The Legacy Foundation made a donation of twenty-five (25) tablets to twelve schools yesterday, the first of two COVID-19 response initiatives by the charity foundation.

The Legacy Foundation is a philanthropic initiative of the members of Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited. The Foundation had just completed two projects as part of its Covid-19 Response to bring some relief to the most vulnerable in communities across the island.

Hanif Moore, Programme Development Coordinator spoke to the media and explained that the Foundation marked these projects with official ceremonies, starting with the presentation yesterday at the L V Harcourt Lewis Training Centre.

“We know that there is a demand for devices for students to get into the Ministry of Education G-Suite Programme and the Board of Trustees of the Legacy decided on three projects of our COVID-19 Reponse and this was one of those projects,” explained Moore.

The twenty-five, 10.1 inch tablets came packaged with cases as well as integrated keyboards. As part of the larger Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited Group, Legacy was the third subsidiary to present tablets to schools. Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited and Capita Finance have already made presentations of devices along with Legacy totalling over $30,000.

Moore highlighted that this was not the first time that the group had worked with schools and those previous relationships were part of the process in which the schools were chosen.

“We have worked with some schools in the past, also through Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited. They have what they call the School Savers Programme and Thrift Club, so we used that database to select the schools.” said Moore.

The development coordinator expanded further, explaining that they reached out to the schools and they picked the students.

“We reached out to the principals and we allowed the principals to select the students. We wanted students whose parents or guardians were not able to provide them with the device. So we left that up to the principals and guidance counsellors in most cases to the analysis,” explained the coordinator.

That list of students was supplied to the Ministry of Education, to ensure that there was none of the students had not already received devices. Today the Legacy Foundation will complete the second initiative where 45 families will each receive a food hamper every week for the next four weeks. (AS)

Data collection challenges continue to plague the Barbados Drug Information Network (BARDIN) and as such, agencies which contribute information to the network, are being asked to renew their commitment in this aspect.

The call came recently from Minister of Home Affairs,  Edmund Hinkson, during a  meeting convened to highlight the key findings from the 2017 and 2018 Barbados Drug Information Network Reports.

“The national response to the local drug problem requires reliable and up-to-date information from the demand reduction and supply sectors, which can be used to inform effective policy making and programming. The Barbados Drug Information Network (BARDIN) provides a consolidated source of such information and therefore continues to be a key element of the national response, as is reflected in its objectives, which are as follows, to strengthen the capacity of Barbados to respond to changing drug use trends; to provide current epidemiological and other information on substance abuse; to regularly update this information; to identify trends in drug consumption and offenses related to illicit drugs  and to provide relevant information for the planning, evaluation and management of drug control programmes,” Minister Hinkson pointed out.

“BARDIN also forms part of a regional surveillance network to strengthen the capacity of governments, technical entities and local agencies to respond to changing patterns of drug use and substance abuse in the Caribbean. Drug surveillance systems have also been established in Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bermuda and these networks have led to coordinated efforts among regional and international agencies with regard to the implementation of drug abuse control programmes,” he added.

“In June 2019, efforts were made to improve and expand BARDIN through one, the signing of Memoranda of Understanding between the NCSA and Network members to formalise the reporting obligations of all involved; two, the implementation of standardised data collection forms to facilitate trend analysis; and three, the launching of a pilot project, spearheaded by the Organisation of American States, to expand the number of contributing agencies as well as the scope of data collected,” he further noted.

“I am told that despite the signing of the MOUs in 2019, data collection challenges continue to plague BARDIN. These include the late submission of data and the absence of data from some agencies, which together reduce the content and reporting capacity of BARDIN and prevent the timely dissemination of reports. While I recognise the difficulties experienced by some agencies which hamper their full participation in BARDIN, I encourage you to renew your commitment, as collaboration with partners/stakeholders such as yourselves is pivotal to the efficiency and effectiveness of this important mechanism,” Hinkson stressed.

Despite the challenges, Hinkson said that the NCSA continues to make great strides in the preparation and dissemination of BARDIN reports and this would not be possible without the support of long-standing contributors such as: the Edna Nicholls Centre, the Psychiatric Hospital, the Substance Abuse Foundation, the Centre for Counselling Addiction Support Alternatives, the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Barbados Prison Service.

“The success of BARDIN to date relies primarily on their contributions and therefore, their continued participation and commitment to information sharing, must be lauded,” the Minister observed. (RSM)

Mahmood Patel will assume the role as Chairman of Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB) after being elected unopposed at the 20th Annual General Meeting of the group recently.

Patel the former Deputy Chairman takes over the reigns from Soni Kessuram, who fought back tears as she expressed thanks to her team for the hard work that they had done throughout her tenure and

allowing her the honour of serving.

“As I reflect on my past eight years, on the Intimate Hotels Barbados, I feel fortunate to have worked closely with so many of you and I am grateful for your friendship through it all. I will always remember and cherish your words of encouragement, through your many calls, texts and emails. To my dedicated board, you are truly awesome,” said Kessuram.

The former chair encouraged the members of the IHB, not to focus on the path ahead which looked dark and gloomy but to reflect on the scripture Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Let’s all hold on to this hope and believe that we will see a brighter future ahead of us.”

Minister of Tourism and International Transport Kerrie Symmonds was present at the special event and lauded the efforts of the group who unveiled a new Intimate Hotels of Barbados logo during the meeting. Symmonds contended that though the larger hotel brands helped to market the island, the smaller hotels of the IHB were the charm of Barbados and were critical to the tourism industry.

“The reality is that those things which have set Barbados apart is your group, it is the Intimate Hotels group which has been the charm of the island. The small hotels are those places where the repeat visitors stay, the smaller hotels are those places where persons feel that they get a special degree of personalised treatment,” stated Symmonds.

During the virtual meeting, former director Tammy-Ann Blackett also rose unopposed to the post of Deputy Chairman of the IHB Board of Directors while Graham Turner was unanimously elected as Secretary.

Adua Kinch was reelected to the board in the capacity of director and will be joined by first timers Robin Gallop-Knight and Renee Coppin who also got the nod. (AS)

Independent Senator Alphea Wiggins wants the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) to focus more on crime scene management, digital forensics and intelligence gathering.

Speaking in the Upper House on Wednesday evening during the debate on the Police (Amendment) Bill 2020, she also insisted that the use of technology in the force would improve their work.

In particular, she highlighted the importance of closed circuit television cameras in terms of reports coming into the stations.

“On the cameras being installed islandwide, we can have automatic license plate recognition whereby if you break a traffic light, the camera takes a picture of the plate. We need this kind of technology to effectively help police Barbados.”

“Traffic reports will no longer need to rely on traffic cops on the road but could see from within the control room, a set of cameras that would be guiding them as to where the issues are – real time information being fed back into Operations Control,” she stressed.

Wiggins also highlighted the need for body cams to help the RBPF defend against any wrongdoing on their part, stressing that to prevent any loss of evidence because of damage to the unit, the cams should be similar to those utilised by European police where the information is constantly being uploaded to the control room.

She also encouraged the use of drones to scan areas under surveillance and for search and rescue operations.

“Drones can also be used to assist police in the fight against praedial larceny as the police cannot search every field physically,” she added.

Recalling a recent incident where she was pulled over by an officer, the senator also encouraged the force to conduct training in proper communication with the public.

“I believe a lot of the young policemen today need that type of training because they have no communication skills and they are not supposed to address people in that type of manner,” Wiggins added.

Self-employed persons whose business activity was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic have tapped into the new Business Interruption Benefit being facilitated by the National Insurance Office.

So far, $2 million has been paid out to 900 claimants who are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Word of this came from Minister in Economic Affairs and Investment, Marsha Caddle while delivering the Government of Barbados Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the UN High-Level Political Forum.

Her intervention on Thursday focused on the adjustments COVID has caused the government to make to the country’s development path with respect to key goals, and to the global partnership for development.

She said that government also introduced a small business wage subsidy for the period of the lockdown and restricted movement, which subsidised up to five workers of a small business.

Minister Caddle told the forum that Barbados has an extensive social safety net, “Which we have ring-fenced from expenditure cuts and established a floor on spending. Government also had to come up with new, immediate tools quickly.”

She also highlighted that an additional $20 million was put into a ‘Household Survival Programme’, allowing for a 40 per cent increase at the Welfare Department in cash benefits to families and individuals already enrolled, as well as support to households in a new ‘Adopt Our Families Programme’ for those who do not receive unemployment benefits and that as a result of the pandemic have no employed members of the household.

Minister Caddle also divulged that during COVID, government embarked on an emergency programme to re-connect those without water supply due to their inability to pay.

“This is an expansion of our policy where we are now seeking finance to replace over 5000 pit toilets with flushing toilets inside homes. A progressive tariff system varies rates of large and commercial users to subsidise small and household users of both water and electricity,” she explained.

The Minister assured the forum that the government takes responsibility for achieving sustainable development within Barbados, expressing, “We are standing up and pressing forward.”

However, she pointed out that small economies are necessarily plugged into the international system.

“We import much of what we consume, we earn our daily bread by exporting to the world, our financial system is foreign-owned. We are the canaries in the mine of the international system.

“Today, for several reasons, the international system has become a source of risk. Global pandemics, climate change even the explosion of non-communicable diseases are problems with external origins and solutions that require international agreements.”

Minister Caddle therefore stressed the need for, “Effective international agreements that cap and lower global temperatures; that limit the spread of pandemics, supporting nutrition, and energy security. As a middle income country, for our vulnerability to be recognised, and access to financing to help us build resilience to these external risks. Let us be clear – we earn too much to be considered poor and too little to be heard in order to secure policy space.

The time is past due for objective measures of vulnerability to be included in determining access to concessional funding. More significant mobilisation of concessionary finance, especially for middle income countries. And we say that if ever there was a reason for an expansion of global liquidity through the issuance of SDRs to offset the destruction wrought by a world-wide pandemic or climate change it is now,” she said. (TL)

The University of the West Indies has secured a number of top spots, in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings.

Over the past few weeks, the globally recognised and most prestigious ranking agency for higher education announced its 2020 rankings and The University of the West Indies (UWI) secured top spots on its Latin America University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings and Impact Rankings. Moreover, The UWI remains unrivalled as the number one Caribbean University in these rankings.

To celebrate this success, the UWI recently held a virtual event entitled, “Recognising Triple Firsts: The UWI’s recent success in three Times Higher Education (THE) rankings”.

UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, in delivering remarks, spoke of the hard work it took to achieve success, whilst also commending all those who had a hand in that journey to excellence.

“What a journey to excellence it has been. What a historical moment it is, that we are gathered to celebrate within the context of a strategic plan. Yielding the results that we had imagined,” he stated.

“Five years ago, we entered into this process of university rankings. What have we achieved? We have sought to build upon the legacy of our stalwarts, a university entering the field of global rankings, as we approached our 70th year and reflecting upon the legacy and the heritage of generations of University of the West Indies leaders. We have done our very best to honour that legacy of our stalwarts, to give that legacy legs and three years ago we entered our University into the global ranking competitions within the context of the Times Higher Education and the results were good. First in the Caribbean, top three per cent in Latin America, top four per cent of the world’s finest. But two weeks ago, those results from the times were once again declared and our results have been excellent. The UWI has risen to the top. We remain the top university in the Caribbean and now we are ranked in the top one per cent of the best universities in Latin America, from a field of over 5000,” Sir Hilary remarked.

He added, “We are also now ranked in the top one per cent of universities in our age cohort, universities within the Golden Age period of 50 to 100 years. This is indeed a triple first.”

This level of excellence he acknowledged, has been achieved with enormous effort and is worthy of celebration.

“We give thanks to our stalwarts, the founders of our University who developed and moved it along from its infancy to its maturity. We have lived up to the legacy of our forebearers. We have honoured the heritage we have inherited to take responsibility for in our time. We have done the best we can, that our founders will be proud of our collective achievements,” Beckles stated.

Sir Hilary also expressed gratitude to the UWI’s project leader, students and even the governments who have helped to fund the university, in helping the UWI to reach a level of excellence.

He however acknowledged that the UWI is operating in challenging times, given the present COVID-19 pandemic. Sir Hilary nevertheless gave the assurance that the UWI is open for business and is looking forward to welcoming all of its continuing students and all other applicants within a safe face-to-face environment, that has been modified to accommodate all of the recommended public health protocols, inclusive of social distancing.  (RSM)

The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) is on the receiving end of equipment “valued at close to BDS$200 000” from the Massy Foundation.

Yesterday, this donation, which is in support of the BDF Type II Field Medical Facility, was handed over during a ceremony at the BDF’s headquarters. The Facility was pressed into action recently in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Director of the Massy Foundation, David Neilands explained the organisation begun engagement with BDF on the project “back in August 2018” and he is pleased to see it come to fruition.

He said the day’s donation, which he described as “timely”, includes two fit-for-purpose medical tents (Gatekeeper All-Hazards Emergency Facility) which can withstand a category two-three winds, 20 complete medical treatment beds, one 120 gallons per hour water purifier, two 50 amps electrical distribution kits, one double-basin sink, aluminium field case and five storage cases.

Neilands thanked the donors, namely the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the United States Southern Command among others, that made the Type 1 facility possible. Noting, it was on their efforts his Foundation was able to build.

He additionally congratulated Team BDF on accomplishing the Emergency Medical Team or EMT1 Classification 11 months after registering with the World Health Organisation (WHO). He added the Team is pursing the establishment of a WHO classified Type 2 Emergency Medical Team and the day’s donation will assist in developing the next phase of the facility.

“While this equipment only represents part of wide project scope of which other donors have already contributed or are contributing, we hope this donation, which is one of our largest to date, will serve our island well when disaster strikes,” he stressed.

He further spoke about the monetary donation the Foundation has made to the BDF.

“I want to commend the BDF team for the work that it is currently engaged in to properly outfit a temporary storage facility in order to keep better inventory management of these significant equipment assets. Again, the Massy Foundation is pleased to make a monetary donation to ensure not only that its funded equipment is properly maintained and stored but also ensure that all donated equipment to this venture is protected,” it was further explained.

The day’s donation was accepted by BDF’s Chief of Staff, Colonel Glyne Grannum. He expressed gratitude to the Massy Foundation.

“I am grateful this afternoon that the project, it is appropriately two years old, is no longer a project but it has come full cycle, full life into being an operational asset within the capability of the Barbados Defence Fence. I am grateful that the Massy Foundation could be a part of that journey,” he added.

(MG)

The opposition People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) has
placed on the table a number of solutions  to address the “water
worries” of a number of Barbadians in rural parishes.

Dr. Philip Corbin, PdP spokesperson on Energy, Water Resources and
Telecommunications outlined these solutions recently in a release sent
to The Barbados Advocate.

“We, The People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), empathise
with the inconveniences, rather hardships, which our fellow Barbadians
have to endure, due to water not reaching their households. Daily,
they are unable to perform their domestic chores, as well as maintain
their personal hygiene and other health and safety functions. We all
know that in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment, frequent
washing of hands under running water is a requirement to keep the
virus at bay. How can persons be expected to adhere to this
requirement in the absence of regular running water?” Corbin pointed
out.

“The PdP urges for the regular and frequent delivery and distribution
of water to deprived areas, so that householders who are already
inconvenienced and whose lives are disrupted by uncertainties of when
they will receive water, can plan accordingly. We appeal also for the
retention of standpipes, especially in water-stricken areas,” he also
stated.

Call to import water
“Next, in the immediate short term, and as a temporary measure until
other solutions are implemented, we are proposing to Government to
consider the importation of fresh water in bulk (not bottled water),
for distribution to the affected parishes and communities. This water
should be primarily for domestic (household) purposes and not for
construction, civil works, or other water-consuming projects.
Barbados’ currently high foreign reserves could be used to import and
store freshwater in bulk, just as we import and store oil for our
energy needs,” Corbin further remarked.

Acknowledging that there must be more sustainable medium to long term
interventions and solutions to the recurring water problems, Corbin
said that the PdP supports the water conservation measures promoted
through the Government Information Service (GIS) public service
education programme.

“We support the harvesting of rain-water for toilet, gardening, and
agricultural uses, water recycling, and minimising water wastage,” he
said.

He however noted, “We propose that Government institutes a cap on
potable water usage at construction sites for major projects and civil
works and that recycled and harvested rain water be used instead, with
checking and monitoring mechanisms put in place to ensure adherence.
Just as private householders can be fined for inappropriate use of
potable water for car washing, hosing of driveways etc, similar
restrictions should be imposed on other entities.”

Another matter of urgency mentioned was that of leaks in the system.

“As households are told to fix their leaks to eliminate water wastage,
Government should lead by example. BWA must act expeditiously and with
urgency to fix reported water mains which result in gallons of precious water gushing
down our gutters. Additionally, BWA must be more proactive in stopping
the haemorrhaging within the system.

“BWA must invest, if it has not already done so, in acoustic leak
detection and flow monitoring technology, to remotely locate and fix
and major unseen underground leaks. Use of this technology would
result in reduced water loss and see an increase in water for
distribution,” the PdP spokesperson said.

Stressing that Government must be more innovative to solve the
nation’s problems and think outside the box, the PdP also made a
suggestion that there be an
introduction of new emerging Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs)
technology to harvest water, to benefit residential and commercial
customers. (RSM)

Unemployment in this country is now close to a staggering 40 per cent due the closure of the tourism sector.

In speaking on the impact the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have on the island, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds, said there is now little choice but to learn how to function in a world with the virus.

“Barbados would have had to cope with a sudden and very dramatic rise in the level of unemployment in the country which would have escalated to the region of 40 per cent of our people being unemployed within a three-month period,” he said.

Addressing a Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) online seminar on Friday with the theme COVID-19: Resuming International Travel in the Caribbean, he noted “the issue which confronted us by the end of May, start of June was the reality that we have to learn to co-exist with Covid-19”.

“The reality is that we cannot bury our heads in the sand and we cannot wish it away… It is a matter about which we fundamentally have no control beyond our ability to manage the process and therefore, until such time there is a vaccine available ... we are going to have to find a way of continuing to live while we deal with the COVID-19 reality on our doorsteps,” it was explained. Highlighting the work done by immigration and customs officials in working to repatriate cruise passengers and crew members during the lockdown, he stated these workers now had the ability to deal with the return of commercial flights into the island and were better equipped in handling the various health and safety protocols.

“Last Sunday when the first flight came in it was clear that the key stakeholders – Customs, Immigration, Port Health and others – were comfortable and understood what they were doing, largely because they had several trial runs,” he stated. (JMB)

THE Child Care Board of Barbados received a donation of over 3600 masks from the Canadian based charity, Leslois Shaw Foundation on Friday as the fight against the pandemic COVID-19 continues.

According to Sarah Olde personal assistant to the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, the project was initiated with an offer to Barbados of 105 000 face mask of varying sizes. “We have all suffered with mask too small or a mask too big.”

The Leslois Shaw Foundation is the agency in association with Ripples to produce these mask.

“We thought it important to start where is mattered most, the children, who struggle with social distancing and who had to go school,” said Odle.

Odle said that there will be many more masks and they will be distributed across the length and breadth of Barbados.

Chair of LesLois Shaw Foundation Virgina and Less Hutchinson, personal assistant Megan Mayers said that the mask were designed by Tania Taylor Designs a New York fashion designer and Ripples Limited in Barbados. Together they have got the material and created the mask and donated to Barbados.

Colin St. Hill deputy director acting of the Child Care Board said that children are very important in our society and sometimes we get caught up with the adults.

“Sometimes it is the child that reminds the adults about what they are supposed to be doing in terms of safety,” said St. Hill.

The donation places them in a position to reinforce how important it is for us as a society to continue doing what is right and keep down the spread of COVID-19.

“I think this presentation is very timely and it is important that we remind persons that it is not over and we need to be vigilant and continue to do what is right in order to keep our society safe and children will play an important part in this whole exercise,” it was pointed out.

Also present at the donation were Kevyn Henry, personal assistant to Cynthia Forde, Esther Bayley-Smith Senior child care officer and Barry Mayers, Ripples.

Forty-five families in the northern parishes of the island received a helping hand yesterday when the Legacy Foundation passed through their neighbourhoods bearing gifts.

As part of Legacy Foundation’s COVID-19 response, the registered charity will be donating 45 food hampers weekly for the next four weeks.

With the Foundation serving as the charitable arm of the Barbados Public Workers group of companies which includes the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union, Capita Financial and Capita Insurance Brokers, the first week of hampers were being packed Friday evening at their Belmont Road headquarters when The Barbados Advocate arrived.

Speaking to Legacy’s Programme Development Coordinator Hanif Moore, he explained that the initiative was in association with Dynamic and Royal Entertainment and funded by Legacy.

“We’re actually donating hampers to 45 families. They each get one hamper a week for the next four weeks. And the staff of the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union Limited, some of them have kindly volunteered to come this evening to help pack the hampers which will be delivered to the families tomorrow.” he said.

Dynamic and Royal Chief Executive Officer Danielle Prescod explained that her organisationwas able to use their database of families as they have been running a charitable Christmas event for the past three years in St. Lucy, St. Peter and St. James. With the four-day venture including – working with and donations to the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness, the children’s ward at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a movie night, she also added that the hamper presentation had now reached 15 in each parish.

Noting that the aim was to add another parish each year, Prescod stated that the hampers were going to some of the most vulnerable.

“They (Legacy) had reached out to us being interested in some post-COVID hampers – you know things are hard for some people, to help them stay afloat – and seeing that it is something we usually do, they asked to partner with us because they know that we have the access to persons that are less fortunate. We usually go through the constituency offices and they are really helpful to us in acquiring the information because we want to make sure that persons who really need the stuff get it,” she said.

Going on to mention that Dynamic and Royal is a marketing assistance company and mentorship organisation aimed at helping the young ladies coming through to be the best versions of themselves, Prescod also noted that charity was a major part of the programme. Stating that she was extremely thankful to Legacy Foundation for choosing to work with her organisation, Prescod took the opportunity to encourage other bodies to lend any assistance they could.

“We are really thankful to the Legacy Foundation for coming onboard for such a worthy cause. When people help out they usually do a one-time, but to have it for four weeks, I think it will help a few people.

“We are always open to persons who are interested to help out. I don’t think there is ever enough help you can give. A lot of people don’t understand that there is a lot of poverty in Barbados. Working within our charity, I have seen things that I did not even know existed in Barbados. We are always willing to have partners onboard. We are always willing to help as well in any way that we can. So we would appreciate and help and reach out to corporate Barbados for any assistance they can give. Every little bit counts,” she said. (MP)

THE wide-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made a significant dent in the work and fund-raising efforts that were in the works for the Soroptimist International of Barbados.

One of those events was the annual fund-raising golf tournament which was scheduled for April of this year. According to president Krystle Maynard, this single event would have netted between $50 000 – $80 000 for the club which would’ve gone directly towards the Hildegarde Weekes Village and Activity Centre (more familiarly known as the Soroptimist Village) in Eden Lodge and other community programmes.

Soroptimist International of Barbados manages the Senior Citizens Village and Activities Centre, which includes the maintenance of the 24 units, three of which are currently vacant. The Activities Centre is open to elderly participants where they play board games, do craft, exercise, and discuss current events.

It was noted that the service club is also losing rental income from the centre, which before the pandemic was used for church, dancing and other activities. “We are happy we are able to open but it will take some time for our revenue to build up.”

Maynard explained that the volunteer organisation is hoping to host the golf tournament later in the year and hoping to work closely with sponsors whom she acknowledged are also facing significant challenges because of the pandemic.

She said at this time, service clubs on the island need to be there for persons in the community who have been impacted, by staying close to the ground and recognising that many persons had to take a salary cut or even lost their jobs and are in need of assistance.

The president said children must not be forgotten from this equation, noting that the Soroptimist International of Barbados also goes into schools. She noted that where the club may not be in a position to host physical events, she sees a need to offer support in creative ways to those who need it most, even through mentorship.

Yesterday morning as part of the world-wide observance of the Soroptimist Day of Action, the club planted cherry trees at the Village, while several residents looked on.

She explained that the planting of trees is directly linked to bringing awareness to climate change, which is the focus of the organisation for this year and it is also linked to the organisation’s planned 100th anniversary celebrations.

Maynard said the club will be seeking to engage with the public more through social media and make a meaningful impact in the community wherever possible. The club may also have to turn towards raising additional funds online. (JH)

Human Resource Consultant and Senior Lecturer, Dr. Rochelle Haynes,
believes that Barbados and other countries in the Caribbean have the
potential to tap into the digital nomad market, and promote their
respective countries as destinations where foreign nationals would
want to work remotely.

Noting that to be successful in that niche market would require the
creation of comprehensive, long-term strategies to advance their
efforts, Haynes believes the Caribbean can have several digital nomad
hubs which seek to attract such workers, who some estimates suggest
will likely number one billion within another 15 years.

Dr. Haynes, who is based in the United Kingdom, said during a recent
interview with The Barbados Advocate that in the case of Barbados,
such a plan should have as its focus how to develop parts of the
island to better accommodate those long-stay business tourists.

“I think it could do more harm than good if we have people coming and
then leaving and rating Barbados poorly, as it could stop future
people from coming. Barbados is already known for its challenges among
the global digital nomad community,” said Haynes, who is the Founder
and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crowd Potential, which helps
organisations to understand how to effectively manage their remote
workers.
She made the point while noting that Barbados at present does not have
a high score among nomad destinations. Haynes was referring to the
score the country has attained on the website nomadlist.com  which
ranks the best places for remote workers to live and work.

According to the website  where Barbados attained a score of 2.77 out
of 5, while the country scored well in respect of such areas as
internet access, education level, places to work and friendliness to
foreigners; it scored poorly in the areas of safety, hospitals, free
WiFi in city and nightlife. Meanwhile, it got a rating of ‘okay’ in
the areas of racial tolerance, being LGBTQ+ friendly, quality of life
and traffic safety.

Haynes, who together with Founder and CEO of PerformanceWorks
International, Jeremy Blaine, authored a white paper titled ‘The
Blended Workforce Revolution: A Call for a Radical New Framework’,
which surveyed close to 2000 independent workers and human resource/
business leaders from six regions in the world, said that from their
research the Caribbean was not classified as one of the main
competitors in the digital nomad space. But this does not have to
remain the case, she contended, explaining that in the Caribbean,
Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica are doing well in the market.
According to the website, both locations score above 3.5 in the Nomad
List.

“They are not up there with Thailand, Bali or Vietnam, but still they
are attracting some people. How Jamaica, for example, attracts those
people is through the events that they host. I would say too that they
have a more developed structure in some areas and the professional
networks that attract people, but particularly some of their events
attract digital nomads or certain tech groups, such as the Tech Beach
event in Montego Bay,” she indicated.

Having travelled to key nomad hotspots and lived as a digital nomad
herself, the Barbadian-born HR consultant believes that there is scope
for the Caribbean to cash in on the digital nomad economy, despite not
having strong scores, but explained that it will not happen overnight.
As such, she indicated that countries must be willing to put in the
necessary work to get their destinations up to scratch.

“For the past year I have been advocating for greater attention to be
paid to this growing market along with changing work preferences and
expectations. While some said that it would not work, COVID-19 has
shown otherwise. This is not a trend that is going away and we have to
be more strategic in our approach to preparing our Caribbean islands
to take advantage of opportunities in the digital economy. These can
bring a lot of benefits to both public and private sector institutions
if they collaborate to address the major concerns of these business
travellers. This will not be an overnight undertaking,” she stated.
(JRT)

IT is important to think outside of the box when it comes to the recovery of the tourism sector and Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds, explained that the Twelve-Month Welcome Stamp was part of that adaptive thinking.

Addressing members of Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB), Symmonds contended that the initiative allowed the Government to exploit some of the already existing and well-known strengths about Barbados as a destination.

“It enables us to step outside of tradition. Our major source markets, without exception, have had to start to understand how to cope with COVID, because you just cannot wish it away. Either remain closed and do nothing, in which case you die a different type of death or alternatively, you reopen and try to manage the situation that confronts you and become creative in the way that you deal with work,” said Symmonds.

The existing marketing strategy has predominantly been the sun, sea and sand, along with a reputation of safety and good healthcare. The minister said that the Government decided to take advantage of that reputation to open up and extend the invitation to the world on the basis of working from home in Barbados.

“We said why do we not open the country up to the world, on the basis of an invitation which simply says come and work from Barbados. Ride out the COVID challenge in an environment which is safe and then enjoy all of the advantages on this island,” he explained.

Symmonds said that the initiative would help to replace the loss of the heavy visitor footfall due to less flights from CARICOM and other countries. He said it provided an opportunity for a prolonged stay in Barbados, which would also increase visitor spend on the island.

The minister also highlighted that it was important to market the 100% fibre connectivity on the island and the competition across the Caribbean in that regard was small. Symmonds mentioned the asset of high-level healthcare, a range of internationally accredited medical professionals and the only teaching hospital in the region. Regarding professionals who are invited to work from here, a concern which may be on their minds is the education for their children.

“We can market an excellent standard of education on this island, an excellent professional public service which provides the supporting infrastructure and stability of government. We felt that those things collectively gave us an opportunity to go into the market with this particular initiative, to say this is how we will sell Barbados,” said Symmonds.

He told the members of the IHB that it presented the chance to fill rooms, but with the understanding that it required a different business model and proposition where the offer would be a yearly rate instead of short term for guests.

“This is now where it would be a necessity for you to be a little more nimble in trying to partner with the Government and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., in terms of us trying to get the marketing of this done. Because people are very likely to be looking at accommodation here, depending on their category of income,” stated Symmonds.

The partnership between the IHB and the Government was crucial as the invitation would be presented in order to draw as wide a degree of traffic as possible for the program to aid in compensating for the downfall in revenue for normal tourism operations previously.

The minister of tourism also outlined that some of the minimum requirements for those applying for the Twelve-Month Welcome Stamp was a yearly earnings of US$50,000, a valid passport and presenting an arrangement for health insurance.

“They can either walk with their own health insurance or can source health insurance here. We felt that we should open the opportunity to purchase health insurance here, because it allows for local businesses to benefit from some of the opportunities financially,” outlined Symmonds.

Finally, Symmonds also highlighted that there would be a vetting process where there would be character checks for applicants and also narrowing down a response to the application to a week. (AS)

Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) is nearing the end of its crew repatriation efforts.

To date, more than 26 000 crew members have been repatriated worldwide, including thousands of crew members who are citizens of more than 25 different nations throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

As of today, CCL expects to have less than 400 crew members remaining on board awaiting repatriation once their home country borders are opened or travel restrictions are eased.

Over the weekend, management of the cruise line expressed gratitude to countries across the region, including The Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Curacao, Mexico, Panama, St. Maarten and Nicaragua, which assisted in the repatriation effort through seaport operations as well as helping to facilitate the safe and efficient transfer of crew via chartered and commercial aircraft and as ground transportation.

“Many of our partners in the Caribbean and Latin America have gone above and beyond in supporting our repatriation efforts and played a vital role in helping our team members return home safely,” President of Carnival Cruise Line, Christine Duffy said.

“We offer our most sincere thanks to government officials, private transportation operators and maritime partners for their cooperation, hard work and gracious hospitality,” she further expressed. (TL/PR)

Leading soil scientist Dr. Rattan Lal has been bestowed the dual titles of the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) Chair in Soil Science and IICA Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Develop-ment Issues, adding to his ever-growing list of accolades.

Last Friday, during a virtual ceremony, Dr. Lal – a native of India and a citizen of the United States – became the first person to be given both IICA titles simultaneously.

He serves as Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and founding Director of the Carbon Management & Sequestration Center at the Ohio State University (OSU). His pioneering research on the restoration of soil health in Africa, Asia and Latin America led to revelations that impacted agricultural yields, natural resource conservation and climate change mitigation.

“IICA is indeed honoured to have found an indomitable partner in the person of Dr. Lal, since he not only qualifies for both institutional titles, but also because he shares the vision of the Institute towards bringing innovation and sharing of good practices in agricultural and rural development for the benefits of our member states,” said Beverly Best, Director, External and Institutional Relations at IICA.

Director-General of IICA, Dr. Manuel Otero, expressed that the organisation is deeply inspired by the work of Dr. Lal and his sustained quest to elevate soils to the position they need to be in national, regional and global technical and political agenda and to ensure that this precious resource continues to provide live-lihoods for the world’s farmers.

“It is a special day for IICA since we have the privilege of honouring Dr. Rattan Lal for his work on global food security through sustainable management, which has ben-efited over 500 million smallholder farmers around the globe, including those here in the Americas.”

He said that to honour Dr. Lal’s work, the organisation is redoubling its commitment to soils and to evaluating its position in the agricultural agenda of the Americas.

Dr. Otero thereby announced that IICA will launch an initiative for living soils in the Americas, that will allow them to work in partnerships with others to inform, co-ordinate and incentivize public and private actions to protect, conserve, remediate and restore this critical resource for the well-being of both people and the planet.

“For us it would be even more important working with Dr. Lal and his team at the Carbon Management & Sequestration Center to further strengthen the mission for the Living Soils in the Americas Initiative, while we undertake some concrete actions to keep on spreading the messages and work of Dr. Lal in the hemisphere,” the IICA Chief added.

During the ceremony, Dr. Lal’s work – which spans more than five decades – was lauded by several agricultural officials from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbados’ Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, the Hon. Indar Weir, told the honouree, “I am absolutely convinced that your work will always immortalise you forever. And I am indeed pleased to be associated on this occasion with you being honoured the way you are and to give you my calm assurance that Barbados, and indeed the Caribbean region will all agree that you are very deserving and that for your contri-bution we will all be the beneficiaries.

“I am indeed proud of you for what you have contributed. I look forward to following your work and making sure that we are the beneficiaries of what you have done for agriculture, climate change and soil improvement.” (TL)

Male leaders in Africa are being urged to use the next African Union Summit to pledge to change the leadership landscape on the world’s second largest continent within three years’ time.

The call has come from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female African president. Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia who served in that post between 2006 and 2018, called on her male counterparts to build upon what they have done already, but not to stop there and instead “go one step further”.

“I call on them to cast out the fear of losing out and to embrace the wonderful possibilities of a new post-COVID world which would be better and different for all human beings,” she said.

Addressing those tuning in online as she shared with the virtual stage with other female leaders, including the President of Switzerland, Simonetta Sommaruga and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, during the United Nations’ ‘Women Rise for All’ event, the Nobel laureate said it is also time to tell African male leaders that a new compact with women is needed.

“The compact is not calling for capacity development of women, it is men who need that – the capacity to listen, to include, to adapt and to care. The compact is calling for an end to violence against women... [and] an end to the exclusion of women in top positions in Africa,” she maintained.

She continued, “My hard-won title as the first elected African woman president is meaningless, unless I see many others come after me.”

Meanwhile, turning her attention to the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequalities among countries that have been magnified as a result of the virus, the former president said while it has “shaken us, uprooted us and could have left us imprisoned by fear”, women at all levels have suggested that the shaking and uprooting must be used to build a better and fairer world.

“We are not only saying build back better, we are saying this time build differently. ‘Women Rise for All’ is what women usually do, inclusion and not exclusion, and that is the critical difference. Many have spoken of the vulnerabilities and inequalities which have been revealed as a result of the pandemic, but the truth was always there. Those living life on the narrow and impoverished margins of great prosperity were saying we maybe in the same sea, we are definitely not in the same boats. But they were unheard. The majority of those in the leaking and unsafe boats are women – young and old,” she added.

With that in mind, she said now is an opportune time to push forward all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as she maintained that the SDGs have been made even more relevant and the need for their universal application is clearly visible. (JRT)

CO-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GSec and Justin Ram
Advisory, Dr. Justin Ram, believes that the time has come for the
Caribbean to have a single airspace.

His comments came during a recent discussion hosted by the Eastern
Caribbean Central Bank on the topic: “The Pandemic and Regional Air
Transport”, where he said there is a need for a single regional
regulator.

“So for example, I am authorised to operate out of St. Vincent, that
should give me clearance to operate anywhere in the Caribbean. I think
this is where we need to go.

“I think having a single Caribbean airspace is critical also for the
passenger. It means that once I enter the Caribbean through
Immigration, I shouldn’t have to go through Immigration and Customs
again. We really need to have one set of rules so that we have that
single airspace.”

Dr. Ram, while offering a number of suggestions on how air travel can
be improved, highlighted the high costs and fees.

“For our size of population in the Caribbean, if we were a single land
mass, we would probably have about three airports or so. But because
of our
fractures, we are small islands, we have many airports to contend with
and they are quite costly.

“I think the model around airports and how we utilise infrastructure
needs to change. We need to stop thinking about them as cost centres
and start turning them into revenue centres. They really need to be
cogs of commerce attached to a runway.”

Dr. Ram said if the region contemplates subsidising one or two
airlines, then it will probably have to subsidise all airlines.

“But I don’t think anyone in the Caribbean, no government, really has
the appetite for subsidies. So as we now think about the future, we
really have to ensure that we are not subsidising airlines, then it
will lead to unfair competitive advantages and that will certainly
mean the end of any set of private sector involvement,” he stated.

As it relates to infrastructure, Dr. Ram said the Caribbean has been
using the wrong type of equipment on some of the routes. “So that we
have had large aircraft operating on very thin routes. I think now we
have to consider a more private sector approach,  whereby we can
perhaps use smaller aircraft on some routes and therefore gain some
efficiencies there.”

He stressed that running an airline anywhere in the world is difficult
and many are not as profitable as some may think.

He said however that the fees associated with regional air travel must
be addressed.

 “On some routes, taxes and fees make up as much as 60 per cent of the
airfare. So when you have something like this it becomes very
difficult to make a profit…As you know, the lower the price, the more
than likely you will have higher value. And by the very nature of
that, airlines can become much more profitable if prices are allowed
to come down.”

In fact, Dr. Ram mused that many people query the possibility of
leaving their homeland to have lunch in another Caribbean territory,
which he said should be encouraged with reduced prices, as it would
increase the volume of regional air travel.

He also suggested that there has to be greater buy-in from staff.

“We need a model that perhaps gives some employees some ownership
plan, so that employees can have a stake in the airline as well so
that they have a stake in how well these airlines perform and how they
are managed. It cannot be something that is separate; they must have a
stake in how well the airline performs. And so really incentivise to
do what is right to make the airline profitable.”

Additionally, while commending the region for the level of safety seen
over the years as it relates to regional travel, Dr. Ram suggested
greater focus must be placed on travel insurance.

“I think it is time to develop a sophisticated travel insurance
market. Because that is also critical to give customers comfort. So as
you were thinking about the future where we might be allowing more
players to the market, we really need to ensure there is insurance,”
he said. (JH)
 

A ‘very clear and unambiguous’ message was sent out to all of Barbados by COVID-19 Czar Richard Carter as some establishments and members of the public continue to ease up on the following of the island’s protocols. Appearing last night on CBC Television as part of their nightly news offering, Carter, in the militant style he has come to be known for, said that the time had come for it all to come to an end.

Highlighting several issues which had gotten quite a bit of traction on social media over the past weekend, Carter noted that the practices coming to light were unacceptable and provided the perfect powder keg for Barbados to find themselves in a dire situation. Listing several areas where members of the public, operators, owners and organisers had dropped the ball, Carter explained that protocols for temperature testing, recording of information for use in possible contact tracing, wearing of face masks, physical distancing and sanitisation were, in many instances, not being observed.

Going on to call it a ‘clear message from Cabinet of Barbados’ Carter revealed that from today; bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other places of entertainment that fail to rigorously observe the protocols would be closed down. Similarly, supermarkets, shops and vendors in public markets would also be closed for not following the guidelines. Also, public  transport vehicles that fail to observe the protocols for wearing face masks by drivers, conductors and passengers, would be pulled off the road.

Bemoaning the current situation, Carter cited the upcoming Day of National Significance and stated that it was every Barbadian’s duty to do the right things.

“Here we are almost on the eve of the observation of the Day of National Significance where large numbers of Barbadians gave their lives for us to enjoy the quality of life that we do. And we have persons who are prepared to jettison all of that, to put ourselves at risk, to roll back all of those gains by not observing the simple protocols that are there in law,” he said.

Explaining that any establishment or business observed in breach of the protocols by the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit or failing to acknowledge the order of any member of the unit would be liable to a fine of $50,000, a year in prison or both, he also revealed that the Unit would be operating under limitations.

“It is impossible to monitor the behaviour of every single individual in Barbados. That is why the Act and that is why common sense places the responsibility on the individual to monitor his own behaviour, to be responsible for his own health and his own protections. The Unit will probably have about six to ten persons. That is not enough persons to monitor every single establishment but nobody knows where the unit will be.”

With many members of the public operating under a false hope that the island was clean and clear of COVID, Carter reminded the public that there was no evidence to support that conclusively and urged persons to remain vigilant.

“There has been a serious lapse. Some of it actually started when Barbados reached the first plateau in terms of zero cases. But of course we have had cases since then and I made the point even at that stage that those were zero cases in terms of what had been identified. There has always been and continues to be the possibility that there are persons out there whose COVID-19 status has not been determined because they have not been tested. So it is possible that there are asymptomatic persons walking around Barbados who could potentially be spreading COVID-19,” he said. (MP)

After closing their doors four months ago due to the national
shutdown, government day nurseries reopened yesterday to smaller
numbers of children.

With health and safety protocols firmly in place, parents arrived at
pre-arranged, staggered times during the morning to drop their little
ones off at 14 of these facilities around the island.

Sanitisation of hands and temperature checks are just some of the new
policies in place as parents joined short lines to await their child’s
turn for admission. And while several tears were shed during the
handover, smiles of relief graced the faces of guardians in knowing
their infants and toddlers will be looked after as they head to work.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate, one supervisor said procedures ran
smoothly throughout the morning as while the nursery had over 60
children before the March closure, the roll had been cut by more than
half in order to have a phased approach to reopening.

“We were told that at a later date, the remaining children will be
readmitted, but we do not know when. So for now it is a matter of
ensuring everything runs smoothly and that social distancing can be
practised as much as possible. We have the protocols in place for
parents and everything has been running well so far. Parents were made
aware of what procedures would be in place during orientation and have
been following them for the most part,” she said.

The opening of the day care centres was delayed to allow for the
implementation of measures outlined in the protocols issued by the
Ministry of Health and Wellness in response to COVID-19.

While the majority of these have reopened, the Marion Hall Day Nursery
at Silver Hill, Christ Church, will remain closed due to work being
carried out on the building. (JMB)