标签： Barbados

In a large-scale coordinated crackdown on illegal drug cultivation across rural St John, law enforcement officers completed a sweeping anti-narcotics raid on Saturday, wiping out nearly 6,000 cannabis plants valued at more than $1.4 million on the street.

The operation, codenamed Operation Green Bay, was launched before dawn by teams from the Special Operations Management Division, with search and eradication efforts focused on thick brushland and active farm plots spread across four communities: Welch, Cliff Cottage, Bath Land and Colleton. By the end of the multi-hour sweep, officers had uprooted and destroyed a total of 5,968 cannabis plants, ranging in size from tiny newly sprouted seedlings to fully mature eight-foot-tall plants. Authorities confirmed the total weight of the eradicated vegetation came out to 356.79 kilograms.

Despite the significant size of the seizure, no individuals were taken into custody during the operation. Law enforcement officials confirmed that investigations remain ongoing, with teams working to trace and identify the criminal organizers that run the illicit local cannabis cultivation network.

The large police presence left a clear mark on the rural parishes of St John, with local residents reporting the sharp, distinct smell of harvested cannabis hanging in the air and a heavy deployment of officers across the area. For many neighborhood residents, the first indication of the early morning raid was the overwhelming scent of the cut plants, followed by the sight of arriving law enforcement personnel.

One long-time local resident, who has lived in the parish for more than 60 years, expressed shock at the sheer size of the illicit plantation discovered close to his property. “When it passed there, it really affected me,” the resident said. “It was very strong. To have so much, nearly six thousand, that is true. I have lived here, me and my kids, at least 65 years and I have never seen this environment like this yet. I have never seen anything like that before.”

Reflecting on the economic factors that push young people to enter the illegal drug trade, the resident noted that widespread financial desperation often keeps the cycle of illicit cultivation going. “It looks very ridiculous. Planting and then put my house in danger. It is a lot of money, but see, young boys, it is like they don’t care at all. You can’t stop the wasteful planting, you know? When they are planting, they are going to want money, so they will continue. All attempts to stop it, it will never happen. But 6,000 plants, that’s a lot of money.”

When asked what warning he would give to young people choosing to participate in these high-risk illegal activities, his message was clear and uncompromising: “Don’t plant more because you put yourself in trouble, you end up in jail, and when you’re done, you’re going to feel the pain. The police are doing their job, they have a job to do.”

A second local resident detailed the level of coordination and planning behind the police operation, explaining how officers moved systematically through the difficult rural terrain, aided by advanced surveillance technology. “From minutes to five in the morning, the men started rolling in,” he recalled. “They searched down here first, then they went up, searching everything with drones and flames. They didn’t leave until a little after 12. That is a long time. But the police have got to do what they have got to do. They do their job by all means.”

Despite acknowledging the necessity of the operation, this resident expressed skepticism about its long-term impact, arguing that removing one illicit cultivation site merely creates an opening for another to pop up elsewhere, while doing nothing to address the root social and economic issues that drive people to grow cannabis in the first place. “How it is, they go after one on the island and another door opens up for another,” he observed. “The drugs that they are finding locally cannot amass to what police cannot catch. Since around 2002, St John got stigmatized as a whole agricultural place for marijuana. But there is a trickle-down effect. When youngsters aren’t getting anywhere and they can’t get any work, the next best thing they are going to do is go out and plant, because they need money.”

Not all area residents were aware of the day’s major police action, however. One local woman said she barely noticed the operation unfolding just down the road from her home as she got ready for her usual workday. “I saw a truck come down, so I was like, okay, something is going on, and that was it,” she said. “I had to leave home to go about my lawful business, so I had a shower, stepped in the car, and went on. The drugs don’t really interest me or concern me, I don’t get in their way, and they don’t get in mine. The police were just doing regular policing work. The people down in the gap who sit outside under the trees, they are the active ones moving around who would see and know a lot more than me.”

As the investigation into the illicit network continues, police have issued a public call for anyone with information about who owns the seized cannabis crops to contact authorities to assist with the ongoing case.

A major week-long program of road maintenance, drainage improvements and infrastructure upgrades across multiple parishes of Barbados is set to launch on August 31, carried out by the country’s Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), and will run through September 4. This coordinated initiative covers everything from pothole patching to full road rehabilitation, alongside targeted safety improvements for local communities and schools.

One key ongoing disruption for drivers remains in effect in the parish of St Peter, where Farm Bridge will stay closed to all traffic until the MTW issues a new update. Motorists traveling between the town of Speightstown and the Ronald Mapp Highway are being redirected to use Warleigh Road as an alternative route for the foreseeable future.

Large-scale road rehabilitation and new construction projects are already progressing across multiple sites around the island, with work continuing through the scheduled upgrade week. These active locations include Chancery Lane in Christ Church, Cottage Vale in St Philip, Crab Hill in St Lucy, the stretch of Highway D connecting Lester Vaughan School to Content in St Thomas, the Ermy Bourne Highway in St Andrew, and the community of St Judes in St George.

In St George parish, the MTW has planned targeted works beyond major rehabilitation projects: new speed humps will be installed directly outside St Luke’s Primary School to improve student pedestrian safety, while crews will carry out scheduled pothole patching in the Sweet Vale neighborhood and along the corridor connecting Newbury to St Judes.

In the heavily populated parish of St Michael, preparation work for full paving is ongoing at Emmerton Lane. Other continuing works in the area include repairs to a damaged retaining headwall at Fontabelle, and replacement of worn manhole grilles along the Mighty Grynner Highway.

System-wide drain cleaning, a critical preventative measure against flooding during rainy periods, is also scheduled for multiple high-traffic areas across the island. These include sections of the ABC Highway, central Bridgetown, Enterprise Main Road, Belleplaine, Passage Road, and Bay Street.

Daytime work crews, operating between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday (weather permitting), will handle multiple upgrades: MTW road marking teams will repaint stop lines and install new replacement road signs in St George, while crews will repaint retaining headwalls along the 2A Highway. Overnight crews, working from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Thursday, will handle a nationwide project to repaint faded school crossing markings, minimizing disruption to daytime school and traffic operations.

In a public advisory released alongside the schedule, the MTW issued an urgent appeal to all motorists: drivers must reduce their speed when passing through active work zones. The ministry warned that speeding through construction and maintenance areas not only puts frontline road workers at severe risk of injury, but can also cause irreversible damage to freshly painted road markings before the paint fully cures.

All works are subject to adjustment in the event of unfavorable weather conditions, the MTW confirmed.

Barbados is launching a nationwide push to build a new generation of community-focused leaders, as the President’s Trust has opened applications for volunteer mentors to support its upcoming transformative youth initiative, the Chapman Challenge. Scheduled for an official launch on September 23 under the patronage of President Jeffrey Bostic, the program targets young people between the ages of 10 and 24, centering its approach on three core pillars: community engagement, hands-on service, and structured leadership skill-building.

Organizers are actively recruiting committed volunteers from every sector of Barbadian society, ranging from educators, civil servants and skilled tradespeople to retirees and local entrepreneurs. These volunteers will step into the role of “support anchors”, providing consistent, positive guidance to young participants across the island. Captain Tevin Maynard, a spokesperson for the initiative’s Mentorship Task Force, emphasized the irreplaceable role that positive adult role models play in strengthening local communities during the announcement of the recruitment drive.

“Every young person has the right to access encouraging guidance, meaningful encouragement, and life-changing opportunities,” Maynard stated. “When adults choose to serve as mentors, they do more than change the trajectory of individual young lives – they lay the groundwork for more connected, resilient communities across Barbados, and a stronger nation overall. The Chapman Challenge gives every citizen, regardless of which parish they call home or what profession they work in, the chance to build a lasting, positive legacy through dedicated service.”

The initiative operates through a structured, community-rooted matching system: local municipal councillors first identify young people who stand to benefit most from the program, then pair each participant with a trained volunteer support anchor. Mentors take on a range of responsibilities, from offering one-on-one personalized advice and leading interactive group skill-building activities to arranging hands-on workplace exposure and providing ongoing virtual support between in-person sessions.

Unlike many youth development programs that prioritize only academic achievement, the Chapman Challenge centers on holistic growth. Its core goals include fostering strong personal character, building practical life and leadership competencies, cultivating a sense of civic responsibility, and empowering young people to step into active leadership roles within their own communities through sustained service work.

Organizers have underscored that the entire initiative is run on a volunteer basis, and operates under a strict, comprehensive safeguarding framework designed to protect all participants. Every successful volunteer applicant must complete a mandatory background check and undergo thorough training before starting their mentorship role, ensuring the program maintains a safe, supportive environment for every young person involved.

By connecting experienced adults with motivated young people across its early stages, the Chapman Challenge aims to build a long-term, sustainable pipeline of civically engaged leaders who will contribute to Barbados for decades to come. Any resident of Barbados who is interested in volunteering their time, skills, and expertise as a mentor is invited to contact the President’s Trust through its official communication channels to learn more and apply.

At the opening ceremony of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) 84th Annual Delegates’ Conference held at Solidarity House, the organisation’s top leader Shawn Knight has delivered a clear call to action: instead of drafting additional unenforced labour legislation, Barbados must prioritize rigorous enforcement of existing workplace standards to protect the nation’s workforce.

Knight, who serves as BWU president general, warned that current gaps in enforcement have left many labour laws toothless. Businesses and powerful industry actors that violate workplace protections regularly face no meaningful consequences for their actions, eroding the security of working people across the island. He emphasized that new legislation is not the solution to widespread labour violations; stronger enforcement of existing rules is the urgent priority.

To address this gap, Knight pledged that the BWU will maintain unrelenting pressure on national authorities to build a fully staffed, sufficiently empowered, and publicly respected Labour Department. A robust, independent labour department, he argued, is the only bulwark that can prevent powerful commercial interests from undermining hard-won worker rights across all sectors of Barbados’ economy.

The conference, held under the overarching theme “Marching to 85”, comes as the union prepares to mark its 85th founding anniversary on October 4. Knight stressed that honoring the BWU’s nearly century-long legacy of worker advocacy requires a forward-looking approach that addresses the evolving challenges facing 21st-century workers, from corporate restructuring and mass redundancies to the rise of precarious, unstable working arrangements.

“Marching to 85 is not a backward march; it’s a forward march,” Knight told assembled delegates. He pointed to the union’s recent high-profile intervention on behalf of migrant construction workers, who were being forced to live in dangerous, substandard housing by a major industry employer. When the violation came to light, Knight said, the BWU did not stay silent or hesitate to act. “If we defend migrant workers with that level of fairness, you can be absolutely certain that we will defend you,” he affirmed, reinforcing the union’s commitment to protecting all workers regardless of their background.

Beyond calling for stronger enforcement, Knight also highlighted key progress the union has secured over the past year, both domestically and on the global stage. He singled out BWU General Secretary Toni Moore for praise for her successful work steering the Portable Social Security Benefits resolution through Barbados’ Parliament. Knight described the new policy as a groundbreaking, vital reform that extends critical social protection to workers in non-traditional employment arrangements, including gig work, platform contracts, and digital economy roles.

He also noted the BWU’s growing influence in global labour policy, as Barbadian delegates contributed to shaping new global conventions on decent work for the platform economy during the 112th International Labour Conference. Internally, the union has also advanced its own modernization efforts, launching new digital member portals and expanding accessible skills and advocacy training through the Frank Walcott Labour College.

In closing his opening address, Knight called on all conference delegates to reaffirm the BWU’s central role as the unyielding shield and enduring backbone of the Barbadian workforce, as the organisation continues its forward march toward its 85th anniversary and beyond.