标签： Barbados

After an on-site inspection of damaged infrastructure this Wednesday, government officials from Barbados’ Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) have confirmed multiple road rehabilitation projects will soon break ground in the parish of St Joseph, bringing relief to local residents who have endured years of decaying transportation networks. The inspection tour was led by area Member of Parliament Ryan Brathwaite and MTW head Kirk Humphrey, who walked the routes to assess which sites required the most urgent intervention.

Humphrey confirmed that pre-construction preparations are already underway for the high-priority Spa Hill project: the ministry has finalized all construction blueprints, and work orders have been issued to contractor teams. The only remaining pre-requisite is the relocation of existing utility poles, after which physical construction will kick off in November. Plans are also moving forward for a second project at Braggs Hill, with work orders already issued, while patching works for damaged roads in Chimborazo are scheduled for completion within seven days.

This announcement comes after years of growing frustration among St Joseph residents, particularly those in the wider Scotland District, who have struggled with steadily worsening road conditions and the cascading impacts of failing infrastructure. A major blow came in August last year, when the Melvin’s Hill Bridge—a critical cross-parish connecting route—collapsed, forcing locals to add dozens of minutes to their daily commutes via alternate, longer routes. To date, the slow pace of ongoing reconstruction has left many community members feeling disillusioned with government progress.

Addressing the delays and unique challenges of working in the region, Humphrey acknowledged that road repairs in St Joseph are far more complex than in other parts of Barbados, due to the area’s distinct geographic conditions. “St Joseph falls within the Scotland District and that is characterised by weak soils and underground water which makes road works not as simple as other places may be,” he explained. Despite these hurdles, the minister emphasized that the government is prioritizing the parish’s infrastructure backlog, and that the new projects will deliver tangible quality of life improvements for local people.

Brathwaite added that the purpose of this week’s inspection was to give ministerial leadership direct, on-the-ground insight into the daily struggles of St Joseph residents. “There’s some issues that require immediate intervention, and I’m happy that I was able, along with the Minister of Transport and Works, Mr Humphrey, to see these issues so that we could actually bring some tangible timelines and solutions to the table,” the MP said.

Looking ahead, the MTW plans to conduct another assessment tour of St Joseph once the three initial projects are wrapped up, to identify additional roads in need of rehabilitation. For now, Humphrey sought to reassure the community that the parish’s infrastructure needs have not fallen off the government’s agenda. “I want to give the residents in the area [the message] that St Joseph has not been forgotten,” he said.

As thousands of students prepare to return to classrooms next week — with many first-year secondary school students stepping into an entirely new educational and social environment — the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) is sounding a call for proactive vigilance among parents and trusted adult figures to catch early warning signs of youth substance abuse.

Troy Wickham, NCSA’s Deputy Manager, emphasized that consistent adult engagement is the first line of defense in identifying harmful substance use before it escalates. He encouraged caregivers to maintain open, active involvement in their children’s daily lives, make an effort to get to know their children’s peer groups, and pay close attention to uncharacteristic shifts in behavior that could signal a problem.

Wickham noted that the organization’s ongoing data collection has raised notable red flags, particularly for young males, who have been disproportionately impacted by rising substance use trends in recent months. “What worries us most is the spread of new psychoactive substances,” Wickham explained. “Just recently, a colleague shared details of how these dangerous products are being sold disguised as ordinary candy. All it takes is a PayPal account, checking a box claiming you’re over 18, and these illicit edibles get delivered straight to buyers. That level of easy access is deeply alarming for us.”

NCSA Board member Dr. Ronald Chase added that the transition into a new school year, especially for students entering secondary school for the first time, creates unique stressors that can leave young people more vulnerable to risky experimentation. “Transitions, no matter how exciting they seem, are inherently stressful,” Dr. Chase said. “Adults often dismiss children’s stress because their problems don’t look like ours, but that doesn’t make them any less overwhelming. New students are stepping into a completely new environment with new peers, new expectations, and that upheaval can push some to seek unhealthy coping mechanisms.” He added that adolescence is a period of rapid psychological development, during which teenagers are naturally curious and more likely to give in to temptation to try new, potentially dangerous things that caregivers would never approve of.

NCSA Manager Betty Hunte noted that the council is working to fill a critical knowledge gap by running targeted training programs for adults who regularly interact with young people outside the home, including teachers, hospital staff, and community mentors. “Many adults who work with kids don’t have up-to-date information on how substance use is evolving,” Hunte explained. “We’re training these adults to recognize the latest symptoms of abuse, and to understand emerging trends like new psychoactive substances and synthetic drugs that many adults have never even heard of. It’s a constant challenge to keep up with the new substances popping up on the market, and we need all trusted adults on the same page to protect young people.”

The NCSA has also reaffirmed its commitment to sharing evidence-based, accurate information with any parent or community group seeking support, and says it will continue expanding its outreach efforts ahead of the back-to-school period to curb rising youth substance use.

In the pre-dawn hours on a quiet residential block, a devastating fire, sparked by a powerful explosion, tore through a tightly packed cluster of homes on Chapman Lane in The City, leaving four properties completely destroyed and displacing dozens of residents from their homes.

The disaster unfolded just after 3 a.m., when a loud blast jolted awake hundreds of sleeping residents across the neighborhood. Within seconds, flames began spreading rapidly between the closely built wooden structures, fanned by light winds that carried embers from one home to the next before most residents could even register what was happening. Panicked families scrambled into the dark streets, many escaping with nothing more than the clothes they wore to bed.

For Raphael Roberts, a resident with a pre-existing leg injury that slowed his movement, the quick thinking of his teenage sons was the only reason his entire family made it out alive. “I was asleep when my boys heard the noise,” Roberts recalled from the charred street outside what was left of his home. “One woke the other, and they got me and the rest of the family out before the flames blocked the door. The fire started at one end of the block, jumped to the next house, and the wind carried it straight to ours before we knew what hit us.” Roberts added that his family had no time to grab any personal possessions: his wife was fortunate enough to be sleeping in a full set of pajamas, but all five male members of the family escaped into the cool night air wearing only their underwear. Now, Roberts and his family are among dozens left homeless. His girlfriend and young child have already moved in with distant relatives, while the rest of the family wait for word from government officials on emergency temporary housing. “We’re just waiting for the Minister to get back to us this evening,” Roberts said. “Right now, we don’t have anywhere to go.”

The fire served as a wake-up call for long-time residents who have long warned about the dangers of overcrowding and tightly spaced structures in the neighborhood. Thomas Felicien, whose home sits directly behind the area where the explosion originated, managed to save his property from destruction, though he sustained minor damage to his back fence. Felicien was still asleep when the boom woke him, and he sprung into action immediately, despite neighbors begging him to stay back for his own safety. “I got up, saw huge flames rising above the back of the houses, so I grabbed our garden hose, let my dogs out to safety, and started wetting down every side of my house to keep the fire from jumping,” Felicien explained. “Neighbors were screaming for me to get out, that the fire was too hot, but I couldn’t just stand by. Losing a home at this point in my life is something I can’t afford.” Though he is relieved his home is intact, Felicien echoed a sentiment shared by many in the community: the tightly packed homes are a disaster waiting to happen. “I’ve said for years these houses are built too close together,” he noted. “We got lucky the wind wasn’t strong this morning. If it had been blowing harder, this whole block would be gone.”

For Marquita Campbell, the disaster has meant losing far more than just a house. The multigenerational home she inherited from her grandparents, where she grew up and raised her own two adult children, was completely reduced to ash in less than 20 minutes. Campbell was woken by the explosion next door, and by the time she woke her children and got out the front door, flames had already spread through her roof. “We tried to grab a few things on the way out, but the smoke was so thick and black you couldn’t see,” Campbell said, standing in the street hours later in clothes donated by a neighbor. She escaped barefoot, wearing only her underwear, and managed to save nothing at all. “Everything I had, everything my grandparents worked for, everything I worked for my whole life, it’s all gone,” she said, her voice breaking. Campbell added that the home was never insured, something she says many low-income residents in the neighborhood cannot afford. Now, she and her two adult children have nowhere to go, joining the other displaced families waiting for government support.

Fire department officials have confirmed they are still investigating the root cause of the initial explosion and the subsequent fire. Emergency response teams have already visited the site to assess the full scope of damage and begin coordinating temporary housing support, while local community organizations have already started collecting donations of clothing, food, and cash to support the displaced families. For now, the dozens of residents who lost everything are relying on the kindness of neighbors and the promise of government aid to help them rebuild their lives after the devastating overnight disaster.

Almost two decades after Karen Allamby was found dead, a major development has finally unfolded in her cold murder case: a 48-year-old inmate currently held at Dodds Prison has been officially charged with the crime.

The accused, Antonio Ryan Bullen, made his first court appearance on Thursday at District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, following the filing of charges by investigators from the Barbados Police Service’s elite Major Crime Unit. Court documents specifically allege that Bullen unlawfully killed Allamby at some point between April 1 and April 16, 2007, matching the timeline of her death nearly 17 years ago.

Following the brief initial hearing, the case has been adjourned to allow for further procedural and investigative steps, with the next court listing scheduled for October 1. For community members and those connected to the victim, the long-awaited filing of charges marks a key milestone in a case that has remained unresolved for nearly two decades. The court process will now move forward to address the allegations against Bullen in the months ahead.

As Barbados prepares to welcome students back for a new academic term, a long-proposed initiative to launch exclusive dedicated bus transport for schoolchildren across the island remains bogged down in administrative delay, with no final actionable plan in place after months of preliminary discussions.

Mark Haynes, chief executive officer of communications and public education at the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), told local outlet Barbados TODAY that while exploratory talks between public transport sector representatives and national transport and education authorities kicked off several months ago, stakeholders have yet to produce a finalized report or clear roadmap for rolling out the service.

The core goal of the proposal is to establish a separate fleet of buses reserved solely for student commutes. Industry leaders argue that this dedicated system would deliver multiple key benefits: stronger adult supervision of students during travel, improved student conduct, and protection for the reputations of local educational institutions.

“We began those talks months ago,” Haynes confirmed in an interview. “Discussions have centered on creating exclusively designated buses for schoolchildren that would enable a far more structured, disciplined commuting environment. Right now, these are still just working ideas, and nothing has been finalized. We are disappointed to share that no progress has been locked in, but we remain hopeful we will receive updated guidance from the government once the new semester gets underway.”

For years, unregulated student behavior on shared public transport has created persistent friction between bus operators, school administrations, and regular commuters who rely on the same services during peak morning and afternoon travel hours. Local media and public commentary have repeatedly highlighted reports of unruly conduct, property vandalism, and widespread disorder on buses carrying students, drawing significant public backlash. Transport officials frame the dedicated bus plan as more than just a convenience for students and families; it is viewed as a critical structural fix to reorganize chaotic daily school commutes.

Haynes emphasized that the public transport (PSV) sector has fully embraced the initiative from its launch, citing the clear potential positive outcomes for students and the broader community. “We accepted this initiative because we recognize it is a strong, worthwhile project to pursue,” he explained. “If implemented, the system would help students stay organized and maintain better discipline while traveling. Currently, we repeatedly see reports of misbehavior by students on shared services that not only disrupt other commuters but also damage the reputation of the schools they attend.”

To break the current deadlock, PSV sector representatives are actively pushing for a formal sitting with Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman. The group hopes to lay out their on-the-ground insights into the daily transport challenges students face, share stakeholder perspectives, and work directly with the minister to agree on a clear, actionable timeline to move the proposal forward.

“We are eager to meet with Minister Blackman to bring him up to speed on our current position and outline what we need to make progress,” Haynes said. “Like education leaders, we prioritize the well-being of the nation’s children. We want the best possible outcomes for every student, and the entire PSV sector is ready to do whatever it takes to deliver this safe, structured transport option.”

Haynes also addressed common public criticism of the PSV sector, acknowledging that negative reports of poor driver conduct and unruly passenger behavior have at times tarnished the industry’s reputation. Even so, he stressed that industry leadership remains unwavering in its commitment to student safety and full compliance with national regulatory standards. He called on government officials to prioritize negotiations on the dedicated bus plan and avoid unnecessary bureaucratic hold-ups that could disrupt the start of the upcoming school term.

“When we enter formal talks, our priority is to move the process forward as quickly as possible,” Haynes noted. “Barbados has long struggled with a widespread implementation deficit, where good proposals get stuck in endless red tape. We do not want this proposal to fall into that trap, because our children and their education are far too important. Every week of delay is wasted time, and the challenges we are trying to fix only grow worse.”

Despite the urgency of the situation, the PSV sector has intentionally chosen not to set a public deadline for launching the dedicated service. Transport leaders explain that announcing an arbitrary launch date without a formal agreement from the education ministry would only create unnecessary confusion for parents and school staff, who rely on clear information to plan student commutes for the new term.

A devastating recent blaze at Bridgetown’s Chapman Lane has left dozens of families displaced and homeless, reigniting urgent calls for long-overdue upgrades to the Barbadian capital’s aging, hazard-prone historic neighborhoods. Troy Williams, a former president of the Barbados Contractors and Artisans Association, is leading demands for local officials to move past planning stages and immediately implement stalled urban redevelopment initiatives, warning that the city’s outdated building stock and cramped layout put thousands of residents at constant risk of catastrophic fire events.

Speaking exclusively to Barbados TODAY in the aftermath of the blaze, Williams first extended his sincere condolences to the families who lost their homes and personal property in the fire, before turning to the systemic vulnerabilities that allowed the fire to escalate. As a long-time industry professional with decades of experience in construction and urban planning, Williams emphasized that this latest disaster was not an unforeseeable accident, but a predictable outcome of the capital’s century-old development patterns.

“This is yet another unfortunate incident that stems directly from the aged, overcrowded build-up of the historic city,” Williams explained. “Bridgetown’s status as a heritage site does not negate the fact that its oldest residential neighborhoods no longer meet modern safety standards. Officials have already been examining redevelopment proposals for these dense, high-risk areas, and this fire makes clear that there is no more time for delay.”

Williams pointed to the unique structural risks that define Bridgetown’s oldest residential corridors: decades ago, planners permitted tightly packed wooden and stone structures, which allow fires to spread rapidly from one property to the next with little time for residents to escape or for emergency crews to contain the blaze. As a contractor, he noted that intentional spacing between buildings is a core modern fire safety principle—one that was not prioritized when the city was first built centuries ago. With repeated fire events already impacting these communities, Williams argued that incremental tweaks are no longer enough.

Turning to the existing Bridgetown Redevelopment Master Plan, a framework that includes proposals for modern, higher-density residential buildings and new public funding for infrastructure upgrades, Williams stressed that the moment has come to shift from discussion to on-the-ground action. “This blaze is a clear warning sign,” he said. “Another incident like this just underscores how urgent it is to get these redevelopment projects off the drawing board and into construction.”

Critics of the master plan have raised concerns that adding taller modern residential buildings to central Bridgetown would exacerbate existing parking shortages and traffic congestion. But Williams pushed back against these objections, pointing to proven design solutions deployed in dense, successful global cities including New York and Panama City. He outlined that modern high-rise residential developments can incorporate integrated multi-level parking—either above-ground or underground—to accommodate residents’ vehicles without cluttering city streets. Additional features such as universal elevator access paired with traditional staircases, clear marked emergency muster points, and dedicated emergency access routes can address both accessibility and safety concerns, Williams explained. All of these elements, he noted, must be woven into the core of any new redevelopment work to protect residents for generations to come.

Williams concluded by saying he remains optimistic that local leaders and urban planners will treat this disaster as a critical catalyst for action, speeding up approval and implementation of long-planned modernization projects that will make the capital safer for all residents. “I have no doubt this fire will refocus attention on the urgent need to improve Bridgetown’s overall development, and we are ready to move forward to deliver safer, better housing for the community,” he said.

A leading Caribbean substance abuse prevention authority has sounded a renewed alarm over a troubling trend: more children are experimenting with drugs and alcohol as young as 8 years old, a shift that experts link to the unique stress of developmental transitions and new social environments.

At a public ceremony held Thursday, Betty Hunte, general manager of the National Council of Substance Abuse (NCSA), made the remarks as the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust presented a $60,000 donation to mark 24 years of Project SOFT, the NCSA’s flagship early intervention program for youth transitioning from primary to secondary school. Designed to prevent youth substance use before it starts, the initiative has supported more than 900 children over its two-decade history, building life skills to navigate peer pressure and developmental challenges that can lead to harmful substance use.

Hunte pointed to recent national school survey data that revealed the deeply concerning pattern of early initiation, with some children trying substances alongside older peers or adults as early as age eight. Research has long linked early substance experimentation to a cascade of negative long-term outcomes that persist into adulthood, including underperformance in school, higher involvement in bullying (both as victims and perpetrators), increased school dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, higher likelihood of criminal engagement, and elevated risk of lifelong addiction.

For many young people, the shift from primary to secondary school represents an overwhelming period of change, Hunte explained. New social dynamics, increased academic pressure, and shifting peer relationships create a stressful transitional period that can push vulnerable youth to turn to substance use as an unhealthy coping mechanism. It was this specific gap that Project SOFT was created to fill, with a prevention-first model that engages both young people and their families to build protective factors early.

“Instead of intervening after substance abuse has already developed, we chose to act early to stop or delay the onset of harmful use,” Hunte said of the program’s core approach. “We don’t just lecture young people — we actively engage them to help them make intentional, healthy choices as they navigate this big life transition.”

Over 24 years of operation, Project SOFT has directly served 915 young participants, with the program capped at 40 new spots each year to ensure personalized support. The initiative’s family-centered model extends its reach beyond participants, creating hundreds of opportunities to engage family members and strengthen the home environment that supports healthy youth development during critical developmental stages.

The program’s success has now drawn regional attention, with officials from St. Lucia sending two staff members to study the model firsthand in hopes of replicating it in their own country. For the NCSA, this regional interest is a powerful validation of the program’s impact and value. “That they invested time and resources to come learn our model is a significant acknowledgement of what we’ve built here,” Hunte noted.

Hunte emphasized that Project SOFT’s achievements over the years would not have been possible without sustained cross-sector partnerships, stressing that addressing youth substance abuse is a shared responsibility that requires collaboration across public institutions, civil society, and private philanthropic groups. She specifically thanked the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, which has served as the program’s primary sponsor for the past 17 years.

Mark Pendry, a trustee for the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, echoed that sentiment, highlighting the transformative impact that targeted investment in youth prevention can have. “A single positive influence can change the entire trajectory of a young person’s life — whether that’s one conversation, a trusted mentor, a friend, or just someone who says ‘I believe in you,’” Pendry said. “That’s exactly what programs like Project SOFT deliver. They open the door for young people to make a different choice, to see that positive possibilities are within their reach. Even if this program changes just one young person’s path for the better, all of our support has been more than worthwhile.”

Pendry closed by encouraging the program’s latest cohort of participants to carry the life skills and connections they built through Project SOFT with them as they move into secondary school and beyond.