sir Neville, who attended the thanksgiving service, was a member of the Barbados delegation that participated in the inter-governmental meetings held to discuss the draft Agreement for establishing the Bank.  

“He also represented Barbados on the Preparatory Committee that made the arrangements for CDB's establishment after the draft Agreement had been accepted by the Third Ministerial level Meeting. As a member of staff of the CDB, I had the good fortune of Sir Neville’s tutelage during his presidency and prior to that, when he served as Vice President of Operations. 

“Desmond Brunton and Mr. Neville Grainger, two outstanding Vice Presidents, are also present this evening. A number of us in the current staff and leadership of CDB benefited from their knowledge and experience when they worked with the Bank and we continue to draw on their wisdom, to this day,” Dr. Smith said.

The CDB president also paid tribute to the many people who joined CDB on the five decade long journey. “Our member states; our growing network of developments partners and cooperating institutions; the CARICOM Secretariat and our sister institutions in the Region; and the dedicated, loyal Management and staff of CDB, both past and present.”

The service of thanksgiving featured remarks from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the CDB Kevin Peter Turnquest.

The message was delivered by Bishop of Barbados the Right Reverend Michael Maxwell. Prayers of thanksgiving were delivered by Chairman of the Barbados Christian Council Major Darrell Wilkinson; former CDB Vice President of Operations P. Desmond Brunton and Reverend Michael Gonsalves Deacon of St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, There was also a reading from the Bhagavad Gita by Mukesh Chugani, Education Coordinator, Sathya Sai International Organisation of Barbados and the Suleiman Bulbulia, Muslim Chaplain of the UWI Cave Hill.

Barbadians are again being encouraged to support their own by buying local products and services.

Lecturer and Coordinator of the Student Entrepreneurial Empowerment Development (SEED) at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill, Ayanna Young Marshall gave this encouragement as she addressed the audience at the Alexandra School on Monday night.

She was a member of the panel for the first “Straight Talk” event, one of the sessions for the We Gatherin’ 2020 activities in St. Peter. Through this event, attendees heard about the work of the Ministry of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, the Barbados Trust Fund Limited, SEED and the Youth Entrepreneurial Scheme.

“It is one thing to tell the entrepreneurs to take that risk and to provide those products and services but we must take it to the next level and buy them and believe in them and be proud to wear them and showcase them.”

Young Marshall added, “We can leave here committed when we see a Barbadian product, to buy it or service that you can use instead. To use it, that is how we would start to put ourselves further on the map so that we can have more products. That is how the cycle works, we create and while we are doing our work, try to get more businesses established and to get established businesses grown.”

The UWI lecturer noted that “the biggest challenge that entrepreneurs have is finance. Every report, every research, everything says that, so let us assist them by purchasing and support their products and services.”

During Monday’s event, certificates of excellence for their contribution to business development in St. Peter were presented to six business owners. These were namely Tiffany Willoughby, Claire Jordan, Theresa Bovell, Romel Edwards and Sharad Phillips.

A country’s approach to crime must be similar to its approach to a public health crisis.

Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley expressed this as she delivered remarks during the opening ceremony of the Hastings/Worthing Police Station recently.

“We need to be able to pause in this society, in every society across the region and let the region understand that the incidence of violence among us is now a genuine public health disorder that requires the same approach as the fight against the coronavirus, that requires the same approach as the fight against diabetes and as the fight against heart difficulties and problems,” she said.

“In this instance we have to work together to be able to start to pull back those cultural things that have led us to this point.”

She reported that for January 2020, Jamaica recorded 110 murders, Trinidad and Tobago recorded 46 murders, Guyana recorded 15, and St. Lucia and Barbados recorded three.

It is against this backdrop that the Prime Minister believes that crime is a regional problem, and if the individual nations continued to fight this separately, the problem would not be solved.

She stressed that the Caribbean Sea could not be a zone of peace while the Caribbean land was an area of warfare, adding that she did not think it was fair for the citizens of the Caribbean to consider if going to a certain place was safe due to the actions of those who had access to weaponry.

She assured that until they reached the point of fighting crime together, Barbados’ Government would not waiver when it came to protecting the country, especially the country’s borders.

In addition to that, she assured that a proper fleet management policy for vehicles will be discussed as she believed that the Royal Barbados Police Force deserved a proper fleet.

“We thought that we introduced this policy years ago, only to find that it has been abandoned. I’ve asked the AG and Minister of Finance to reintroduce that policy because it is the only way that we are going to ensure that we have a proper rolling fleet for you to be able to have adequate response times and be able to protect your own officers who may need to move out very quickly,” she said.

THE Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is projecting that the Barbados economy will grow by at least one per cent in 2020.

The growth forecast was outlined yesterday by Dr. Justin Ram, Director of Economics at the Barbados-based CDB. The Bank held its annual news conference that reviewed the 2019 performance of the regional economies, while making projections for 2020.

The CDB’s projection for Barbados comes against the background of issue being taken by some local economists with respect to the projected growth range of between 1.25 per cent and 1.75 per cent given by Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Cleviston Haynes.

Dr. Ram said that the Bank’s outlook for Barbados hinges on new projects being started this year on top of the economy being stabilised.

The official believes that now that the Barbados economy has been stabilised, it is set for growth. “So for 2020 we are estimating a GDP rate of one per cent,” he reiterated, noting however that Barbados needs to get a number of good infrastructure projects going.

According to him, this includes investments in the tourism plant. “We think that if the Government is able to approve some of these projects and they begin in 2020, this augurs well.

He explained further that when one looks at Grenada, that island went through a similar exercise towards the early part of 2010. Grenada went through a strict reform programme similar to what Barbados is doing.

Grenada got investments to build a Sandals resort which had a positive impact on their growth.

He said that 2019 was the first full year of operations of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme the country is pursuing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The CDB official recalled that since 2008, Barbados has made some progress in terms of lowering its debt to GDP ratio from 160 per cent to below 120 per cent at the end of last year. He said that in addition, the government has implemented fiscal reforms where it is running a primary surplus of five per cent of GDP at the end of 2019, and should get to six per cent at the end of the
financial year.

“That means they have had to put in place some reductions in expenditure and enhance their revenue capabilities.

“This has meant that any kind of reform programme of this nature, that the economy would likely have contracted and this is what happened in 2019,” he explained to the media.ﾥ

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, yesterday announced that he will travel to Bridgetown, Barbados on February 17 and 18, to participate in the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to build even stronger ties with the region.

The Caribbean region and Caribbean states are important political, economic and cultural partners of Canada, and the visit will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen its partnership with this regional grouping of 20 Caribbean member states and Associate Members, and nearly 20 million people.

The Prime Minister will discuss challenges of mutual interest, including protecting oceans and the environment in the fight against climate change – in a region that is particularly vulnerable to its impacts, as well as creating good jobs for the middle class and sustainable economic growth.

Prime Minister Trudeau will participate in group discussions and bilateral meetings with CARICOM leaders. He will be received by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley –the current Chair of CARICOM and host of this meeting.

As Canada pursues its candidacy for election to the United Nations Security Council in 2021-2022, will continue to advance shared interests to benefit people and businesses in Canada, the Caribbean, and around the world.

According to the Canadian PM, “Canada and Caribbean countries have always had strong relationships and almost one million people of Caribbean descent live in Canada. These relationships are based on shared values and partnerships in the fight against climate change, the promotion of democracy, trade, economic growth, and security. I look forward to meeting the leaders of CARICOM to discuss how we can work together to strengthen the Caribbean, and build a better world.”

One Member of Parliament is concerned that overgrown lots across the island are providing cover for littering and illegal dumping.

Speaking yesterday morning during a debate on a supplementary for the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification to finance the national clean-up programme that started in January, MP for St. Lucy and Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Peter Phillips, said this is definitely a challenge in rural areas in this country.

“Where there is bush, there tends to be a situation where persons dump and dump illegally. I am not talking about in gullies now, on the sides of the roads. I have seen for myself Mr. Chairman where the side of the road is cut, and a particular road in St. Lucy for that matter, and the amount of plastic bags, cups, food trays and so on at the side of the road was really, really horrendous. I was absolutely taken aback,” he said.

Referring then to the clean-up programme, he took the opportunity to commend the persons engaged to do the job of cleaning the various communities and districts across the country, and in particular those in his constituency. He spoke specifically of the area of the Theodore Brancker Roundabout, which he said has been totally transformed through the efforts of those workers, who are employed by the National Conservation Commission (NCC).

“I saw them working in the blazing sun and I stopped to compliment them; I stopped to compliment them and thank them for the work that they have been doing. And they were very appreciative of the fact that the government had given them the opportunity to get some dollars to feed their families and to pay their bills... Whether the work is menial or not, there is somebody that has to do it and do it well,” he added.

Minister Phillips’ comments came as he said that the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance is happy to have a partner in the NCC to keep the country clean.

“It is not just about the clean-up, it is also about beautification – that is important. There was a time, when I was growing up, we had communities that were responsible for their particular areas. I would like to see Mr. Chairman some community groups being formed again or resuscitated where communities come together early on a Saturday morning or a Sunday morning... and clean the entire community – whether it is grass, bush, whatever it maybe. I would love to see those days come back,” he stated.

He said these type of groups would help bring communities together and develop camaraderie among residents.
(JRT)
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