分类： society

Against a backdrop of surging reports of mistreatment against older people and growing numbers of seniors visiting its headquarters seeking direct support, the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) is moving to establish a standardized, formal framework for handling elder abuse cases across the island nation. The announcement came Thursday as BARP held its annual general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, where association president Marilyn Rice-Bowen shared that the organization is in the final phases of developing a structured reporting system designed to deliver more consistent, coordinated responses to elder abuse complaints brought forward by members.

Rice-Bowen told meeting attendees that incidents of elder abuse have grown increasingly frequent in recent months, marking a notable shift from past patterns of engagement. Where seniors previously reached out to BARP primarily via phone or email to raise concerns, growing numbers of vulnerable older adults are now traveling to the association’s offices in person to ask for direct intervention with their cases of mistreatment. “One of our most important initiatives will be the introduction of a formal reporting protocol for elder abuse,” Rice-Bowen said in her address to the gathering.

Under the current ad-hoc process, BARP staff document reports shared by visiting seniors and pass along details to the Family Conflict Unit, a specialized division within the Barbados Police Service, for official follow-up. The new system will build on this existing relationship by adding structure and accountability to the process. Once fully implemented, BARP personnel will complete a standardized reporting form for every abuse case brought to the organization, which will then be sent directly to the police unit for official investigation. Unlike the previous process, BARP will also maintain active oversight of each open case, tracking progress and following up with both authorities and the affected seniors to ensure cases are resolved appropriately.

“We’re in the process of having a reporting form designed. That form will be completed at BARP and forwarded to the Family Conflict Unit of the Barbados Police Service, and of course, then we will be able to follow up to see what’s happening,” Rice-Bowen explained. She framed the new protocol as a far more robust and proactive approach to combating the growing problem of elder abuse, noting that BARP stands ready to take a leading role in protecting older Barbadians if called upon.

“From BARP’s perspective… it is a more serious approach to elder abuse,” she said. “Every senior deserves to live in safety, dignity and respect.” The new initiative follows public comments Rice-Bowen made one month prior, when she characterized elder abuse as a silent crisis unfolding across Barbados. At that time, she warned that the island was facing a expanding but underreported pattern of abuse, including deliberate targeting of socially isolated older adults for financial exploitation, and called on national stakeholders to implement stronger protective measures for the country’s aging population.

Barbados is grappling with a last-minute event scheduling shift that has split public opinion, after the iconic annual Courtesy Garage Pic-O-De-Crop calypso competition finals was relocated from its planned home at Kensington Oval to CARIFESTA House in Waterford. The change was made to clear the venue for the upcoming state funeral of national hero Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the most revered figures in the country’s history.

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF), the body organizing the cultural event, announced the venue adjustment this Wednesday, confirming that the competition will still proceed as scheduled one week from Friday, kicking off at the original start time of 8 p.m. The organization explained that the tight timeline between Sobers’ funeral and the calypso finals left no room to prepare Kensington Oval to host both major events to the expected standard.

Public reaction to the decision has been far from uniform, with Barbadians offering a range of perspectives on the trade-off between honoring the national hero and preserving the tradition of one of the island’s most anticipated cultural events. Priscilla Giles, a local resident who spoke with Barbados TODAY, framed the shift as a reasonable compromise given the circumstances, noting “It’s not a big deal to me. I’m on split opinions, but most of it just boils down to it’s not really a big deal.” Even so, Giles raised valid practical concerns for attendees and local vendors alike. She pointed out that ticketing arrangements remain unclear for fans who already purchased passes, and that CARIFESTA House’s smaller capacity could limit access for attendees. For vendors who had already prepared to set up operations at Kensington Oval, the sudden relocation creates new barriers, she argued, questioning whether all 100 vendors originally planned for the old venue can be properly accommodated at the new site.

Giles also acknowledged the necessity of making space for Sobers’ funeral, noting that the national icon deserves a large venue to host the thousands of Barbadians expected to gather to grieve and celebrate his legacy. “One way or the other, things should work out if they have the aspect done right, but the general public just will enjoy one way or another,” she added.

Omar, another local attendee, said the venue change itself does not personally impact him, but argued that postponing the competition by a week and a half to two weeks would have been a more practical solution, allowing the event to keep its original planned venue at Kensington Oval after the funeral concluded. “I think they could have postponed it to like two weeks, week and a half… by then Crop Over would be finishing up. Kadooment would have passed,” he explained.

Not all reactions have been critical, however. Junior “Rambo” Hamilton expressed support for the shift to CARIFESTA House, arguing that the venue is actually better equipped to host the calypso finals than Kensington Oval, pointing to improved facilities including restrooms as a key advantage. Even so, he acknowledged that parking shortages could create headaches for attendees traveling to the new location.

Other locals have suggested an entirely different alternative venue: the National Botanical Gardens. Benjie Alleyne noted that while Kensington Oval is a perfectly suitable location for the competition, the Botanical Gardens offer unbeatable comfort and layout for large-scale events. “It’s a ventilated area. You can’t be hot,” he explained, adding that the space can easily accommodate varied seating arrangements, including VIP sections, seated areas for attendees who cannot stand for long periods, and open party spaces. The Botanical Gardens actually hosted the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals for three consecutive years before this year’s planned return to Kensington Oval.

Thus far, the impact of the venue change on ticketing has been minimal. Staff at one local ticket outlet confirmed to Barbados TODAY that only one attendee has returned a ticket since the relocation was announced. The NCF says its production teams are already hard at work adapting CARIFESTA House to meet the needs of the event, upgrading staging, sound systems, lighting, crowd flow planning, accessibility and other key logistics to ensure the competition meets the high standards attendees expect, while still allowing the nation to properly honor one of its most beloved icons.

Barbados is entering a period of national mourning this week as political and civic leaders lead island-wide tributes to one of its most revered citizens, the late cricket icon and National Hero, the Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers. With a formal State funeral scheduled for next Wednesday at the iconic Kensington Oval — the ground where Sobers built much of his legendary sporting legacy — top government officials have already begun publicly honoring his decades-long impact on the Caribbean and global sport. On Thursday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley joined a growing roster of national figures in paying respects, framing Sir Garfield as one of the most transformative figures the Caribbean has ever contributed to world history. Earlier the same day, President Jeffrey Bostic became one of the first officials to sign the official condolence book at State House, kicking off the national period of tribute that will run through next week’s memorial service. Speaking to members of the press after adding her name to the condolence book, following a weekly Cabinet meeting, Mottley drew on the writings of one of the Caribbean’s most celebrated intellectuals to contextualize Sir Garfield’s standing alongside the region’s most iconic trailblazers. She turned to the work of renowned Trinidadian historian and author C.L.R. James, whose writing has long chronicled the outsized influence of Caribbean figures across global politics, culture, and sport. Mottley shared that James himself ranked Sir Garfield among the most important Caribbean leaders and creators to ever shape modern history, alongside names including revolutionary icon Toussaint L’Ouverture, American founding father Alexander Hamilton, Pan-African leader Marcus Garvey, Martinican poet and philosopher Aimé Césaire, pan-Africanist organizer George Padmore, and radical theorist Frantz Fanon. Quoting James directly, Mottley shared his assessment of the cricket legend: “Still we have made history. As evidence of what we can make of ourselves, I need only add some of the names our people from the Caribbean have inscribed on the pages of history.” She went on to recount James’ own placement of Sir Garfield at the close of that iconic list, with the historian writing: “I end this list by a name acknowledged by critics all over the world as an unprecedented, unimaginable practitioner of his particular art. I refer, of course, to Garfield Sobers.” Mottley emphasized that those words remain just as resonant today, capturing the depth and breadth of Sir Garfield’s contributions — which stretch far beyond the boundary of the cricket pitch to lift the profile of Barbados and the entire Caribbean on the global stage. As the nation prepares to formally bid farewell to one of its most beloved and celebrated sons, Mottley’s remarks echoed a widespread national sentiment of gratitude and pride for Sir Garfield’s life and legacy. To give all Barbadians an opportunity to share their respects, condolence books have been placed at official public locations across the island, opening the tribute to members of the public ahead of next week’s State funeral at Kensington Oval.