Carib Scope

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  • Years of Hard Work at ACC, One Graduation List: Who Made It?

    Years of Hard Work at ACC, One Graduation List: Who Made It?

    On a charged, emotionally charged morning in May 2026 at Belize’s Anglican Cathedral College, hundreds of students packed the campus’s central notice area, every gaze locked on the piece of paper that would cap years of early mornings, late-night study sessions, and relentless academic pressure: the annual graduation list. For most of these young people, this is the culminating moment of years of secondary education—when years of sacrifice either translate to the achievement they’ve chased, or force another year of effort to reach that goal. This year’s cohort, however, is already being remembered by school leadership for the extraordinary grit shown by its top graduates, each of whom overcame distinct personal and academic barriers to claim their spots on the graduation list and earn top rankings.

    The air hummed with a mix of tension and unfiltered joy on graduation list day, with screams of celebration, tight hugs, and even tears of relief echoing across campus as students found their names. For Principal Paulette Augustus, the moment is never just about a list—it’s the payoff for half a decade of relentless effort from every graduating student.

    “It’s been a long, exciting week and a half that we have been anticipating this day,” Augustus shared in an on-campus interview. “It’s the culmination of the years of study, the blood, sweat, and tears, per se.”

    Leading this year’s graduating class is valedictorian Ayeesha Longsworth, whose path to the top ranking was far from straightforward. Longsworth opened up about facing significant academic struggles during her first year of secondary school, particularly in mathematics, where she struggled to keep pace with coursework and found herself falling behind her peers.

    “I faced academic challenges in first form. I struggled a lot with math. And over the years, with the help of Ms. Martinez, she really brought out that excellence in me,” Longsworth explained.

    Beyond classroom support, Longsworth credited her tight-knit family and unshakable faith for keeping her motivated through the lowest points of her academic journey. She highlighted her parents, who worked through their own unspoken struggles to ensure she never missed a day of school, and her grandmother, who served as her spiritual guide.

    “I’d like to thank my parents for ensuring that I always came to school. And even if they struggled, they didn’t let me see. And I want to say thanks to my grandmother, who is my spiritual guide. She taught me to keep the faith, to keep God the center of my life,” she said.

    Claiming third place in the graduating cohort is Bristol Salazar, who noted that maintaining a consistent top-tier average across all subjects was a challenge in its own right. Salazar, who pushes herself to earn high marks in every class regardless of the subject, said the hardest part of her journey was holding herself to that high standard across the board.

    “The most difficult thing was trying to make sure you have a ninety and above across each classes, because I’m a person, I always want to be on a roll no matter which class I’m in,” Salazar said. When asked how she felt after learning she had earned a spot in the top five, she gushed: “Oh my gosh, I was so excited and grateful that I became one person out of the top five.”

    The only male student to earn a spot in this year’s top five is fourth-place finisher Justin Lee, who opened up about his own biggest challenge: building the consistent discipline needed to show up and focus on school work, even when he would rather have been enjoying time with friends.

    “A few challenges that I faced were dedication problems. Coming to school every day was a hard thing for me because I like play. And the focus on school mi hard, but my best friend helped me out. And my ma and my parents helped, push me to the right direction,” Lee said, speaking in Kriol that was transcribed per the outlet’s standard spelling conventions. When asked how he felt now that his years of effort had paid off, Lee shared a simple, joyful response: “Feel good. I feel happy that I did graduate and noh have to go through this again.”

    Principal Augustus says this year’s graduating class will stand out in her memory for its remarkable resilience, and she urged all graduates to carry the same perseverance that got them across the graduation stage into their next chapters.

    “My message to my 2025-2026 graduation class is perseverance, determination, self-will. Knowing that God has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of your lives and what is it that he plants there, it only grows,” Augustus said.

    Shane Williams of News Five reported from Anglican Cathedral College. This report is a transcript of the outlet’s evening television broadcast.

  • New framework aims to widen contributions, close coverage gaps

    New framework aims to widen contributions, close coverage gaps

    On Tuesday, Barbados’ House of Assembly gave final approval to a sweeping, decades-overdue transformation of the country’s social security system, a policy shift that will extend critical coverage to gig workers, freelancers and contract employees by making benefits portable across multiple job engagements.

    The centerpiece of the reform is the landmark National Portable Benefits Framework Resolution, spearheaded by St. George North Member of Parliament Toni Moore, who also serves as general secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU). In her impassioned closing address to the chamber ahead of the vote, Moore framed the framework as a defining step toward updating Barbados’ social contract to match the evolving realities of 21st-century work.

    Moore emphasized that the decades-old traditional model of long-term, single-employer employment has largely collapsed for many segments of the workforce, leaving the country’s 1967-vintage National Insurance scheme ill-equipped to protect growing numbers of informal and non-standard workers. The core principle that anchored the months of parliamentary debate and shaped the final resolution is simple but transformative: social security coverage must follow the worker, not the job.

    Under current rules enforced by the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS), a worker must log a minimum of 21 hours of weekly employment with a single employer to qualify for social security contributions. Moore argued that this outdated threshold makes no sense in today’s economy, where many Barbadians balance multiple short-term contracts with different “engagers” instead of holding one full-time position.

    “It is very possible that a person working a 60-hour week will not reach 15 hours with a single employer,” Moore explained. “The underpinning that Social Security must follow the worker and not the employer became a very fundamental soul to the submissions because it matches the reality of the world of work in Barbados today. It seeks to capture and cater to workers in precarious positions.”

    To highlight the gaps and unfairness of the existing system, Moore shared a striking example raised during parliamentary consultations: a worker who had accumulated 498 qualifying contributions to the national pension scheme, only to miss out on a full retirement pension by a margin of just two additional payments. Under the new portable framework, such gaps would be eliminated by counting cumulative hours across all job engagements, she said.

    Beyond expanding protection to vulnerable workers, the reform is also projected to strengthen the long-term financial solvency of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) by broadening the contribution base and ensuring more revenue flows into the system. It also closes a longstanding loophole that allowed some businesses to intentionally limit worker hours per role to avoid the requirement to pay social security contributions. Once fully implemented, upgraded digital infrastructure will support micro-contribution tracking, allowing work stints as short as four hours to count toward a worker’s total benefit eligibility.

    Moore noted that the timing of the resolution’s passage carries deep historical weight, coming as the BWU marks its 85th anniversary. She credited the union with foundational research and advocacy that turned the idea of portable benefits into actionable policy, comparing the shift to the earlier historic introduction of unemployment benefits in Barbados. “This indeed, as Barbados approaches its 60th anniversary of independence, or 5th anniversary of a republic, in the year where a very important pillar in the labor architecture of Barbados is celebrating its 85th year, this indeed is a nation-building moment,” Moore said.

    Following the parliamentary approval, the Barbadian government will move forward with a multi-stage implementation process. First, a national public education campaign will be rolled out to inform workers and employers of the changes to the system. Lawmakers will also update the Employment Rights Act to embed the new framework into national labor law, and technological upgrades will be completed to NIS systems to accommodate the new portable contribution tracking model.

    “The debate has moved us beyond the ‘why’ to the ‘how’ — a signal that Barbados is ready to take the next step into modernising its contract to ensure that National Portable Benefits Framework through the National Insurance Security Service ensures that Social Security follows the worker, not the job,” Moore said.

  • Guyana loans two pumps to flood-hit Suriname

    Guyana loans two pumps to flood-hit Suriname

    As of Tuesday, May 19, 2026, senior government officials from Guyana have confirmed that the South American neighbor has extended emergency assistance to flood-battered Suriname, loaning two high-volume drainage pumps to help mitigate the widespread inundation driven by days of unrelenting heavy rainfall.

    Guyanese President Irfaan Ali shared details of the cross-border aid in an interview with Demerara Waves Online News, noting that Suriname’s flooding crisis has been far more severe than the flooding Guyana itself recently experienced. “Their flooding was worse than ours because the rainfall continued with greater intensity there so they wanted some support with additional pumping capacity, and we have supported them by loaning two pumps,” Ali explained.

    According to Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, the emergency assistance was arranged following a recent virtual summit between President Ali and Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, who was joined by her nation’s Public Works Minister during the talks. During that meeting, Simons outlined the dire flooding conditions across Suriname and formally requested support from Guyana. After the high-level discussion, President Ali directed Minister Mustapha to coordinate a follow-up working session with his Surinamese counterpart to finalize logistics for the aid. “Based on the outcomes of that meeting, we immediately dispatched two pumps to Suriname,” Mustapha confirmed.

    Each of the deployed pumps has a massive flow capacity of 31,000 gallons of water per minute, making them powerful tools for clearing stagnant floodwater from populated and low-lying vulnerable areas. The units were successfully transported across the Corentyne River, which forms the border between the two South American nations, on Monday, just one day before the official aid confirmation.

    Suriname’s government released a statement on Tuesday acknowledging the timely assistance, noting that the new pumps will dramatically speed up and improve the efficiency of draining excess rain and surface water from the country’s most flood-prone regions. Per the Surinamese government’s deployment plan, the first pump is scheduled to be installed at the Sabakoe Project on May 20. The second unit will be positioned along Indira Gandhiweg, close to the Red Apple department store, where it will support drainage operations for the Rahemal Project and its surrounding residential and commercial areas.

    In its statement, the Suriname government reaffirmed its commitment to implementing long-term structural flood mitigation measures to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to extreme weather events, while also expressing gratitude for the cross-border cooperation and community understanding amid the ongoing emergency response.

  • Lezen & Lunchen: Waarom Toen de Val van Iraida Ooft je aan tafel krijgt

    Lezen & Lunchen: Waarom Toen de Val van Iraida Ooft je aan tafel krijgt

    There are two types of books one encounters in a lifetime: those you finish reading and set aside on a shelf never to revisit, and those that beg to be pulled out, set next to a plate and a glass on a shared table, and discussed at length by a group of people. During a recent lunch at a small Amsterdam café with close friend Guus Pengel and my father Carlo Jadnanansing, two men who do not just read literature, but live it, I discovered that Iraida Ooft’s *Toen de Val* falls firmly into the second, more memorable category. Around our table, it became immediately clear that this work is far more than a work of fiction: it is a full, immersive experience that demands conversation, reflection, and collective recognition.

    The story opens with loss, no slow buildup, no gentle foreshadowing – it hits readers abruptly, anchored to the 1989 Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crash that casts a long, quiet shadow over every character and their choices. For our small group, the novel pulled us sharply back to an era when distance was still a tangible thing, where breaking news did not ping into our pockets within seconds of a tragedy unfolding. As we set down our forks, we all found ourselves asking the same unplanned question: Where were you when the crash happened? That shared collective memory is what gives the novel its extraordinary power. The crash is not just a footnote in history; it is an emotional milestone for countless Surinamese people and Dutch residents of Surinamese descent, a moment everyone who lived through it still carries.

    What Ooft does exceptionally well is frame the crash as a metaphor for broader society itself. The downed plane becomes a microcosm of community, where grief, love, ancestral roots, and quiet hope collide and coexist. The author’s core insight is this: stories do not crash and burn alongside tragedy; instead, they take flight once loss is given space to be felt and acknowledged. *Toen de Val* lays bare how people find one another in the aftermath of disaster, showing how grief does not only break people apart – it can also bind them closer. As Pengel put it perfectly over our lunch that day: “This book shows that sorrow can bring people closer together.” That line lingered in our conversation long after we finished our meal.

    One of the novel’s strongest throughlines is the undercurrent of spirituality that runs through every chapter. The prophecies of the character Bisri, the quiet mysticism surrounding the jaguar, and the tonka tree that speaks Sranan Tongo lend the story an almost mythic weight, yet never once does this narrative choice feel forced or gimmicky. It feels as if this layered, spiritual world has always existed alongside the characters’ everyday lives. My father observed that worldly, material power pales in comparison to the strength of spiritual connection, and that theme resonates through every page of the novel. Indigenous spirituality is not reduced to a decorative folk trope here; it is portrayed as a living, breathing reality that guides the choices of the people at the heart of the story.

    The characters themselves stay with readers long after the final page, precisely because they are written as deeply, imperfectly human. Carlos chooses to build his life in Suriname, leaving his wife Tineke and their son behind in the Netherlands. Hanna and Theo drift apart as they process their shared grief, while Theo finds a deeper connection to himself through Hindu ritual. Marjorie navigates the challenge of raising her child in a world that does not always understand her identity or her experience. Even through all the pain they carry, each character keeps searching for meaning, connection, and peace. Their choices are often difficult and painful, but never shallow or unthinking. This leaves readers constantly aware of the quiet tension between individual desire and responsibility to family, culture, and homeland.

    At the same time, the novel paints an unflinchingly authentic portrait of 1980s Suriname: a time of widespread economic scarcity, hard-to-access foreign currency, and constant tension under military dictatorship. Ooft refuses to romanticize the country, presenting its struggles with unvarnished honesty. Yet there is still endless room for warmth and humor throughout. Surinamese culture has long held a tradition of spinning stories, or tori, that bring light even in the hardest times, and that warmth radiates through Ooft’s narrative. This careful balance between weight and lightness is what makes the story feel both credible and deeply moving.

    For me personally, the most moving element of the novel is its approach to death. Ooft does not frame death as a final ending, but as a transition to another form of existence. The spiritual world in this novel never feels frightening or menacing; instead, it is quiet, peaceful, and almost lyrical. The scenes where nature, spirits, and living people intersect are written with such vivid imagery that readers find themselves wanting to linger in that in-between space. The novel invites audiences to rethink their relationship to loss: it is not just a goodbye, but a form of continued existence in memory, nature, and spiritual connection.

    In the end, the 1989 plane crash becomes far more than a single historical event. It becomes a metaphor for society itself: different stories collide, fall apart, and ultimately coalesce into something new. The iconic instruction “PY 764 prepare for landing” remains heart-wrenching for readers, who know all too well what awaits the plane and its passengers. But the novel makes clear that knowing what happened is not the same as understanding its legacy. Sometimes, a fall can open the door to an entirely new way of seeing the world.

    That is what makes *Toen de Val* a book you do not just finish and pass along to a friend. It is a book you bring to the lunch table, to shared memories, to conversations about history, identity, and spirituality. It makes grief tangible for readers, and shows how storytelling can bind people across generations and experiences. That is precisely why this book belongs at the center of a shared meal: it was made to be shared.

  • Defending champions West Terrace unbeaten in NSC/BICO Football Competition

    Defending champions West Terrace unbeaten in NSC/BICO Football Competition

    The National Sports Council/BICO Primary School Football competition entered another round of group-stage action this Tuesday, with high-scoring matches and surprising upsets shaping the tournament’s latest narrative across four host zones across the country.

    In the Dane Alleyne Zone hosted at Orange Hill, defending tournament champions West Terrace continued their ruthless title defense campaign with a dominant display of attacking football, crushing a outmatched St Matthew’s Primary side by a staggering 7-0 margin. The zone’s other two fixtures offered far more competitive drama: Welches and St Albans played out an end-to-end 2-2 draw that saw both sides snatch late equalizers, while Sharon Primary claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Good Shepherd to secure three crucial points in the group standings.

    The most lopsided result of the entire matchday came in the Reginald Haynes/Victor Gas Clarke Zone at Blenheim, where home side St Giles Primary leveraged their familiarity with the pitch to hand St Patrick’s Roman Catholic School a punishing 9-0 defeat. Other results from the zone included St Paul’s Primary taking a 3-1 victory over Charles F Broome Memorial, St Cyprians claiming a clean sheet 2-0 win against George Lamming, and Luther Thorne Memorial securing a comfortable 3-0 win over a struggling St Ambrose side. The final fixture of the zone finished level at 1-1 between Belmont Primary and Wilkie Cumberbatch, splitting the points between the two squads.

    Unlike other groups which saw drawn results, every fixture in the Keith Grell Griffith Zone produced a decisive winner on Tuesday. Wesley Hall claimed a tight 1-0 win over St Mary’s Primary, Grazettes coasted to a comfortable 4-1 victory against Lawrence T Gay Memorial, and Al Falah snuck past Trinity Academy with a 1-0 edge. Deacons also claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Westbury, while Eden Lodge secured the same scoreline against Eagle Hall to lock in three points.

    The Adrian Donovan/Michael Foster Zone, hosted at King George V Park, also saw a flood of goals across its three scheduled matches. St Mark’s put in a polished performance to defeat St Martin’s Mangrove 4-0, Hilda Skeene delivered a crushing 6-0 blow to St Catherine’s Primary, and Reynold Weekes closed out the matchday with a 2-0 win over Bayley’s. As the group stage progresses, West Terrace’s early form cements them as the team to beat in this year’s competition, with other title contenders continuing to jockey for position in their respective groups.

  • Child injured during unrest at St James stabbing scene

    Child injured during unrest at St James stabbing scene

    A violent public disturbance that erupted close to the site of a fatal Tuesday stabbing in Haynesville, St James has left an innocent young girl hospitalized with significant injuries, according to local reports. The chaos unfolded after a large crowd of onlookers gathered near the original stabbing scene, where simmering tensions quickly boiled over into open confrontation. Multiple witnesses confirmed to regional outlet Barbados TODAY that people in the crowd began throwing glass bottles at one another as the altercation escalated. One of the projectiles shattered on impact, sending sharp shards of glass flying toward bystanders. The young, innocent bystander was caught in the crossfire, suffering deep cuts to both her elbow and back from the flying broken glass. Emergency responders quickly moved the injured child to a nearby medical facility to receive urgent care for her wounds. In the wake of the dual incidents, law enforcement officials have deployed additional officers to the neighborhood and are maintaining an increased visible presence to prevent further outbreaks of violence and calm community tensions.

  • Suspect held, gun recovered in Massade homicide investigation

    Suspect held, gun recovered in Massade homicide investigation

    Law enforcement authorities in Saint Lucia have confirmed they have taken a suspect into custody following a fatal shooting in Massade, Gros Islet, that left 34-year-old Julian Cedric Aguil dead over the weekend.

    The violent incident unfolded shortly after 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, triggering an immediate, large-scale search operation led by local law enforcement, according to Superintendent Eldeen Henry, commanding officer of the country’s Northern Division.

    First responders received an emergency report of gunfire at a residential property in Massade, Rosalie, and rushed to the location. By the time police arrived at the scene, Aguil — a resident of Marisule, Gros Islet — had already been moved to the Gros Islet Polyclinic. A medical professional at the facility later officially pronounced him dead from his injuries.

    Preliminary investigative findings indicate the shooting grew out of a verbal altercation that turned violent between two cousins at the home where the incident occurred.

    Working around the clock, law enforcement tracked the suspect to a secluded wooded area in the Massade region less than 12 hours after the shooting took place. Officers took the suspect into custody at the site without major incident, Henry confirmed. During the arrest, the law enforcement team also seized a nine-millimetre handgun loaded with two live rounds of ammunition that was found in the suspect’s possession.

    The investigation into the fatal shooting remains active and ongoing as detectives work to build a complete case file for prosecution.

    Superintendent Henry extended public recognition to the officers of the Gros Islet Police Division and central headquarters personnel for their rapid, coordinated work that led to the quick apprehension. He also highlighted the critical contribution of local community members, who provided assistance that helped speed up the search operation.

  • Entrepreneurs warn of barriers to PM’s export push

    Entrepreneurs warn of barriers to PM’s export push

    Barbados’ ambitious government-led push to help small domestic businesses break into global export markets is facing daunting systemic hurdles, with prominent local entrepreneurs warning that critical gaps in access to credit, logistics infrastructure, and skilled labor threaten to derail the initiative before it can gain traction.

    Prime Minister Mia Mottley has made expanding small business exports a central economic priority, framing it as a key strategy to boost foreign exchange earnings and drive long-term national growth. While the government’s recent investments in upgraded production infrastructure have delivered tangible benefits for many local manufacturers, business leaders say these improvements only address part of the complex challenge of building a viable export sector. For example, the International Food Centre based in Newton has successfully supported small producers to transition from informal home-based operations to regulated, standardized manufacturing facilities that meet international export standards.

    “You can build all the production capacity in the world and develop a high-quality product, but at the end of the day, you need buyers to actually get your goods into overseas markets,” explained Tyrique Wilson, founder of the popular local brand Carrington’s Rum Cream. Wilson noted that while public sector support has helped local firms strengthen their output, the critical final link connecting small producers to legitimate, high-volume international buyers remains missing. This gap persists regardless of target markets, whether across the Caribbean, in North America, Europe, or other global regions.

    Wilson also pushed back against Prime Minister Mottley’s recent suggestion that a “colonial mentality” and lack of trust among local business owners are the primary barriers to strategic collaborative growth. In his view, the core issue is not cultural, but systemic institutional gridlock that fails to support small businesses as they scale. While government-run lending programs including Fund Access and the Trust Loan Fund provide valuable early-stage seed capital for new ventures, Wilson explained that their inflexible lending caps cannot keep up with the rapid growth of successful small firms. This leaves entrepreneurs forced to turn to commercial banks, which enforce strict, often exclusionary lending requirements that lock growing businesses out of needed credit.

    Wilson shared his own personal experience to illustrate the problem: when he sought credit to scale his rum cream operation, which relies on importing specialized packaging, commercial banks required him to hold a business account for three years before even considering his application for a basic business credit card. With a low default debit limit on his new account, he was forced to rely on his parents’ and friends’ personal credit cards to cover import costs, reimbursing them out of pocket until he met the bank’s waiting period. This unnecessary delay slowed his growth trajectory significantly.

    Even for the small number of Barbadian small businesses that overcome these initial capital barriers and successfully break into international markets, new, equally challenging hurdles emerge around logistics and working capital. Courtney Mills, founder of Ulu Foods, a brand that has built strong global demand for its products, outlined how outdated regional shipping infrastructure creates crippling bottlenecks that disproportionately harm small agricultural and food exporters.

    “For fresh and frozen food products, which are a core segment of Barbados’ export-ready agriculture sector, the lack of accessible Less than Container Load (LCL) shipping routes to key markets like the U.S. and UK is a major problem,” Mills explained. Currently, the only major outbound shipping hub from Barbados routes through Miami, where LCL service is not available. Small producers are forced to purchase full container loads, a threshold that most growing small businesses cannot reach quickly enough to match emerging demand.

    This inflexible shipping structure worsens an already severe working capital shortage for local exporters. Most large distributors in the U.S. and Europe require 90 to 120-day extended repayment terms, but Barbadian financial institutions rarely offer the working capital facilities small firms need to cover operating costs while waiting for payment. “When you don’t have access to that kind of flexible financing, it makes meeting those payment requirements incredibly difficult,” Mills said, adding that policymakers should prioritize supporting local financial institutions to close this critical capital gap.

    Beyond capital and shipping constraints, domestic operational challenges also threaten export growth, most notably acute shortages of skilled and unskilled labor, plus a lack of local technical expertise for maintaining modern production equipment. Mills noted that across nearly every sector of the Barbadian economy, firms struggle to find available workers, choking productivity and limiting expansion. She called for expanded global immigration partnerships to allow firms to bring in the specialized personnel they need to scale. Even for technical equipment maintenance, most modern production hardware requires specialized expertise that is not available locally, meaning firms must fly in technicians from overseas when equipment breaks down. The extended downtime this creates can be the difference between meeting international order deadlines and losing permanent market access.

    Clement Mapp, founder and managing director of local boutique brand 6701 Blended Street, added his perspective to the national conversation, aligning with the prime minister’s core goal of boosting exports to strengthen long-term economic stability and regional integration but emphasizing that the transition for small firms is far from simple. “Most of us are already juggling rising production costs, persistent supply chain sourcing challenges, increasing utility and transportation expenses, while also working to maintain consistent product quality as we try to grow responsibly,” Mapp explained.

    For boutique and artisanal brands, a core challenge is scaling production to meet export demand without eroding the unique artisanal quality that makes their products attractive to international buyers. For 6701 Blended Street, preserving that handcrafted identity remains a top priority, requiring careful targeted investment, long-term strategic planning, and robust supporting infrastructure that many small firms cannot access on their own. Mapp concluded that for Barbados to hit its national export targets, the entire local economic ecosystem must evolve alongside small growing businesses. While Barbadian entrepreneurs are eager to expand their reach across the Caribbean and beyond, significant policy and infrastructure improvements are still needed to make cross-border trade seamless, commercially viable, and sustainable for small local producers.

  • Talks surrounding insurance for fisherfolk progressing

    Talks surrounding insurance for fisherfolk progressing

    Barbados’ fishing sector stands at a critical turning point in its journey toward long-term viability within the island nation’s growing blue economy, with industry leaders arguing that targeted financial protection and retirement support for frontline workers must top the priority list for stakeholders across the country.

    Moonesh Dharampaul, head of the Black Fin Fleet Co-operative Society, which represents 250 fishermen across the island, has opened up about ongoing productive negotiations with local insurance providers to build custom coverage packages that align with the unique risks and operational realities of commercial fishing. Dharampaul shared details of the discussions on Tuesday during a sidelines interview at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, where a delegation from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was conducting an official visit.

    At the core of the industry’s demands is expanded financial security for working fisherfolk, with negotiators pushing to integrate multiple layers of support into new coverage plans: beyond basic accident and vessel protection, the co-operative is advocating for embedded health benefits, dedicated retirement pension contributions, and flexible parametric insurance products that are structured to respond to the specific volatility fishing crews face. Dharampaul confirmed that follow-up negotiations with insurance stakeholders were scheduled for the same day, with the group focused on striking a balance between robust worker protection and accessible, affordable premium rates that do not drive up consumer seafood costs.

    Dharampaul praised the General Insurance Association of Barbados for its collaborative, good-faith approach to the talks, noting that significant progress has already been made in bringing premium costs down. Currently, the co-operative has secured a preliminary rate of 3% for comprehensive industry-wide coverage, and Dharampaul confirmed that the collective negotiating power of the 250-member group will push that rate down even further to 2.5%—a milestone he called a meaningful step forward for the entire sector.

    A key long-term goal of the negotiations is moving away from one-size-fits-all standard marine insurance policies, which Dharampaul explained have repeatedly failed to address the unique needs of commercial fishing operations. These ill-fitting existing policies were the core reason many local fishermen were initially hesitant to sign up for coverage, he added, with many workers skeptical that policies would deliver meaningful support when it was needed. The co-operative has also received strong backing from senior local fisheries regulators, Dharampaul said, singling out Chief Fisheries Officer Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox for her relentless work to ensure any new insurance products introduced to the sector are properly tailored to the needs of workers.

    While near-term reforms focus on partnering with existing insurance providers to build better products, Dharampaul stressed that the ultimate ambition of Barbados’ fishing community is to develop an independent, industry-governed self-insurance model. This homegrown framework would keep all financial benefits within the fishing sector, he explained, allowing the industry to reinvest savings into growth, keep consumer fish prices stable, and retain full control over its own operational governance. Dharampaul emphasized that affordable coverage is not just a win for fishermen—keeping premium costs low is critical to avoiding additional price hikes for consumers, who already face elevated fish prices in local markets. The co-operative’s goal, he said, is to secure the best possible terms that support both workers and consumers, strengthening the sector’s role in the national blue economy for decades to come.

  • Tourist assault renews calls to urgently tackle crime situation

    Tourist assault renews calls to urgently tackle crime situation

    A brutal criminal incident that left an international tourist hospitalized has reignited urgent public and industry calls for sweeping action to tackle rising crime and deteriorating public safety across the Caribbean island of Barbados.

    The attack unfolded on a Sunday night near the entrance to Savvy on the Bay, a popular commercial and leisure hub adjacent to Carlisle Bay in the parish of St Michael. According to details shared by local business owners, a lone assailant snatched the male visitor’s chain at the entry point of the public right-of-way that runs between the Eden on the Sea development and Savvy on the Bay. When the tourist attempted to recover his stolen property, multiple additional attackers joined the fray, beating him severely before fleeing. What makes the incident more alarming is that it unfolded in mere minutes despite the fact that multiple private security personnel were already stationed in the area, as a response to previous safety concerns.

    Sarah Taylor, who owns two prominent local tourism-focused businesses – Beautiful Barbados Tours & Excursions Ltd and Tranquility Cruises, both partners of the Savvy on the Bay complex – has emerged as a leading voice pushing for collective action. In an interview with local outlet Barbados TODAY following the attack, Taylor emphasized that reversing Barbados’ crime trend cannot be left to authorities alone; it requires a whole-society, all-hands-on-deck commitment from every community member and industry stakeholder.

    She outlined that local business operators have already taken proactive steps on their own to boost safety, after consulting closely with local law enforcement. These measures include adding extra public lighting across the area and expanding private security teams to far higher levels than were in place just a few years ago. Even so, Taylor said new targeted safety protocols are already being planned specifically for Sundays, after recurring issues of criminal activity spilling over from unregulated public beach events held on the weekend.

    Going beyond immediate security fixes, Taylor argued that this latest attack is not an isolated incident, but a symptom of a deeper, underaddressed societal problem spreading across the nation. She called out what she described as a widespread culture of avoiding accountability and sweeping systemic problems under the rug, a habit that has allowed safety concerns to fester and grow. “The status quo has become to sweep your dirty laundry under the rug and forget about it. The problem is it doesn’t go away. We are clearly having a societal problem in Barbados and we are not correctly addressing it, and it is spreading,” Taylor stated.

    She rejected the idea that large public events and incremental, half-measures can reverse the current trend, instead calling for a national shift toward collective accountability and shared responsibility. “There’s a huge lack of accountability in this country. We need to have a day of prayer, accountability, and taking responsibility. Stop running from any problems. Stop throwing chicken feed at them. The fetes and the party can’t fix everything,” she said. Drawing on the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu, which centers the idea that individual well-being is tied to collective well-being, Taylor urged Barbadians to unify to address what she called a growing “infection” of crime: “Ubuntu – I am because we are – We need to stand up and fix this infection together.”

    Other local workers and business operators in the area have echoed Taylor’s concerns, warning that ongoing violent crime threatens both public safety and Barbados’ core tourism industry, which supports thousands of local jobs. One local restaurateur, who was not present during the Sunday night attack, noted that the current climate has made constant vigilance a necessity, saying “nowadays anything can happen.”

    Kevin, a local worker in the area, shared that the attack left him feeling deeply unsettled and unsafe. “I ain’t feel too good. I don’t feel safe at all. They really need to do something about this here. That man came here to enjoy himself and ended up getting robbed. I don’t like it. It isn’t good for business, nothing so,” he said. He added that even with increased police patrols and private security, criminals often adapt by waiting for officers to rotate out of the area before launching their attacks.

    A female restaurant owner echoed that sentiment, saying she was disturbed by the attack and warned that repeated high-profile incidents targeting tourists will inevitably deter visitors from coming to the Carlisle Bay area, dealing a direct blow to local businesses that rely on tourism revenue.