Barbados’ Ministry of Transport and Works is moving forward with a long-awaited infrastructure project to widen the heavily traveled Ronald Mapp Highway (Highway 2A) into a four-lane dual carriageway, part of a national initiative to cut chronic traffic congestion across the island, Transport and Works Minister Kirk Humphrey has confirmed. The 12-kilometer arterial route, which has become the island’s second-busiest northern corridor over the past 40 years, runs parallel to the coastal Highway One, stretching from the D’Arcy Scott Roundabout in Warrens, St. Michael in the south to Mile-and-a-Quarter in St. Peter, with segments also cutting through St. Thomas and St. James. Currently, only the section from Warrens to the Redman’s Village/Bagatelle junction already operates as a four-lane road, leaving the vast majority of the highway as a congested two-lane thoroughfare. Making the announcement on the sidelines of his St. Michael South constituency branch’s annual general meeting on Sunday, Humphrey explained that the expansion project required a full redesign of the highway’s seven existing underpass bridges, as original engineering plans for earlier bridge upgrades did not account for the planned road widening. “Highway 2A has seven bridges running underneath it. To be able to widen that road, you obviously have to do the bridge work,” Humphrey said. “The ministry had already engaged on four of the bridges to be able to do some work, but they hadn’t accommodated for the expansion. We’re now in the process of reviewing and redesigning the bridge drawings for all seven bridges.” While the government awaits revised engineering schematics for all seven structures, paving work continues on the existing highway alignment toward Lancaster in St. James, and Minister Humphrey noted that the full expansion is on track to break ground imminently once design work wraps up. “It’s our intention to go for four lanes on that highway and to start our work as soon as possible,” he said. “Between the designing of the bridges and the design for the road, because people must understand that you have to design the road, you don’t just build a road, so that work should start very soon as well.” Beyond the Highway 2A expansion, Humphrey outlined the progress of dozens of road improvement projects launched across the island since he assumed office in February, highlighting that upgrades in Thorpes Cottage and Newbury, St. George have already been fully completed. In St. Lucy, the island’s largest-ever water infrastructure upgrade, which has laid 20 kilometers of new water pipes at a multi-million-dollar cost, required a follow-up road rehabilitation program after construction disturbed existing road surfaces. “St. Lucy has seen the most development in terms of water infrastructure in the history of our Barbados,” Humphrey said. “We’ve done about 20 kilometres of new pipe at millions of dollars in St. Lucy, but the unfortunate thing is that once you lay pipe, you’re disturbing the road, so we have to go back and do a number of those roads as well. But we’ve already started that.” The ministry has also launched a new phase of its island-wide pothole repair program, contracting two private local firms – INFRA and C O Williams – to handle pothole patching and road reinstatement work across the country. INFRA is currently focusing on pothole repairs in the southern parishes, while C O Williams is leading work in the north, with most repair sites already active. Addressing another long-standing public complaint, Humphrey said the ministry has also launched a dedicated project to bring raised and sunken manholes across the island level with road surfaces, eliminating a persistent source of vehicle damage and driver inconvenience. To help the ministry prioritize repairs, Humphrey encouraged Barbadian residents to report potholes and other road hazards through the newly launched Pearly mobile app, as well as through social media and direct communication channels. “Use the Pearly app or any other source to be able to just let us know where the areas of concern are, and I’ve been trying to respond to people when they message me,” he said. “I try to send somebody to do the work, when they call me, when I see on Instagram, I try to respond, but we also have to be strategic, you know, you can’t just be ad hoc, so we have a strategic pothole plan in place.” Humphrey also acknowledged a gap in public communication around infrastructure projects, committing the ministry to improve transparency around project timelines and delays moving forward. “What I have to do is just communicate to the public a little bit better about where we’re going, when there are delays, why there are delays, and so on, so that the public is not caught off guard,” he said.
标签： Barbados
巴巴多斯
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West Indies back fearless approach ahead of Australia semi-final
The stage is set for a high-stakes ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final showdown on Tuesday, as winless-in-tournament-to-date Australia take on a resurgent West Indies at London’s iconic Oval, with a spot in the tournament final on the line. The two sides enter the knockout clash with vastly different form leading into the match: Australia has stormed through the group stage without dropping a single match, while West Indies have endured a late slump, dropping their final two group games after kicking off their campaign with three straight wins. Speaking ahead of the do-or-die encounter, West Indies captain Hayley Matthews stressed that a collective top performance from the entire squad will be required to topple the tournament favourites.
“You can’t beat a side as strong as Australia with just one player stepping up,” Matthews noted. “We need all our top contributors to rise to the occasion and deliver their best cricket tomorrow.”
Head-to-head history heavily favours Australia, with the Caribbean side claiming victory just twice in T20I matches between the two nations. Remarkably, Matthews was named Player of the Match in both of those historic wins. The West Indies skipper boasts a staggering personal record against the Aussies, holding an average of 101.75 across her last six innings against Australia. Her most iconic performance against Australia came in the 2016 T20 World Cup final, where a match-winning 66-run innings from Matthews secured West Indies’ first and only world title to date, earning her another Player of the Match award. This semi-final marks the sixth time West Indies have advanced to the final four of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, proving their consistent pedigree in the global tournament.
Matthews argued that the team’s underdog status going into the semi-final is actually an advantage, freeing her side from pressure to play the kind of fearless cricket that has become their trademark. “We’re proud of how we’ve competed throughout this tournament so far, even if we haven’t hit our full peak yet,” she added. “That fact actually gives us a lot of confidence—we know we still have room to lift our level, and that’s what we’ll need to do tomorrow.”
Australia’s camp, meanwhile, remains confident of progressing to yet another world cup final but has refused to underestimate the challenge posed by West Indies, with veteran all-rounder Ellyse Perry warning against complacency. “West Indies have some incredibly talented, dangerous players with a huge amount of big-tournament experience,” Perry told reporters ahead of the match. “This is going to be a really tough test for us. We’ve had a quick turnaround between matches and we’re playing at a new venue, so we’re really looking forward to getting out there and competing.”
Australian captain Ash Gardner echoed Perry’s caution, highlighting the multiple match-winning threats in the West Indies line-up beyond Matthews. “They have so much experience, led brilliantly by Hayley, who can turn a game on its head in just a few overs,” Gardner said. “But you also look at someone like Deandra Dottin—she’s a threat in every single phase of the game, batting, bowling and fielding. She’s an incredible player. I’ve had the privilege of playing alongside her in franchise leagues, and seeing her approach up close, she’s just so fearless. That makes her really dangerous, because she can turn the momentum of a match in an instant.”
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Paradise fight back to beat Wales in Champions Cup final
In a dramatic title decider at the Wildey Technical Centre on Sunday, Paradise FC produced a stunning late comeback to overturn a one-goal deficit and secure a 2-1 victory over defending champions Weymouth Wales, lifting the Barbados Football Association Champions Cup in a memorable final. It was a performance that embodied the grit and fighting spirit head coach Mario Harte has instilled in his squad throughout a grueling, up-and-down season, he told reporters in the immediate aftermath of the triumph as his players celebrated their hard-won silverware.
The opening 45 minutes of the clash was defined by tight, cagey play from both sides, with neither outfit willing to cede ground to their opponent. It was not until first-half stoppage time that the deadlock was broken: a chaotic goalmouth scramble saw Mario Williams get the decisive final touch to put Weymouth Wales ahead heading into the halftime break. For most of the second half, the defending champions held onto their lead, and it appeared the fixture would end with Weymouth Wales retaining their title. That all changed in the 77th minute, when Jaron Oughterson found the back of the net to draw Paradise level. Just five minutes after the equalizer, Shamari Harewood curled a precision strike into the goal to score what would become the tournament-winning goal, sealing the 2-1 result for his side.
For Harte, the knockout title run holds extra meaning, acting as validation for his squad after a turbulent regular league campaign. Paradise spent the vast majority of that season topping the overall points table, only to slip from a projected second-place finish all the way to fifth on the final matchday. The underwhelming end to the league season left the side hungry to prove their quality in the Champions Cup knockout stage, a goal they achieved with Sunday’s final win.
“I always felt that we had a good start to the season, then we fell off, but anyone that was following Paradise from the time I was here would see that there was improvement. We finished third in this competition last year and now this year we won,” Harte said of the squad’s progress over the past 12 months.
Reflecting on the second-half comeback, the head coach emphasized his side never lost their composure even when trailing at the break. “The half time talk was very calm because honestly I believe in the guys. We put in the work so it is only a matter of desire and how much you want it. The simple things make a big difference, and the things that worked for us tonight were obviously our wingers and us pressing. Our attackers did a magnificent job,” the elated coach added.
Sunday’s title marks a career milestone for Harte, who just completed his second season as a head coach and his first campaign leading a side in the Premier League. He admitted that the disappointing end to the regular league season left him questioning his own performance, but he pushed through the self-doubt to lead his side to the title. “For me personally it is a real boost because coming out of the Premier League I honestly felt a little dejected and I was questioning myself. I started to reassess and doubt but then I snapped out of it and continued to knuckle down and it brought fruit,” Harte explained.
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RM Cleaners win knockout domino title
Barbados’ top dominoes talent gathered at the James Bryan Complex in Market Hill on June 25 for the highly anticipated national Three-hand Knockout tournament, where RM Cleaners pulled off a memorable victory to claim the championship crown. After all rounds of competitive play were completed, RM Cleaners finished atop the leaderboard with a total score of 76 points, outperforming a field of skilled local teams to secure the top honor. Finishing just behind the champions was BiMPay Central Bank, which racked up 69 points to earn the second-place position, while the Police team claimed the third spot on the podium with a total of 67 points. The winning team’s success was anchored by standout performances from duo Michael “Nat” Norville and Wayne Taylor, both of whom delivered consistent play to net 15 points apiece for RM Cleaners. When the tournament reached its final, high-stakes round, the Cleaners stepped up their game, ramping up defensive and offensive pressure at critical moments to lock in the winning margin. This championship win marks a major milestone for RM Cleaners in Barbados’ domestic dominoes circuit, cementing their status as one of the nation’s top competitive teams this season.
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Primary School Volleyball Festival boosts skills at Wildey Gym
On a bustling Monday at the Wildey Gymnasium, young athletes from eight primary schools across the island gathered for a one-of-a-kind Volleyball Festival organized by the National Sports Council (NSC), marking a bold new push to grow grassroots volleyball by introducing the sport to children years earlier than the traditional timeline.
The polished gym floor quickly transformed into a buzzing hub of energy, with multiple courts hosting groups of nine to 11-year-old players as they dived into foundational skill sessions led by experienced NSC coaching staff. Unlike competitive inter-school tournaments that prioritize winning, this event centered on exploration and fun: students cycled through targeted drills for core techniques like underhand passes and serving, before testing their new skills in low-pressure friendly rally matches against pupils from other campuses.
Andrew Culpepper, lead volleyball coach for the NSC, outlined the strategic vision driving the early exposure program. For years, Culpepper explained, volleyball development in the region only started when students reached secondary school, meaning young players spent ages 13 to 14 mastering basic skills when they should already be progressing to advanced techniques like spiking and blocking. By shifting the starting age down to upper primary, the NSC aims to build a stronger, more skilled talent pipeline that can accelerate player development long-term.
Early results already have Culpepper impressed. “So far they are doing very well for this age group. Normally we start a little later, like in Secondary School, but some of these are even better than some of my Secondary School children,” he shared. The end goal, he added, is to embed volleyball culture in primary schools across the island, creating a steady stream of prepared players ready to compete at the secondary level and beyond.
For participating students, the day was far more than just skill-building – it was a chance to connect with peers who share a love for the sport. Tariq Mayers, a student from participating St George Primary, already had some experience playing volleyball and said he jumped at the opportunity to attend. “Volleyball today was good and we practiced our serving, bumping and volleying and I really just enjoyed playing with my friends and having fun,” Mayers said.
Nicholas Brathwaite, head coach for the St George Primary team, called the festival a transformative opportunity for both students and local school coaches alike. “It’s great for them to come out and not only learn the basics of the game but also have the experience of actually playing volleyball against some of their counterparts from other schools,” Brathwaite explained. “It’s been very informative, not only for the children but for myself as well. I’m learning some of the rules of volleyball, and it’s good for the students.”
The event, captured by photographer Kurtis Hinds, represents a small but meaningful shift in how the island approaches youth sports development, with organizers hoping to expand the festival to more primary schools in coming years.
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St Giles shine during EU/NSC Road Tennis competition
The second iteration of the Primary School Road Tennis competition, backed by the European Union and organized by the National Sports Council, wrapped up with dramatic title battles on the outdoor courts of Barbados’ Garfield Sobers Gymnasium on June 27. The tournament brought together 20 competing primary schools from across the region, all of which walked away with custom road tennis kits to support ongoing development of the sport at the youth level.
In the most anticipated clash of the boys’ singles draw, St Giles Primary’s rising star Nathan Stuart delivered a thrilling comeback victory against St Cyprians’ Giovanni Weir. After dropping the opening set 17-21, Stuart clawed his way back into the match, leveling the contest with a 21-18 win in the second set. The final set went down to the wire, with Stuart edging out Weir 22-20 to claim the individual gold in one of the tournament’s tightest matches.
Stuart’s win was far from the only celebration for St Giles Primary. The school’s boys’ team overcame stiff challenge from two title contenders, Westbury Primary and Warrens Primary, to secure the boys’ team championship, completing a historic double for the institution.
In the girls’ division, the spotlight fell on Charles F Broome Memorial’s Zabrina Greenidge, who put on a dominant display in the singles final to defeat Warrens Primary’s Nia Innis. Greenidge claimed victory in straight sets, 21-9 and 21-14, to take home the girls’ singles crown. For the girls’ team competition, Blackman & Gollop Primary emerged as the top team, finishing ahead of second-place St Giles Primary and third-place Charles F Broome Memorial to claim the team title.
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Cooperatives promote peace through unity
On the occasion of International Cooperatives Day 2024, top Barbadian cooperative official Brent Gittens has delivered a stirring call for cross-societal unity and peace, grounded in the core principles of the global cooperative movement. Speaking Sunday at a commemorative service hosted by James Street Methodist Church, Gittens opened his address by pushing back against the common narrow definition of peace, noting that true peace is far more than just the absence of open conflict. Instead, he emphasized, lasting peace is constructed on a foundation of justice, inclusive participation, mutual respect, and active care for the well-being of all community members.
The cooperative model, Gittens argued, is inherently aligned with these building blocks of peace. Rooted in foundational values including self-help, collective accountability, democratic governance, equal standing, equity, and shared solidarity, cooperatives are designed to bring people together to advance shared needs and common aspirations, with an explicit commitment to leaving no member behind. At a moment when deep divisions shape many communities across the globe, Gittens said the cooperative movement offers a tangible, working blueprint for what communities can accomplish when people unite around common goals and shared responsibility for collective outcomes.
Unlike competitive economic models that often prioritize individual gain over community good, Gittens explained that cooperatives nurture peace by embedding a culture of collaboration into their daily operations. They prioritize broad participation over intentional exclusion, and open dialogue over rigid division—two key shifts that help reduce societal friction and build mutual understanding. Beyond their ideological contribution to peace, Gittens highlighted the tangible, on-the-ground impact cooperatives have already made in improving quality of life for people across Barbados.
From financial cooperatives like community credit unions to non-financial enterprises spanning agriculture, transportation, and small business entrepreneurship, these organizations create sustained pathways for economic advancement and social progress, while simultaneously strengthening the social fabric of local communities. “When individuals are given a voice, when communities work together, and when opportunities are shared fairly, the conditions for peace are strengthened,” Gittens told attendees.
In closing his address, Gittens urged all Barbadians to embrace the core values of the cooperative movement, with a specific call out to young people to recognize how collective action can help build a more stable, peaceful future for the entire island. He also extended a public invitation to the upcoming Cooperatives Exhibition and Celebration, scheduled to take place July 18 at the Church Village Green on the grounds of the Central Bank of Barbados. The event will bring together cooperative organizations from every region of the island to showcase their services, products, and community impact to the general public.
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Human Rights Commissioner calls for genuine inclusion at Scouts training exercise
At a specialized inclusive leadership training held Saturday at Barbados’ Usain Bolt Sports Complex, Human Rights Commissioner Kerry Ann Ifill delivered a compelling call to action for the island nation’s Boy Scout leaders, challenging them to move beyond outdated frameworks of managing physical limitations and build a culture of intentional, daily social inclusion for people living with disabilities.
Opening her address to participating scout leaders, Ifill emphasized a core truth that is often overlooked in mainstream conversations about accessibility: people with disabilities hold the same core dreams, skills, and ambitions as every other member of society. To help attendees understand the lived experience of disability, the training included an immersive simulation exercise: some participants navigated the space blindfolded to mimic visual impairment, others used wheelchairs to experience mobility restriction, and a third group wore earplugs to limit auditory input. Reflecting on the activity afterward, Ifill was clear that these temporary, controlled scenarios can never fully capture the nuance, complexity, and daily barriers that come with living with a disability long-term.
Ifill pushed back against the common harmful habit of defining people solely by their physical challenges, arguing that disabled people deserve to be recognized first for their full identity and citizenship. Speaking from personal experience, she shared: “I’m not just a blind person. I’m not just a woman with a disability. I’m a woman too, with the same needs, wants, desires, abilities, capacities, and capabilities as the rest of the women in this room. I’m a citizen of Barbados, just like all of the rest of you.”
To ground her argument in a tangible example, Ifill told attendees that she would be sworn in that same evening as the new president of her Rotary Club at a formal installation dinner held at Savannah Beach Hotel. She recounted a light-hearted but revealing anecdote from that morning: she had turned to an artificial intelligence assistant to learn what the traditional presidential regalia collar looks like, because no one in the club had thought to describe it to her in accessible terms. The moment, she noted, demonstrates that even well-meaning, supportive communities can unintentionally overlook the unique accessibility needs of disabled members.
Against the backdrop of Barbados’ shifting demographic landscape – marked by a rapidly aging population and high rates of chronic non-communicable diseases, many of which lead to long-term physical impairment – Ifill warned that disability will eventually touch nearly every household and individual across the country. She urged scout leaders to embed inclusive values into youth programming, teaching young scouts to welcome, adapt to, and celebrate difference rather than framing disability as an unbeatable barrier to participation.
Before closing, Ifill praised the assembled scout leaders for their commitment to this work, noting that the inclusive training program itself is a critical step toward broader societal change. “The work that you do through this project is change-making,” she said.
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Barbados forms alliance with AU in reparations fight
In a landmark step toward advancing demands for historical justice for the transatlantic slave trade, Barbados has announced it will escalate its campaign for slavery reparations to the United Nations through a historic collaborative initiative with the African Union, according to Trevor Prescod, the country’s Minister of Pan-African Affairs and Heritage. This formal announcement comes shortly after the return of Prescod and Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley from an official diplomatic trip to the West African nation of Ghana, where the delegation participated in days of intensive global conversations centered on reparations for the harms of chattel slavery. During these high-level talks, officials anchored the core goal of advancing a formal reparations resolution all the way to the UN General Assembly, building broad international support for the long-running push for accountability. The diplomatic gathering hosted in Accra, Ghana’s capital, included immersive, moving reenactments of the transatlantic slave trade that brought the violent history of forced displacement to life for attending delegates. The summit drew a diverse array of global civil society and political leaders, among them the son of iconic Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey and prominent U.S. civil rights activist Al Sharpton. Both Prime Minister Mottley and Ghana’s President delivered keynote addresses to the assembled international delegation, framing the reparations campaign as a critical moral obligation for the global community. Speaking on the deep ancestral and cultural connections between Barbados and West Africa, Minister Prescod emphasized that the national identity and heritage of Barbadians cannot be reduced to the timeline of European colonial settlement. “Barbadians must understand that heritage doesn’t begin at any specific point, that our heritage is not post-1627, but our heritage also relates back to the West African coast,” he said. The minister also noted that the movement for reparations has grown far beyond regional advocacy, confirming that what was once a localized conversation is now a central global debate demanding action.
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Historian unpacks Carlisle Bay’s role in British wealth
A recent heritage lecture held in Barbados has pulled back the curtain on the dual, world-shaping role Carlisle Bay played for the British Empire, highlighting its outsized influence as both a core engine of colonial wealth and a strategically critical military outpost in the Caribbean. The event, the latest chapter of the Standpipe Stories: The Bay Street Edition lecture series, was organized by The University of the West Indies in partnership with the We Gatherin’ Secretariat, and drew history enthusiasts and scholars to the Oceanic Hub on Bay Street on Saturday evening. A panel of three of the island’s most respected local historians — Dr Henderson Carter, Claudette Levi-Farnum, and Fredrick Alleyne — joined the discussion to unpack the bay’s layered past. Opening the event with a foundational keynote address, leading maritime historian Dr Jeff Ward walked attendees through how Barbados’ one-of-a-kind geographic positioning, paired with the natural protective and logistical features of Carlisle Bay, funneled unprecedented levels of wealth directly into the British Crown’s coffers over centuries of colonial rule. Dr Ward explained that Carlisle Bay functioned as the vital “maritime urban interface” connecting the colonial island to global trade networks: it was the entry point for thousands of indentured laborers and enslaved African people brought to work the island’s sugar plantations, and the departure point for processed sugar, rum, and molasses bound for markets across Europe and North America. Even seemingly small tax rates on this massive colonial trade carried extraordinary global financial weight, Dr Ward emphasized. The historian noted that the tax revenue generated from commerce moving through Carlisle Bay was the primary source of funding for interest payments on the entire British national debt during the peak of colonial sugar trade. “The volume of wealth coming out of here was absolutely staggering,” he told the audience. “We need to understand why British sugar mattered to the entire imperial project.” The rare combination of the bay’s natural geological features and Barbados’ strategic location eventually cemented the island’s status as Great Britain’s most valuable economic anchor in the Caribbean, as well as a key forward-operating military base from which the empire projected naval power across the region. To illustrate just how high the stakes of controlling the region were for 18th-century British leaders, Dr Ward paraphrased famous British Admiral Vernon’s own reasoning: “Without naval superiority, the French and the Spanish will take our islands and the commerce they produce.” Beyond its economic and military legacy, Dr Ward also shed new light on how the bay’s physical landscape has been dramatically reshaped over hundreds of years by extreme Atlantic weather systems. He detailed how repeated, powerful hurricanes tore massive coral formations loose from the sea floor, gradually depositing them to create permanent, well-known local landmarks including Pelican Island, a landmark that remains an identifiable part of Carlisle Bay’s coastline today.