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Three months after Barbados’ February 11 general election, constituents in two St Michael constituencies are already witnessing tangible progress on key campaign pledges, from long-overdue road repairs to new skills-training initiatives aimed at empowering young people. During a 100-day checkpoint visit to communities across St Michael Central and St Michael West, Barbados TODAY spoke to dozens of residents who shared mixed but mostly positive reactions to the new administration’s early delivery.

In St Michael Central, one of the most visible changes is the full resurfacing of Powder Road, a thoroughfare that had sat in dangerous, disrepair for years. Today, motorists and pedestrians move along the smooth pavement without navigating gaping potholes or uneven terrain that made travel difficult for decades. Longtime resident Trey told reporters he never thought he would see the road fixed in his lifetime. “A couple years we’ve been dealing with this mess, but I’m so glad they got it done—it looks real good,” he said. “We couldn’t even walk along the side of the road properly before. This is the first promise we’ve seen delivered, but we’re willing to wait for the rest. What we really need now is more opportunities for idle young people, to keep them occupied and off the streets.”

Elderly resident Mrs Mayers echoed that gratitude for the resurfacing, but flagged a new safety concern that has emerged since the project was completed. Speeding vehicles turning from the main road onto the minor side road now pose a major risk to pedestrians, she explained, pointing to the sharp corner that leaves walkers with little warning of oncoming traffic. “They will have to put some kind of speed control or signage at the corner there, because somebody is going to get knocked down,” she warned. “But otherwise, I love the new road. It’s a world of difference.”

Fellow resident Sherlock King called the road work a long-awaited win for the whole community. “Great, splendid, marvellous—we were waiting for them to do this for years, because this was the most dangerous road out here,” he said. “We thank the Lord for that. Everything takes time, and we understand that, but this is a great start.”

Beyond infrastructure, St Michael Central’s Member of Parliament Tyra Trotman has already launched two people-focused programs aimed at reducing unemployment and empowering local residents. The first, Faces of the Future, is a six-week makeup artistry training course for young women in the constituency. Trinisha Farrell, parliamentary liaison officer, told Barbados TODAY the inaugural cohort wrapped up training last month with 17 graduates, all of whom are now certified to work professionally in the field.

The program far exceeded expectations, with demand spilling over from neighbouring constituencies. “We actually had an influx of persons calling the office from other areas asking to be a part of the program as well,” Farrell said. “It was a hit across Barbados, and definitely a hit with our constituents because we had an overflow of people wanting to join even after the course had already started. Many of our graduates have already gone on to launch their own small makeup businesses. If any of them need help registering their businesses through Business Barbados, Trotman has committed to walking them through that process step by step.”

A second cohort of 15 participants is set to begin training next week, just a short delay after the first round wrapped up. Organizers originally planned to cap each cohort at 16 participants, but adjusted to accommodate extra interest in the first round. Moving forward, the program’s continuation depends on securing additional funding to cover training costs and materials. “Funding is the main barrier we have to work through right now,” Farrell explained. “We’re actively seeking funding to keep the program running because it’s clearly filling a need. The whole goal is to help more people in the constituency become self-sufficient entrepreneurs, and that’s something we want to keep building on.”

Trotman’s second new initiative, the Walk the Bush program, was launched to connect unemployed men in the constituency with paid, flexible work assisting vulnerable households. The pilot started with 11 participants, who work three days a week completing property maintenance and yard work for elderly, disabled, disenfranchised residents and single-parent families that cannot afford or complete the work themselves. The program has already been expanded to accept requests from any local resident who wants to hire the participants for small jobs, with payments going into a centralized fund that keeps the program running and guarantees participants steady pay. The next phase of the initiative will focus on helping participants build the skills and connections needed to launch their own independent service businesses, with the goal of having graduates go on to mentor other unemployed young men in the constituency.

Over in St Michael West, residents of Greaves Land are equally enthusiastic about long-awaited road repairs to a thoroughfare that had been neglected for more than 30 years. The project hit a minor snag earlier this month when a water main burst damaged a section of the newly patched road, but workers have already made quick progress repairing the damage. One local business owner, whose shop sits directly along the road, said she doesn’t mind the temporary dust and construction disruptions, because the end result will be life-changing for the whole community.

“Once it’s done I can wear high heel shoes again, instead of sticking to sneakers and slippers just to get to my door,” she said. “My feet won’t get covered in dust and mud every time I step out anymore. I’m so glad the government got this patching machine to fix all these potholes that have been here for decades. Now the kids can run and play on the road, as long as the ZR route vans don’t come speeding through cutting people off.”

She added that while she is grateful for the work, residents are waiting to see how the road holds up during the upcoming rainy season, since low-lying sections of the road have historically flooded and pooled water after heavy storms due to the natural slope of the land. “I got to wait til the rainy season to see how it goes now, you can see the land slopes down that way,” she said, pointing to the low side of the road. “But I’m thankful, that’s the truth. The workers have been working hard, and this is more progress than we’ve seen in 30 years.”

At an age when many young professionals are still mapping out their first career steps, 24-year-old Stefon Burgess has made a deliberate pivot that connects his early medical ambitions to a new path rooted in plant science, food sovereignty, and groundbreaking cancer research. A native of Bowmanston, St. John, Burgess now spends his working days at the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory in St. Philip, where plant propagation work has reshaped not just his professional goals, but his entire perspective on what a meaningful career can look like.

Burgess initially set his sights on becoming a medical doctor, but a gradual shift in priorities led him to test a different path. He made the decision to take a research internship at the lab to gain hands-on experience, a choice that quickly won him over. “I honestly wanted to be a doctor, but my mind just started to change, and I decided, well, I’m going to do the internship here and get the experience,” Burgess shared. “I’m enjoying it. At first, I thought to myself, outside field work is okay, but I like being in the lab as well, and I am exposed to both here.”

What began as a seven-week temporary placement through the University of the West Indies last year morphed rapidly into a full-time position. By August 2023, Burgess had signed a permanent contract at the lab, and he has now built up nearly nine months of on-the-job research experience. Equipped with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, with specialized coursework in ecology, biochemistry and chemistry, Burgess said the laboratory environment opened his eyes to the under-explored scientific potential locked within the agricultural sector. “I grew really good here. I learned a lot with the physiology of the plants – sweet potato, yam, pineapple and then plantain and everything,” he said.

Even as agriculture has captured his professional interest, Burgess never let go of his longstanding fascination with medical science. Instead of abandoning that passion, he is now working to merge his two interests through targeted future research. “I would still love to incorporate my medical background,” he explained. “I want to do research on soursop and come up with an antidote for cancer using bioactive compounds from the fruit and leaves.”

Outside of his formal lab work, Burgess tends to a small personal backyard garden at his home, where he grows his own sweet potatoes, figs, plantains and sweet peppers. Beyond the practical benefit of cutting down on monthly grocery bills amid skyrocketing living costs, he said the routine of gardening has become a deeply effective therapeutic practice that supports his mental well-being. “Mental health is very important,” he said. “Not just going out partying and stuff. I think that would be a good way to stabilise yourself as well.”

For Burgess, home gardening also represents a tangible form of personal independence at a time when Barbados is facing widespread cost of living increases that have strained household budgets across the country. “You will want to garden at home so that you will have your own produce and you wouldn’t have to be looking here or there looking for fruits or vegetables,” he said. “Things getting expensive, so it will put a little ease on your family too.”

Though still in his early twenties, Burgess speaks with articulate passion about the critical issue of national food security, and the unique role that young Barbadians must play in strengthening the country’s local agricultural sector. “All of we living essentially the same life in Barbados. We know how hard it is here, especially cost of living, gas, food, everything going up,” he said. “Me, I know I was born in the 2000s, but that don’t mean I don’t know anything about the world.”

He believes that expanding youth participation in agriculture could help Barbados cut its reliance on costly food imports, while simultaneously opening new opportunities for agricultural exports and homegrown innovation. “This is a good way to actually show that we need to get students into agriculture so that we would get our own exports to other countries,” Burgess said.

His enthusiasm for growing and working with fresh produce even extends into the kitchen, where he regularly experiments with healthier homemade recipes using produce harvested directly from his backyard. One of his most successful creations to date has been savory dough pockets made entirely from homemade sweet potato flour. “I was doing a little experiment doing sweet potato pockets,” he said with a laugh. “Just get a little blend here and put it in a frying pan. Honestly, it was better than the store-bought pocket mix, and it’s healthier too.”

Burgess’s core mission now is to encourage more young Barbadians to reframe their perception of agriculture: instead of seeing it as outdated, physically demanding blue-collar work, he wants them to recognize it as a dynamic avenue for scientific innovation, financial self-sufficiency, and personal growth. “Honestly, I would encourage other young people,” he said. “Everything makes sense, especially working in the plant tissue culture lab.”

This story was produced in partnership with Barbados’ Ministry of Agriculture.