Carib Scope

标签： Barbados

巴巴多斯

  • Jeremi Wright scores 100 in Maths, earns place at first-choice school

    Jeremi Wright scores 100 in Maths, earns place at first-choice school

    Eleven-year-old Jeremi Wright, a graduating student from St Cyprian’s Boys’ School, has closed out his primary education on a historic high note, securing a perfect score in mathematics and an acceptance to his first-choice institution: Harrison College.

    The young achiever received his Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination results this Monday, and he said he could not contain his joy when he saw he had claimed a place at the campus he had set his sights on months earlier. “I felt excited that I would be going to my first choice,” Jeremi shared.

    As a Class Four student who spent months gearing up for the high-stakes entrance exam, he entered the test center feeling grounded and prepared. Months of consistent practice, including nearly daily practice exams, left him confident that the official test would feel familiar. “I was confident knowing that I did exams almost every day that it would basically be the same thing,” he explained. Beyond his regular school coursework, Jeremi also committed to two extra tutoring sessions each week – a commitment he admitted was not always easy, since “I wanted to stay home, though.”

    His mother, Shamelia Wright, says she never felt overwhelming stress during Jeremi’s exam preparation period, because her son has always been a consistently dedicated learner. “It was not nerve-wracking or anything like that. He is generally a good student,” she noted. Shamelia credited St Cyprian’s structured preparation program and frequent regular testing, particularly in mathematics, as key contributors to her son’s standout performance.

    Even as he prioritized exam preparation, Jeremi never stepped back from his extracurricular passion: badminton. He remained an active member of both the Attackk Badminton Club and the country’s national youth badminton team. When asked how Jeremi managed to balance the heavy academic load and his sports commitments, Shamelia explained the family’s simple, effective rule: “Homework first, sports after.”

    The perfect mathematics score came as an unexpected, joyful surprise for the entire family. “I was happy because I was happy for him. He got to the school he wanted to go to. He’s going to Harrison College,” Shamelia said. “I was shocked because he got 100 in math.”

    A pre-examination campus tour of Harrison College played a key role in solidifying Jeremi’s desire to attend the institution. When asked about the visit, Jeremi said the sheer scale of the campus left a lasting positive impression: “I was surprised at the size.” That visit confirmed for the young student that Harrison College was where he wanted to continue his education, a feeling he shared clearly with his mother.

    Jeremi’s father, Jared Wright, shares his wife’s pride in his son’s achievement, but he is quick to emphasize that all credit belongs to Jeremi himself. “I can’t take any of the credit from Jeremi,” Jared said. “He’s a child that knows what he wants and is willing to put in the work to go after what he wants. My job was just really in helping him remember who he was and what he was capable of.” While the 11-year-old’s perfect score was a surprise, Jared says the strong result was not out of line with what he knows his son can achieve. “I wasn’t surprised. I was very, very happy,” he said. “I know what my son is capable of.” The family celebrated the milestone with a special dinner at Jeremi’s favorite restaurant.

    At St Cyprian’s Boys’ School, deputy principal and Jeremi’s Class Four teacher Kevin Hurdle said school staff went into results day quietly confident that this cohort of students would deliver strong performance. “We were quietly confident that our boys would perform at a high level,” Hurdle shared. “Not only were they well prepared, this particular year group was one that has been monitored for a number of years producing a very high standard of results.”

    Hurdle explained that the school uses a tailored, multi-tiered preparation strategy for the entrance examination, blending traditional instruction methods with modern multimedia resources and engaging learning activities designed specifically to meet the learning needs of boys. He said the staff was overjoyed by the results, particularly Jeremi’s historic achievement. “I was elated,” he said. “Very proud to be part of the process whereby these boys can begin to show the potential that they have academically.”

    Hurdle also highlighted that most students in Jeremi’s graduating class balanced their academic preparation with participation in school sports teams. This ability to juggle multiple commitments, he said, is a promising sign for the students’ long-term success. “The fact that our boys could show that they could balance these things along with their academics, I think, bodes very well for the future,” he added.

    As Jeremi prepares to start classes at Harrison College in the upcoming academic year, his parents are sharing guidance with other families who will soon navigate the entrance examination process, urging caregivers to prioritize encouragement over high pressure. “Do not pressure the children,” Shamelia advised. “They will do what they need to do. Just encourage them.”

    J echoed his wife’s perspective, encouraging parents to trust their children’s abilities. “Remember who your children are and help them remember who they are and what they’re capable of,” he said. “Children are resilient. They’re amazing, and they have capabilities beyond what we often give them credit for.”

  • Youth urged to take lead in safeguarding heritage across Barbados, Africa

    Youth urged to take lead in safeguarding heritage across Barbados, Africa

    At a recent virtual gathering focused on intercontinental cultural collaboration, leading cultural preservation advocates have emphasized that active youth participation stands as a make-or-break factor for the long-term survival of cultural heritage across both Barbados and the African continent. The urgent appeal was delivered during the Office of Pan-African Affairs and Heritage’s annual Heritage Month youth webinar, an event that convened hundreds of young cultural stakeholders from both regions to exchange ideas on protecting collective cultural traditions, historic landmarks, and shared communal identities.

    Dr. Sheron Johnson, Heritage Month Coordinator for the Office of Pan-African Affairs and Heritage, explained that the annual webinar was intentionally structured to center youth perspectives in global conversations about heritage stewardship, a space that has long been dominated by established institutions and older experts. “As part of our core mandate to build long-term stewardship capacity across the heritage sector, each year we create a dedicated platform for young people to share their thoughts and take ownership of preservation work,” Johnson said during the opening remarks.

    She pushed back against the widespread misconception that heritage protection falls exclusively to government bodies, formal cultural institutions, and senior academic experts, arguing that younger generations bring irreplaceable value to the movement. “All too often, heritage preservation is framed as a job for established organizations and long-time specialists. But young people hold an equally critical role in safeguarding the stories, traditions, ancestral spaces, and core values that shape who we are as communities,” Johnson noted.

    She added that the unique combination of youth creativity, digital innovation, boundless energy, and fresh commitment is essential to making heritage feel relevant to contemporary and future generations, rather than a static artifact of the past. Johnson also highlighted that the webinar forms part of a broader diplomatic and cultural push to deepen ties between Barbados and African nations, most notably Kenya, where Barbados recently opened a dynamic embassy to cement cross-continental collaboration.

    “Barbados is moving quickly to build and solidify meaningful partnerships across the African continent. As many know, we have launched a thriving embassy in Nairobi, and today’s conversation is a direct extension of that commitment to building people-to-people bridges between our regions,” she explained.

    The event’s featured special guest, Khaulah Abdulkadir, a rising young Kenyan expert in cultural heritage conservation, echoed the call for broad public engagement, particularly from younger demographics, to keep heritage alive. “Heritage cannot survive without people. Our collective memories, cultural practices, and shared histories depend on active participation from communities to endure,” Abdulkadir said. She went on to outline the multifaceted benefits of intentional heritage stewardship, noting that it provides marginalized and local communities with a renewed sense of confidence, cultural pride, collective identity, and tangible economic opportunities through cultural tourism and heritage-related enterprise.

    Abdulkadir encouraged young people around the world to start their heritage journey by building connections to their own cultural roots, through engagement with elder community members, master artisans, and local cultural organizations. “To protect something, you first have to understand it and feel connected to it,” she said. She outlined accessible entry points for young people interested in the field, including visiting local museums, reading independent histories of their regions, attending public educational events like the webinar, and following the work of global heritage bodies such as UNESCO on digital platforms.

    “Volunteering is almost always the first step into the heritage preservation field. When you show up and contribute your time, casual interest grows into meaningful, lasting impact,” Abdulkadir said. Drawing from her own professional path, she shared that her career in conservation began with volunteer work in Kenya’s UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lamu Old Town, where she supported projects to digitize fragile historical manuscripts and document at-risk traditional cultural practices for future generations. That hands-on community work, she explained, gave her first-hand insight into how local heritage stewardship can help communities protect culturally significant sites from the growing threats posed by climate change, including coastal erosion and extreme weather.

    The youth-focused webinar is one of dozens of events hosted during this year’s Heritage Month, all designed to break down barriers to youth participation in heritage work and strengthen people-to-people cultural ties between Barbados and the African continent.

  • ‘Anticipatory action’: New scheme calculates payouts before impact

    ‘Anticipatory action’: New scheme calculates payouts before impact

    As Caribbean communities brace for another active Atlantic hurricane season, a historic shift in disaster risk management is delivering new protection to one of the region’s most vulnerable economic sectors: small-scale fishing. In a first-of-its-kind launch, Barbados has rolled out an anticipatory action (AA) insurance mechanism that will disburse emergency funds to fishing communities up to three days before a hurricane makes landfall, a change that moves disaster support from post-damage response to pre-event preparedness and is set to benefit roughly 6,000 people across Barbados’ fishing industry.

    The new program was developed through a partnership between the government of Barbados, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and CCRIF SPC, the Caribbean region’s dedicated catastrophic risk insurance facility. It builds on the framework of COAST (the Caribbean Oceans and Aquaculture Sustainability Facility), the world’s first parametric insurance product built specifically for the fisheries sector that launched in 2019 and is currently used by seven Caribbean nations.

    Unlike traditional disaster insurance, which only processes payouts after a storm has hit and caused damage, this AA mechanism leverages cutting-edge probabilistic hurricane forecasting and pre-set, transparent risk thresholds to trigger automatic early payouts when a credible hurricane threat is identified. This advance access to funding gives fishers the resources they need to take life-saving protective action: pulling vessels out of the water, securing expensive equipment like boat engines, moving gear to safe storage, and evacuating to shelter before conditions deteriorate. By proactively reducing risk, the initiative aims to cut down on avoidable loss of life, cut economic losses, shorten post-storm recovery times, and make disaster management far more cost-effective for the region.

    The launch comes directly in the aftermath of 2024’s Hurricane Beryl, which devastated Barbados’ fishing fleet and left countless workers still struggling to rebuild their livelihoods months later. Moonesh Dharampaul, president of the Blackfin Fleet Cooperative Society (BFCS) which participated in pre-launch consultations on the program, confirmed the initiative will cover all workers connected to Barbados’ fishing sector, not just active fishermen. This includes net menders, fish vendors, processors, and workers across all fishing sub-sectors from pot fishing to spear fishing.

    Dharampaul emphasized that the new mechanism fills a long-unmet need for rapid financial protection for the industry amid growing climate-driven extreme weather. Payouts are routed through the Barbadian Ministry of Finance and Division of Fisheries, which will direct funds to the most vulnerable coastal fishing communities. The scheme also extends coverage to impacts from heavy rainfall and coastal erosion, two additional climate-linked threats that harm fishing livelihoods in the region.

    While industry leaders have broadly welcomed the new safety net, Dharampaul highlighted ongoing gaps that still threaten fishing communities ahead of hurricane season. Currently, Barbados lacks sufficient slipways and haul-out facilities to quickly and safely remove all 280 active fishing boats from the water before a storm. Even with early funding, it takes a minimum of 72 hours to move all vessels to safe storage, and workers still face challenges finding secure, storm-resistant locations to park boats out of the water. Dharampaul said the cooperative is working with government to address these infrastructure gaps to maximize the benefits of the new insurance program.

    Financially, the AA mechanism builds on the proven probabilistic hurricane risk models that already underpin CCRIF’s existing insurance products, with a key innovative twist: the timing of payouts. To maintain long-term financial sustainability despite more frequent trigger activations (a natural outcome of forecast-based early action), the program uses carefully calibrated risk thresholds, geographic adjustments, and adjusted premium pricing to balance operational effectiveness with financial stability. Payout calculations are structured to account for the number of affected workers, the value of at-risk vessels, and impacts across the entire supply chain, not just directly harm to fishermen.

    The initiative solves a deadly dilemma that has faced Atlantic fisherfolk for generations: when a hurricane is approaching, workers must choose between staying ashore and losing critical income that supports their families, or venturing out into dangerous seas to catch one last haul before the storm. With early access to emergency funding, that no longer has to be a choice, as workers have the resources to secure their livelihoods without risking their lives.

    Developers note the AA model has significant potential for expansion across the entire Caribbean, and can be adapted for other hurricane-prone regions around the world. It could also be modified to cover other forecastable climate hazards including drought, extreme lightning, and heavy rainfall that disproportionately harm vulnerable coastal communities. At present, it remains unclear whether the scheme will cover losses linked to invasive Sargassum seaweed blooms, another growing threat to Caribbean fishing.

    Structured as a macro-scale insurance solution, the program pays out to an intermediary institution rather than individual fishers, which then distributes funds to affected communities quickly. The World Food Programme has already expressed strong interest in serving as the policyholder, and has confirmed it has the capacity to disburse funds to thousands of fisherfolk rapidly at scale, though other organizations including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and national governments can also fill this intermediary role.

    The technical groundwork for the initiative was laid through a UNDRR-commissioned study as part of the global Early Warnings for All initiative, which tested feasibility across three pilot countries: Barbados, Jamaica, and Dominica. The study confirmed that an anticipatory action insurance product for hurricane wind impacts is technically viable, and integrates smoothly with the region’s existing forecasting and risk management infrastructure.

  • Low coverage leaves Barbados vulnerable to disaster costs

    Low coverage leaves Barbados vulnerable to disaster costs

    As Barbados prepares to enter another annual Atlantic hurricane season, a stark vulnerability threatens the Caribbean island’s economic stability: tens of thousands of residential properties remain without natural disaster insurance, leaving the nation exposed to mounting costs from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, local outlet Barbados TODAY has confirmed.

    The General Insurance Association of Barbados (GIAB), the industry’s leading trade body, has sounded the alarm over the persistent coverage gap, warning that far too many property owners have failed to secure protection despite the country’s constant exposure to hurricanes, seasonal flooding, and seismic activity. Current industry data shows that roughly 40,000 homes across the island hold active insurance policies, leaving a large share of residential properties uninsured for a range of interconnected reasons.

    “Property owners should not only think about disaster risk when a hurricane is already bearing down on the island,” a GIAB spokesperson noted. “Barbados faces multiple natural hazards, from earthquakes to flash floods, and even moderate events can leave property owners facing devastating repair costs. Insurance is not just a personal safety net—it is a critical pillar of financial stability for individual households and the national economy as a whole.”

    According to GIAB, the uninsured population breaks down into several groups: some homeowners opt for self-insurance, choosing to set aside personal funds to cover potential damage rather than pay annual premiums, while other properties fail to meet standard underwriting requirements due to outdated construction methods or poor structural condition. The association also confirmed that insurance coverage is typically required as a condition of mortgage approval, meaning the share of uninsured properties is heavily concentrated among homeowners who own their properties outright with no outstanding financing. GIAB is urging all property owners to assess their coverage and secure a policy before the peak of hurricane season, rather than scrambling to arrange protection after damage has already occurred.

    The industry’s warning comes just one week after Minister of Economic Affairs Marsha Caddle publicly called for expanded insurance coverage across high-risk sectors including housing and agriculture, echoing concerns that the current coverage gap leaves the nation financially vulnerable. Caddle explained that when uninsured properties are damaged in natural disasters, the bulk of recovery costs ultimately fall to the national government, stretching public budgets already constrained by other economic priorities.

    Speaking during parliamentary debate on the Protection of Depositors Bill earlier this week, Caddle acknowledged that the new deposit insurance scheme for credit union members marked an important step forward for the country’s financial resilience, but stressed that critical gaps remain for homeowners, small-scale farmers, and other groups disproportionately impacted by climate-fueled natural disasters. “Countries with higher insurance penetration are able to recover much faster after extreme weather events,” Caddle noted, “because private insurers absorb the majority of recovery costs, rather than passing that full burden on to taxpayers and the public purse.”

    GIAB emphasized that recent major hurricanes that have struck the island offer clear proof that natural disaster coverage should not be treated as an optional expense. During Hurricane Beryl, roughly 240 residential and commercial properties suffered damage, while Hurricane Elsa damaged more than 1,100 properties across Barbados. “Most of these incidents were partial losses, not total destruction of the property,” the association explained. “But that doesn’t make the cost any less significant—even partial damage can create crippling financial strain for households that have no insurance coverage to offset repair bills.”

    Addressing common concerns that insurance coverage is unaffordable for low- and middle-income households, GIAB pointed to low-cost basic policies that can offer meaningful protection at an accessible price point. For example, a basic fire-only policy for a timber residential property valued at 50,000 Barbadian dollars costs roughly 150 Barbadian dollars per year, a rate the association says is manageable for most households. “We encourage homeowners to start with these accessible options, rather than writing off insurance entirely as unaffordable,” the spokesperson said.

    GIAB also encouraged homeowners to invest in structural improvements to harden their properties against severe weather, noting that insurers factor construction quality, roof integrity, and pre-existing hazard mitigation into risk assessments and premium pricing. The association advised property owners to complete retrofitting work to strengthen older structures, and to ensure all new construction and renovations fully comply with the national Barbados Building Code to reduce risk and lower premium costs.

    While coverage is still available for beachfront properties, which are classified as higher risk due to their exposure to storm surge, coastal flooding, and extreme wind, GIAB confirmed that these properties face stricter underwriting standards to account for their elevated hazard profile.

    Closing the persistent natural disaster insurance gap, GIAB argues, will require coordinated cooperation between homeowners, insurance providers, financial institutions, and national policymakers. “Insurance is far more than just a financial product,” the association said. “It is a cornerstone of national climate resilience as we face growing risk from extreme weather. Improving the country’s ability to withstand and recover from disasters will require continued collaboration across all stakeholders, as Barbados adapts to a changing climate and rising natural hazard risk.”

  • Venezuela quake renews warning for Barbados

    Venezuela quake renews warning for Barbados

    A pair of powerful back-to-back earthquakes that devastated coastal Venezuela this week has reignited urgent warnings for residents of nearby Barbados to prioritize earthquake and tsunami readiness, as disaster management officials emphasize the island nation’s persistent geological risk in a seismically active zone.

    The unfolding disaster began Wednesday evening, when two tremors measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck off Venezuela’s northern coast less than 60 seconds apart. As of the latest updates, the disaster has claimed at least 164 lives, flattened widespread infrastructure across affected regions, and launched a large-scale multinational search-and-rescue operation focused on pulling survivors from collapsed buildings. Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that La Guaira, a coastal state located just north of the capital Caracas, suffered the most severe damage and loss of life.

    According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the second of the two quakes was the most powerful seismic event to hit Venezuela since 1900, and the agency has warned that the final death toll is likely to climb substantially as rescue teams work to reach remote and heavily damaged areas.

    In the immediate aftermath of the Venezuelan quakes, regional seismic and tsunami monitoring systems quickly dispatched an alert to Barbadian authorities, outlining a potential tsunami risk for the island, Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Deputy Director Major Robert Harewood explained in an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY.

    “Barbados’ meteorological services received an official tsunami information statement noting that the size of the earthquake created a non-zero possibility of a tsunami reaching our coast,” Harewood said. “Because both earthquake and tsunami threats — especially tsunamis — demand immediate public awareness, we cut through all bureaucratic red tape to share the alert directly with media outlets and emergency response teams right away, no delays.”

    Within a short window, a follow-up assessment confirmed that no tsunami posed a danger to Barbados, but the incident served as a critical wake-up call for the island’s population, which sits in a geologically vulnerable region long identified as overdue for a major seismic event.

    Harewood noted that Barbados has made significant investments in recent years to upgrade its emergency alert infrastructure, rolling out the Common Alerting Protocol that allows authorities to push time-sensitive warnings directly to the public via participating local radio stations. “Right now, we have at least six radio stations across the island equipped with the technology to broadcast emergency messages immediately when we issue an alert, and that network has expanded in recent years,” he added.

    The DEM deputy director emphasized that the recent Venezuelan disaster is a stark reminder of Barbados’ inherent seismic risk: the island sits just adjacent to the subduction zone boundary where the Atlantic tectonic plate meets the Caribbean plate, the very geological force that created Barbados through tectonic uplift centuries ago. “The fact of our creation alone tells us we live in a susceptible area,” Harewood explained. “While major earthquakes are low-frequency events here, seismologists have repeatedly warned that the Caribbean basin is long overdue for a large-scale seismic event.”

    He pointed to a string of recent seismic activity across the region to underscore the ongoing risk: the 7.5 quake that hit Venezuela this week is the largest recorded in the country in more than a century, the Seismic Research Center records measurable seismic activity across the Caribbean almost every week, a magnitude 6+ tremor was recorded off Barbados’ own coast just a few weeks ago, and a significant quake struck near Antigua just a few years back.

    Unlike Atlantic hurricanes — which give days of advance warning to prepare, evacuate, and secure property — earthquakes offer no lead time for preparation, a key difference that makes ongoing public readiness all the more critical, Harewood argued. “With hurricanes, we see them coming days in advance. We can board up our homes, move to safe shelter, and prepare supplies. With earthquakes, there is no warning. There’s no time to shut down infrastructure, and there’s no advance all-clear to plan around,” he said.

    Harewood added that Wednesday saw major seismic events strike not just Venezuela, but also California and Japan, underscoring that the risk is global and constant. He encouraged all Barbadians to learn from the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, study how survivors navigated the disaster, and take proactive steps to prepare their households. “There is no magic bullet that eliminates earthquake risk entirely,” he noted. “The best thing we can do as a community is understand our vulnerabilities, learn from past disasters elsewhere, and know what to do when an earthquake hits.”

    In addition to preparing emergency kits and identifying safe spots in homes and workplaces, Harewood urged residents to pursue first aid and life-saving training, so they can assist themselves and others in the critical window after a major quake before emergency response teams can reach every affected area. “We have distributed plenty of public guidance outlining what hazards to look for, what steps to take during and after a quake, and what challenges we may face,” he said. “The goal is for every person to understand what they can do to survive, and to take steps to be ready before a disaster strikes.”

  • Organisers happy with execution of NSC Netball Competition

    Organisers happy with execution of NSC Netball Competition

    One of the most anticipated annual youth netball tournaments in the region wrapped up this week with a dramatic final, leaving organizers and spectators praising the quality of play and seamless event execution. Tracey Leacock, senior netball coach at the National Sports Council, delivered a glowing assessment of the 2024 Pedialyte Sport Primary Schools Competition following Wednesday’s championship match, where Shirley Chisholm Primary extended its historic winning streak to five consecutive titles with a hard-fought victory over runner-up West Terrace Primary.

    In Leacock’s assessment, every stage of this year’s tournament — from the early zonal qualifying rounds to the final championship clash — went far better than many expected. She highlighted three key factors behind the event’s smooth running: meticulous advance planning by organizers, cooperative, favorable weather that eliminated weather-related delays, and well-coordinated logistics across every venue. “The execution was almost seamless this year,” Leacock shared in a post-final interview. “We had the competition in the zones which ran really well and even the weather cooperated this year. We went on to our playoffs, which were held in Gall Hill St John and that too went off effortlessly and culminated in a successful final.”

    Beyond the smooth event logistics, Leacock expressed particular satisfaction with the dramatic improvement in playing standards across all participating schools this year. She attributed this rising quality to a growing grassroots passion for the sport, with more young female athletes competing regularly outside the primary school tournament, including in the Barbados Netball Association (BNA) league. “The final was tremendous and generally throughout the tournament we’ve seen high standards of netball,” Leacock said. “I believe this can be attributed to girls playing more netball, playing in the BNA league as well and just generally having a love for netball and playing more. So we were able to see a very high standard of netball, especially from the playoffs where teams had to literally fight tooth and nail to advance.”

    Wednesday’s final cemented Shirley Chisholm Primary’s status as the undisputed dominant force in primary school netball over the past decade. With five back-to-back championship titles, the Vauxhall-based school has set a benchmark that other competing programs are now actively working to match. Leacock noted that Shirley Chisholm’s consistent success stems from intentional extra work put in by players and coaches behind the scenes, a model that rival programs have begun adopting to close the performance gap.

    “Over the years, we have recognised that the schools who have succeeded are the ones who are putting in the extra work,” Leacock explained. Even runner-up West Terrace Primary, she pointed out, has built a reputation for consistent hard work that brought them to the final this year. Competing schools including All Saints Primary and Christ Church Girls have also taken note of the winning formula, and are increasing their training commitments to earn a spot in future championship matches. “We are seeing across the board, persons are working hard so that they too can come to the finals,” Leacock added.

  • Banking customer service ‘leaves a lot to be desired’, says advocate

    Banking customer service ‘leaves a lot to be desired’, says advocate

    A top Barbadian consumer rights leader has issued a sharp rebuke of declining customer service standards across the island’s commercial banking sector, arguing that an over-dependence on inflexible, one-size-fits-all protocols is eroding practical, common-sense decision-making and leaving countless customers dissatisfied and disillusioned.

    Maureen Holder, executive chair of the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN), told local outlet Barbados TODAY that the prevailing banking culture on the island has flipped priorities backwards: procedure now takes precedence over professional discretion and logical problem-solving. In her remarks, she posed a pressing question that many local consumers have been asking privately: Are Barbadian commercial banks prioritizing rigid rule-following so heavily that they are sacrificing good customer service, common sense, and the modern risk-aligned decision-making that global standards now demand?

    Holder pointed out that global banking regulation has transformed dramatically over the past 20 years. Today, international best practice encourages financial institutions to adopt a risk-based framework for both compliance and customer service. The core goal of this approach is simple: target genuine threats of fraud, money laundering, and other financial crime, while cutting out unnecessary red tape that burdens law-abiding customers. Even with this global shift, Holder says thousands of Barbadian consumers still run into situations where tiny administrative hiccups blow up into insurmountable barriers.

    To illustrate her point, Holder shared a recent firsthand example. One customer presented a properly signed cheque that had one small, clear correction to the date. Despite the correction being fully visible and properly initiated by the account holder, bank staff refused to process the transaction solely because the correction did not include the initials of a second authorized signatory. When the customer asked for a clear explanation of what specific risk the uninitialed correction posed to the bank or the customer, staff could not give a satisfactory answer.

    Holder stressed that her criticism is not aimed at the existence of bank procedures themselves. Banks absolutely have the right to create internal protocols to manage risk, she noted. The core problem, she argued, is that these procedures are rarely applied with intelligence or proportionality. International standards recognize that rules cannot be applied blindly, without context. Financial institutions are supposed to empower their staff to exercise trained professional judgment. When a transaction carries little to no identifiable risk, and all details can be easily verified, frontline teams should have the authority to pursue practical solutions instead of automatically turning customers away.

    Across Barbados, Holder says consumers feel trapped in a banking ecosystem that values checking compliance boxes far more than it values positive customer outcomes. This issue is not limited to cheque processing, she added. Customers regularly report similar problems across nearly every banking interaction: overly strict requirements that make opening new accounts unnecessarily difficult, long delays fixing simple administrative errors, excessive requests for redundant documentation, painfully slow resolution of formal complaints, and a widespread reluctance among frontline staff to use any discretion even when it makes clear sense to do so. What makes this situation particularly frustrating for consumers, Holder notes, is that Barbados has long marketed itself as having a modern, sophisticated financial sector. Local consumers, she argues, have every right to expect the same high level of flexible, customer-focused service that is standard in other leading modern financial centers.

    Holder also questioned how effective current consumer complaint mechanisms actually are, arguing that the role of key regulators like the Central Bank of Barbados should not be limited only to protecting overall financial stability. Regulators also have a responsibility to push for fair treatment of consumers and encourage local financial institutions to update their outdated customer service practices, she said. While the Central Bank has done important work to keep public confidence in Barbados’ financial system strong, many consumers continue to report that minor service-related problems often fall into an unaddressed regulatory gap, where no clear authority takes responsibility for resolving the issue.

    Consumers who run into unreasonable service restrictions often find there is no simple, independent channel to resolve their disputes, Holder added. The outcome of this gap is widespread customer frustration, wasted hours of personal time, and a growing public belief that banks face almost no accountability for poor, unresponsive customer service decisions.

    Holder emphasized that a truly modern financial system needs more than just strong capital reserves and checkbox compliance with regulation. It needs institutions that understand the purpose behind the rules they enforce. Policies are supposed to protect customers from risk, not create unnecessary inconvenience when there is no meaningful risk present to begin with.

    To address these ongoing concerns, BCEN will be launching a nationwide survey to collect firsthand experiences from consumers across Barbados about their interactions with local banks. Holder says the solution to these problems is not less regulation. Instead, it is smarter regulation that targets real risk, stronger independent consumer protection mechanisms, and a renewed cultural focus on professional judgment among bank staff. Frontline bank employees should be trained not just to memorize procedures, but to understand why those procedures exist, and when flexibility is appropriate to serve both the bank and the customer, she argued.

    Holder closed by stating that Barbadian consumers deserve banks that can strike the right balance: strong security paired with accessible, responsive service, full regulatory compliance paired with common sense, and clear procedures paired with practical problem-solving. Until that balance is achieved, she warned, many consumers will continue to feel that they are served by a system where rules have become more important than the people those rules are meant to protect and serve.

  • Matthews: We’re still not quite firing with the bat

    Matthews: We’re still not quite firing with the bat

    In a high-stakes Group Two top-of-the-table clash at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Wednesday, West Indies Women fell to a 35-run defeat against England, leaving their automatic semifinal dreams on hold heading into the final group stage match against Ireland this Saturday.

    West Indies captain Hayley Matthews opened up about the result in a post-match press interaction, acknowledging that her side’s batting unit has yet to hit its peak performance at the tournament. “We’re still not quite firing with the bat,” Matthews admitted, noting that both she and star batter Deandra Dottin have yet to register significant scores at the event. She did point to a bright spot, however, highlighting that fellow batter Chinelle Henry turned in a promising performance against England, a win that moves the European side one step closer to securing a semifinal spot.

    Despite the setback, the West Indies skipper emphasized that her team still controls its own path to the knockout round, a position she says the squad is grateful to hold. “It’s all in our hands, and that puts us in a wonderful position. Coming into this World Cup, if you’d said we’d only need to beat Ireland in our final group game to lock in a semifinal spot, we’d have grabbed that opportunity with both hands,” Matthews said. She added that the team’s internal message remains focused on confidence and consistency: “We’re in a very strong place right now. The message to the group is just to keep believing, and keep playing the quality cricket we’ve shown so far.”

    Looking ahead to the must-win clash with Ireland, Matthews expressed quiet confidence in her side’s prospects, while giving full respect to their upcoming opponent. “Against a team like Ireland, if we play at our best or even near our best, we should come away with the result we need. I’m not underestimating them by any means, but we’re going in feeling pretty confident,” she said.

    Matthews also broke down the key turning points that swung the result in England’s favor, acknowledging that her own missed catch off England captain Heather Knight proved to be a pivotal moment. “With the ball, England was able to keep finding boundaries consistently, and full credit to them – they played excellent cricket. That’s the nature of modern T20, after all. But I think we let ourselves down a little in the field, too. My missed catch on Heather Knight made a massive difference to the game’s momentum,” she admitted.

    The captain also addressed her own controversial dismissal earlier in the West Indies innings, which came after a third umpire review upheld an on-field caught-behind decision. Matthews explained that while she respects the official ruling, she did not make contact with the ball. “When I cut at the delivery, I heard a noise that I thought was my bat handle, so I told the on-field umpires right away what I’d heard. But I also knew I was far from making contact, and I made that clear,” she said. “The third umpire has to work with the technology available, and she saw a spike on the snickometer, even though I think you could see a clear gap between bat and ball. At the end of the day, you have to respect the decision that’s given.”

    The result leaves Group Two finely poised heading into the final round of group matches, with West Indies knowing a single win against Ireland will book their place in the tournament’s semifinal stage.

  • Law school alumni launch give-back drive

    Law school alumni launch give-back drive

    Jamaica’s prestigious Norman Manley Law School (NMLS) has kicked off an ambitious five-year J$55 million (equivalent to roughly US$348,834) alumni giving campaign, marking a major milestone in the institution’s strategy to deepen graduate engagement and expand student support systems. On the night of the campaign’s official launch, the initiative already locked in more than J$3 million (US$19,027) in pledged donations, demonstrating early enthusiasm among NMLS graduates for the effort.

    Unlike traditional institutional fundraising campaigns, this effort is being piloted exclusively through the NMLS Class of 1997, with prominent alumnus Christopher Townsend stepping into the role of Cohort Ambassador to lead the pilot phase. The eight-week pilot campaign sets multiple interconnected goals, centered on expanding access to scholarships, growing student success programs, building out formal mentorship frameworks, boosting student and graduate professional development opportunities, and driving long-term institutional growth.

    Organizers note that the campaign is not limited to financial contributions alone: NMLS is actively encouraging all participating alumni to contribute non-monetary support as well, including sharing professional expertise, opening access to their industry networks, and volunteering time to mentor current students and support school programming.

    In a statement at the launch, NMLS Principal Dr. Christopher Malcolm emphasized that the campaign is far more than a fundraising drive: it is a core component of the institution’s broader strategy to rebuild and strengthen the bond between the law school and its thousands of graduates across the globe. “This campaign, which forms part of a broader strategic approach to alumni engagement, provides an important opportunity to strengthen the School’s relationship with its graduates while creating new avenues of support for our students and the continued development of our institution,” Malcolm said.

    Townsend framed the Class of 1997’s role as a trailblazing one for future cohorts to follow. “The Class of 1997 is proud to serve as the arrowhead for this campaign,” he said. “We are excited to set a precedent that other graduating classes can build on for years to come.”

    For current students relying on institutional aid, the expanded support made possible by the campaign fills a critical gap. Emily Williams, a current NMLS student and existing scholarship recipient, shared how targeted alumni support transforms the student experience. “Scholarships ease more than financial pressure. They create space for students to focus on their studies, participate more fully in the life of the School and pursue opportunities that contribute to their growth and development,” Williams explained.

    Moving forward, NMLS leadership plans to use data and insights from this Class of 1997 pilot to refine the model, with the long-term goal of rolling out cohort-based alumni engagement campaigns across all graduating classes. The pilot is designed to test what structures encourage graduates to reconnect with their alma mater and contribute to the next generation of Jamaican legal professionals, laying the groundwork for a sustainable culture of giving at the institution.

  • Beyond academics: Students urged to master life skills

    Beyond academics: Students urged to master life skills

    A decade-old youth workforce development initiative in Barbados has celebrated its latest milestone, with more than 300 secondary school students from 16 institutions successfully completing the transformative Preparing Today for Tomorrow’s Challenges – Transforming Children’s Lives (PTFTC-TCL) programme at a recent graduation ceremony.

    Hosted at Sandals Royal Barbados on Wednesday, the event recognized the six-month skills training effort, a collaborative venture between the University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus and Barbados’ Ministry of Education, with core financial backing from the Sandals Foundation. This year’s graduation marks the programme’s tenth year of operation, a milestone that education leaders say reflects the long-standing shared commitment to equipping young people for a shifting global job market.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Acting Chief Education Officer Julia Beckles emphasized that academic excellence alone is no longer sufficient to prepare young people for successful careers. “Across industries, employers and community leaders consistently prioritize candidates who can communicate with clarity, collaborate effectively in teams, resolve conflict constructively, maintain professional standards, and build lasting positive connections with others. That is exactly the competency set this programme has cultivated for participants over the past six months,” Beckles explained.

    Beckles framed the initiative as a critical investment that aligns with Barbados’ current national development trajectory, noting that preparing the next generation for 21st century challenges requires coordinated effort across government, academia, and private sector partners. “We have reached a pivotal juncture in our national growth that demands a whole-of-nation approach to youth development. The fact that this partnership has sustained this work for a full decade is clear proof that all stakeholders understand how critical investing in our young people is to our collective future,” she said.

    To guide students as they advance their personal and professional goals, Beckles outlined the Ministry’s SAVE framework, which centers four core principles: skills, attitudes, values, and excellence. She pushed back on the common label of these competencies as “soft skills”, arguing that their growing importance in a changing labor market makes them far more critical than the name implies. “There is ongoing debate about whether we should even call these soft skills, because many observers correctly note they are far more important than many traditional hard skills in the long run. Even as the job market transforms rapidly with new technologies, the value of these core interpersonal and professional competencies will not fade – it will only grow,” she added.

    Beckles also previewed a major new education initiative from the Ministry’s Education Transformation division: a national Community Service Learning Programme set to launch in September 2026. The new programme will encourage students to engage with extracurricular opportunities including school organizations, community service groups, athletic teams, and special interest clubs to build practical experience and social connection.

    Dr. Francis Severin, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Global Campus, used a powerful metaphor to encourage graduates to prioritize character development alongside academic and professional growth. He urged students to “build dignity in the bank” the same way they would build financial savings, arguing that long-term personal and professional success depends on consistent, ethical choices that preserve self-worth.

    “Dignity – the quality of being worthy of honor and respect, rooted in self-respect, self-esteem, and self-control – is something you build over time, just like a savings account. If you have a ‘balance of dignity’ that you’ve nurtured through consistent good choices, you can enter job interviews and professional spaces without fear that past poor decisions or compromising content will derail your progress. You can have a full bank account financially, but if you have no dignity to draw on, you will struggle to succeed,” Severin explained. He added that no academic degree or material possession can repair damage to a person’s character caused by reckless or unethical choices, and that a strong sense of self-worth is the foundation for making good life decisions.

    The PTFTC-TCL programme’s expansion over the past decade has been supported by additional investment from the Rock Hard Foundation, which has contributed more than $130,000 to support programme delivery. Patrick Drake, Resort Manager of Sandals Barbados, told graduates that the skills they gained through the programme prepare them for more than just careers – they prepare them for all of life. He encouraged students to leverage digital technology to access opportunities far beyond Barbados’ borders.

    “Barbados may be a small island, but modern technology has opened up the entire world to young people today. The world really is your oyster if you are willing to seize the opportunities available,” Drake said. Echoing Beckles, he emphasized that the core soft skills graduates mastered will remain irreplaceable even as technology reshapes the global economy. “No matter how much technology changes how we work, your skills in communication, collaboration, negotiation, teamwork, and self-confidence will always be central to your success,” he added.

    In closing, Beckles challenged graduates to continue nurturing the skills and values they gained through the programme, urging them to act as ambassadors for the initiative’s mission and embrace a lifelong commitment to growth. “Continue to strive for excellence, embrace lifelong learning, and carry forward the values this programme has instilled. Remember that ‘tomorrow’ is just the day after today – you will need these skills much sooner than you might expect,” she told the graduating cohort.