Carib Scope

标签： Barbados

巴巴多斯

  • Teens seek common ground through culture, conversation

    Teens seek common ground through culture, conversation

    On a recent Friday, 37 teenagers aged 14 to 18 from Barbados and the United States gathered at Barbados’ Skymall for a one-day collaborative workshop designed to tackle common youth mental health struggles through arts-based practice and cross-cultural connection. Titled *Finding My Voice, Embracing My Culture, Strengthening My Mind*, the event was co-hosted by two youth-focused organizations: Barbados’ Pinelands Creative Workshop (PCW) and the U.S.-based Taratibu Youth Association (TYA).

    The workshop was rooted in a core belief that creative expression offers a more accessible and authentic pathway to emotional processing than traditional talk-based settings, serving as a tool to help young people navigate anxiety, familial conflict, identity formation, and other common adolescent challenges. For PCW, this initiative builds on the organization’s longstanding mission to leverage creative arts as a vehicle for youth empowerment and healthy development.

    Sophia Greaves, chief executive officer of PCW, emphasized that the collaboration marked another milestone in the organization’s work to connect creative practice with youth mental health support. “This is part of our ongoing collaborative journey,” Greaves explained. “We’re working with Taratibu Youth Association to use creative methodologies to help young people work through all kinds of complexities – from anxiety and fear to internal family conflict, and the growing pains of transitioning from adolescence to young adulthood.”

    Greaves noted that creative outlets – ranging from dance and singing to visual art – enable young people to articulate emotions that often feel impossible to put into words, giving on-site mental health professionals clearer insight into participants’ needs to develop targeted coping strategies. “This space allows for emotional freedom of expression in a way that isn’t rigid or clinical,” she said. “Whether a participant dances, sings, or draws, our in-house psychologists get a genuine picture of what they’re struggling with, and can start guiding them toward healthy coping strategies.”

    Against a backdrop of rising reports of disorientation and isolation among young people globally, the workshop prioritized root-cause healing in a safe, supportive environment. The event also complements PCW’s existing Career Life Management Programme, and Greaves voiced her hope that similar arts-focused mental health initiatives will be integrated into schools and community programs across Barbados as a strategy to reduce youth violence.

    Dr. Yanique Edmond, a TYA representative and board-certified mental health and trauma specialist, emphasized that performing arts and emotional wellness are inherently linked, especially for young creatives. “To sustain a creative practice without it breaking you down or causing unaddressed trauma, you need a solid mental health foundation,” she explained. “When you channel other people’s emotions and pain into your art, it can easily become overwhelming if you don’t have the skills to process it.”

    The workshop’s core curriculum was designed to teach teens to first identify their emotions, then channel those feelings into creative expression in healthy, constructive ways. “The goal is to turn that emotion into art that becomes a source of hope and builds resilience,” Edmond said. “This doesn’t happen on its own. Teens need guidance from knowledgeable adults to support them on their journey to wellness.”

    This cross-border workshop is part of TYA’s broader international effort to connect young people through cultural exchange and advance a holistic, African-rooted framework for mental health that integrates mind, spirit, and body. The organization has hosted similar initiatives across Ghana, Togo, Benin, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and St. Croix, centered on elevating interconnected African cultural traditions of holistic wellness that have been practiced for generations.

    After a full day of discussions, skill-building, and cultural exchange, participants translated their takeaways into original improvised performances, spanning dance, music, poetry, and spoken word. The pieces centered on themes of personal resilience, cultural identity, and hope, drawing directly from the day’s conversations.

    Dr. Dominique Charlot-Swilley, a clinical child psychologist from Georgetown University and TYA delegate, added that the workshop builds on more than two decades of international cultural exchange, but with an explicit new focus on emotional wellbeing. She noted that the event highlights a unifying truth often overlooked in global discourse: “There are so many similarities between us, even though the world often tries to make us feel divided. That narrative of difference simply isn’t true.”

    Cross-border exchanges like this allow young people from different national contexts to recognize their shared experiences of adolescence, while learning from one another’s cultural perspectives. “Young people all over the world are navigating trauma,” Charlot-Swilley noted. “We have more access to other people than ever through social media, but so many teens still feel deeply isolated and alone.”

    As social and emotional pressures on adolescents continue to grow, she emphasized, creating intentional safe spaces where teens can openly discuss their emotions, embrace their cultural identities, and build connections with peers across borders is more critical than ever.

  • Govt opens doors for 92 young interns

    Govt opens doors for 92 young interns

    Starting this Monday, 92 young Barbadians will step out of the classroom and into real-world public service workplaces as participants in a newly relaunched Summer Internship Programme, a collaborative initiative led by the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Information and the Office of the Attorney General.

    The incoming cohort was officially welcomed during a press briefing held Friday at the Barbados Postal Service, where current Home Affairs and Information Minister Gregory Nicholls opened up about the origins of the programme, noting it was first launched by former Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams, who now serves as Attorney General. When Nicholls took over his ministerial role, Abrahams prioritized continuing the youth-focused initiative, and the pair worked across teams to expand placements across all relevant government departments. With 15 to 16 separate agencies falling under the Ministry of Home Affairs alone, the programme now offers diverse placement opportunities across multiple sectors of public service.

    Designed to bridge the gap between academic learning and professional work, the summer internship positions participants across more than a dozen government departments and public agencies, including the Probation Department, Immigration Department, Barbados Postal Service, Government Printery, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Government Information Service, National Council on Substance Abuse, Barbados Meteorological Services, Department of Emergency Management, Barbados Prison Service, Government Industrial Schools and the Barbados Broadcasting Authority.

    In his address to the new intern cohort, Nicholls framed the programme as far more than a temporary summer job, positioning it as a foundational stepping stone for the next generation of national leaders. He encouraged participants to approach their placements with curiosity, humility and a commitment to learning, advising: “Do not see yourselves as summer workers; see yourselves as learners, as explorers, and as future leaders. Be curious, ask questions respectfully, of course. Observe, seek to understand not only what is done, but why it is done. Every task, no matter how small it may be, offers a valuable lesson.”

    Nicholls also highlighted three core traits he said would help interns get the most out of their experience: resilience, strength of character and respect. Acknowledging that new roles often come with uncertainty and unforeseen challenges, he noted that growth only happens when people push past their comfort zones. “There are moments when you encounter challenges. You’ll be asked to perform tasks that you have never done before, you may make mistakes and you may feel uncertain at times, that is perfectly normal. Growth often occurs when we step outside of our comfort zones,” he said. He added that robustness – defined as discipline, professionalism, punctuality and initiative – is key to building trust with supervisors and making a lasting positive impression. Nicholls closed by reminding participants that regardless of their future career paths, Barbados needs the energy, creativity, integrity and vision of its young people to move forward.

    Attorney General Abrahams, who founded the programme, explained that it fills a critical gap in youth development: it teaches unwritten professional skills that are rarely covered in formal education, including workplace dress codes, professional etiquette, communication norms and workplace professionalism. He also shared that the programme has a proven track record of creating long-term employment pathways, noting that many past participants have been hired as full-time staff by the departments where they interned.

    Abrahams pointed to the impact of the 2023 cohort’s placement during Hurricane Beryl, where interns at the Department of Emergency Management gained hands-on experience in disaster response, from processing emergency calls to coordinating public safety shutdowns. “This is not just something to spend the time on in the summer. We want to teach you about life, we want to teach you about work,” he said, adding that parents are encouraged to engage with their children about their experiences to fully integrate the learning.

    The attorney general added that the internship also drives transformative personal growth, helping young people shift from a student mindset to that of a working young adult. Sharing an example from his own constituency, he said many past participants entered the programme raw, undisciplined and unfocused, but left with clear direction and professional maturity that changed the trajectory of their lives.

    Participant feedback on the programme has been overwhelmingly positive, with many young people saying it addresses a critical gap in youth employment preparedness. Amiah Padmore, an aspiring psychology professional, called the opportunity “a great chance” to build foundational experience ahead of her planned career. “I feel very good. I feel like this is a great opportunity for me and I will definitely have experience doing things like this because I want to go into psychology. And I like to talk to people,” she said. While she has no preference for her department placement, she plans to make the most of every experience, noting that many young people like herself lack exposure to how professional workplaces operate. “It’s important because people like me are very misguided. They don’t have much knowledge about the work and how it operates or what to do, so it’s just for them to practice or get into it to know what to do,” Padmore explained.

    Seventeen-year-old Davidson Griffith, a participant with experience in the Barbados National Youth Parliament and a past youth ambassador advocating for students with disabilities, echoed that excitement. Griffith, who has dyslexia, said the programme gives young people a rare chance to build interpersonal skills while contributing directly to national development. “I feel extremely great it’s an opportunity for young people to come together and to develop their interpersonal skills as it pertains to serving the public of Barbados and contributing to the development of Barbados,” he said. Prepared to serve in any assigned department, Griffith said he hopes to set an example for other young Barbadians, encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunities the government provides. “My interest in this internship is to serve. If it’s serving in whatever department that the internship offers, I just want to be there to serve the people of Barbados and to be an example for young people of Barbados, especially young men in Barbados, that the government is providing these opportunities and don’t take them for granted,” he said.

  • CARICOM leaders promise action as households feel cost-of-living pressure

    CARICOM leaders promise action as households feel cost-of-living pressure

    As household budgets across the Caribbean continue to buckle under the weight of soaring cost-of-living pressures, regional leaders and private sector stakeholders have struck a landmark agreement on a comprehensive package of policy and infrastructure measures designed to cut import expenses, strengthen cross-border connectivity, eliminate internal trade barriers, and expand access to affordable essential goods for ordinary consumers. The sweeping commitments were finalized during the second High-Level Breakfast Dialogue, a high-stakes gathering that brought together CARICOM Heads of Government, the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO), and the OECS Business Council (OBC) in Saint Lucia. The event ran alongside the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, held under the central theme “Meeting the Affordability Challenge: Toward a Proactive Agenda for Member States and the Private Sector.” Held on July 6, the dialogue drew more than 120 senior attendees, spanning private sector leadership, heads of state from 13 CARICOM member nations, organized labor representatives, international development partners, and senior officials from leading regional institutions. Throughout the day-long discussions, participants zeroed in on actionable, practical solutions to reverse the trend of rising consumer costs, with priorities including cuts to transportation and logistics overhead, expanded import diversification, increased intra-regional investment, and tighter integration between the Caribbean’s key tourism sector and local production industries. One of the most high-priority outcomes of the dialogue was a consensus around advancing cross-regional movement, with leaders voting to move forward with plans for a private-sector-led regional ferry service that will cut travel and shipping costs across member states. Attendees agreed to a September 2026 deadline to put in place the full regulatory framework required for mutual recognition of insurance, operating licenses, and road taxes — a set of regulatory changes widely seen as a non-negotiable prerequisite to launching the ferry service. In the near term, leaders have committed to advancing interim operational arrangements to get the private-sector-run service up and running ahead of the full regulatory rollout. The dialogue also marked a milestone for regional air cargo connectivity, with attendees formally welcoming the launch of operations by Executive Air Cargo, a new carrier that has already begun moving agri-food products across CARICOM member states, opening new markets for small regional producers and cutting supply chain delays. Turning to long-standing barriers that have stifled intra-regional trade, participants agreed to adopt a targeted “pairwise” approach to address the 57 non-tariff barriers that local businesses have repeatedly identified as major restrictions on cross-border commerce. Under the new framework, the country imposing a trade barrier will work directly with the affected trading partner, supported by private sector stakeholders and relevant government agencies, to develop binding, time-bound solutions that remove unnecessary restrictions. Discussions also outlined major potential cost savings through import diversification, with analysis showing that the region could cut annual expenses by roughly $2 billion by shifting a portion of non-fuel imports to regional suppliers instead of relying on overseas sources. Participants also noted that additional long-term savings will come as Caribbean nations accelerate their transition to renewable energy, reducing their heavy dependence on costly imported fossil fuels. In addition to long-term structural reforms, attendees also debated immediate, short-term measures to ease cost pressures on working households. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley put forward a bold call for a formal tripartite compact bringing together national governments, the private sector, and organized labor, focused on capping and lowering prices for a core basket of essential consumer goods. According to the official statement from the meeting, Mottley also urged private businesses to accept narrower profit margins on essential products to help ease the financial strain on consumers across the CARICOM region. The dialogue also prioritized unlocking regional capital for strategic infrastructure investment, with a focus on high-impact sectors including renewable energy generation, seawater desalination, utility-scale battery storage, and port modernization. Participants agreed that all open regional investment opportunities should be published on a single unified regional platform to improve access for local and international investors, with agriculture singled out as a key sector requiring targeted investment and attention. Attendees also reaffirmed their long-standing commitment to completing the Tourism Linkages Project, an initiative designed to strengthen economic connections between the Caribbean’s $59 billion tourism industry and regional agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors, ensuring more tourism revenue stays within local communities. On climate policy, private sector representatives reaffirmed their broad support for ambitious global climate action, but raised urgent concerns about the potential negative economic impact of the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework on Caribbean consumers, small island developing economies, and the regional tourism sector, which relies heavily on affordable maritime shipping for goods and visitor arrivals. To ensure all agreed commitments are implemented on schedule, participants approved the establishment of dedicated working groups with clear timelines and measurable performance targets to track progress and hold stakeholders accountable. The CPSO will partner with the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee to lead the implementation of the full agreed policy agenda. The dialogue concluded with a unified public commitment from governments, the private sector, and organized labor to prioritize the delivery of practical, people-centered measures that will deliver tangible, meaningful improvements in quality of life for all residents of the CARICOM community.

  • DLP demands urgent action over ‘hazardous’ St Peter highway flooding

    DLP demands urgent action over ‘hazardous’ St Peter highway flooding

    As Barbados enters the high-risk Atlantic hurricane season, the country’s opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is sounding the alarm over persistent, dangerous flooding on a key thoroughfare in St Peter, pushing for immediate government intervention to address the growing public safety threat.

    In an official statement issued Saturday, DLP’s spokesperson for Housing, Transport and Works Ian Griffith laid out the severity of the issue: even moderate rainfall is enough to submerge the KNR Husbands Highway at the Heywoods Road intersection under multiple inches of standing water. What makes the situation more alarming, Griffith noted, is that the flooding problem has worsened dramatically since construction kicked off on a neighboring tourism development project.

    Griffith emphasized that the chronic flooding is far more than an inconvenience for motorists and local residents—it is a direct hazard to public safety. Standing water pooled across a major highway raises the likelihood of traffic accidents, causes gradual but costly damage to passing vehicles, and can even block critical access routes for emergency responders responding to crises.

    While Griffith explicitly acknowledged that no definitive causal link has been proven between the adjacent tourism construction and the worsening flooding, he argued that urgent transparency and scrutiny are needed around the project’s planning and regulatory approval process. Key unanswered questions remain, he said: did planners and regulators properly evaluate the capacity of the highway’s existing drainage infrastructure to handle altered stormwater patterns before greenlighting the development? Were sufficient stormwater management controls required as a condition of the project’s approval?

    With the Atlantic hurricane season bringing elevated risks of heavy rainfall and extreme weather to Barbados, the DLP warned that putting off repairs and investigations creates an unacceptable danger for local residents, business owners, and daily commuters. The opposition party is calling on the Ministry of Transport and Works to immediately launch a full engineering assessment of the highway’s drainage network, as well as a formal investigation into whether the tourism development has changed natural stormwater flow patterns in the area.

    “Preventative action is always more effective and less costly than responding after flooding has caused damage or injury,” Griffith said, pushing back against any delay in addressing the issue. He added that the public should not be forced to wait for a severe tropical storm or hurricane to expose critical flaws in the country’s infrastructure before decision-makers take corrective steps.

    The DLP has confirmed it will continue closely monitoring the flooding situation and is urging national authorities to prioritize the issue as a top public safety matter.

  • New top cop outlines vision for modern, accountable police service

    New top cop outlines vision for modern, accountable police service

    At her inaugural ceremonial parade held Friday, newly installed Commissioner of Police Sonia Boyce has laid out an ambitious vision for the Barbados Police Service (TBPS), framing her tenure around a “renewal of purpose” that targets rising sophisticated crime, cracks down on internal officer misconduct, and modernizes the island nation’s law enforcement infrastructure for the 21st century.

    Addressing a crowd of senior government officials, judiciary members, and uniformed officers that included acting President Dr Jeffrey Gibson, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and former Police Commissioner Richard Boyce, Boyce opened by acknowledging the unprecedented challenges facing modern law enforcement in Barbados. She noted that criminal activity is rapidly evolving, growing more transnational, technically advanced, and violent than ever before, while shifting digital landscapes have rewrote both how offences are committed and how investigators must approach solving them. Compounding these changes, she added, are rising public expectations for transparent, accountable policing — expectations she said the service is ready to meet.

    At the core of Boyce’s agenda is a sweeping crackdown on internal misconduct, paired with a commitment to building a culture of ethical service. She emphasized that the authority carried by a police badge comes with non-negotiable responsibility, making clear that unprofessional or illegal behavior by officers will not be accepted under her leadership. To back this pledge, she announced plans to overhaul internal systems for supervision, performance evaluation, and disciplinary action, building frameworks that are fair, transparent, and timely. Alongside accountability, she also promised a clear system to recognize and reward officers who deliver exemplary service, with the goal of making ethical conduct the default expectation across the force, not an exception.

    To counter increasingly complex criminal networks operating in and around Barbados, Boyce outlined a major push for digital transformation of the TBPS, calling the upgrade no longer a discretionary improvement but an existential necessity. Key investments will focus on expanding intelligence-led policing operations, rolling out advanced data analysis tools, and updating case management systems to streamline investigations. The service will also redirect regular operational resources to prioritize curbing violent crime and firearms-related offenses, which have emerged as pressing public safety concerns. Upgrades will extend to core forensic capabilities and emergency response infrastructure, ensuring the force is equipped to match the technical sophistication of modern criminal groups.

    Boyce also stressed that sustainable public safety cannot be achieved by police alone, calling for deeper, more consistent engagement between officers and local communities. She explained that public trust — the most valuable asset a police service can hold — is built through small, daily interactions: a patrol officer taking time to listen to resident concerns, a station sergeant treating complainants with patience and respect. That trust, she noted, must be earned through consistent, fair action rather than demanded from the public.

    In a move that prioritizes the well-being of frontline officers, Boyce pledged to be a fierce advocate for rank-and-file personnel, promising expanded support for physical safety, mental health care, and professional development across the force. She argued that a police service that invests in caring for its own members is far better positioned to protect and serve the broader Barbadian public. To formalize this mutual commitment, Boyce proposed a pact of accountability and support between leadership and officers: she expects commitment, professionalism, and accountability from every member of the force, and in return, she will lead with transparency, listen to frontline concerns, advocate for critical resources, and keep officer welfare, safety, and development at the top of her policy agenda.

    Closing her address, Boyce issued a direct appeal to all Barbadian citizens, framing public safety as a shared collective responsibility. “Your safety is our priority, and your trust is our greatest asset,” she said, reaffirming the TBPS’s commitment to earning that trust through consistent, respectful, and fair action across every level of the service.

  • OPINION: The outlook of today’s young workers: self first

    OPINION: The outlook of today’s young workers: self first

    Across global labor markets, trade unions are confronting an existential demographic crisis: plummeting membership rates among young workers have pushed the issue of youth engagement to the top of every labor organizer’s priority list. Today, the average union member is 40 years of age or older, and as veteran members retire, organized labor faces an urgent need to reverse the decades-long trend of declining youth participation to secure its long-term survival.

    Currently, the key demographic groups unions are struggling to organize are millennials and Generation Z, two cohorts that make up the vast majority of today’s young working population. For context, demographic scholars generally define Generation Z as individuals born between 1997 and 2012, who will range in age from 14 to 29 by 2026. Millennials fall between Generation X (born 1965 to 1980, currently aged 46 to 61) and Gen Z, born between 1981 and 1996, placing them in the 30 to 45 age bracket as of 2026. While definitions of “young workers” vary across sectors, many experts group all workers under 30 into this category, making it clear that this growing demographic cannot be ignored or taken for granted by organized labor.

    Young workers today have come of age during a period of unprecedented economic and cultural transformation, leading them to adopt attitudes toward work that differ sharply from previous generations. This shift has been exacerbated by broader policy trends that have actively suppressed union growth over the past half century. Many labor analysts point to the widespread adoption of neoliberal policy agendas by governments around the world as a core driver of declining worker solidarity and shrinking union density.

    One of the most visible outcomes of this policy shift is the explosive growth of the gig economy, which prioritizes flexible, short-term contract work over traditional permanent full-time positions. This new labor landscape has drastically reduced the share of jobs that are traditionally unionized, creating structural barriers to organizing young workers who rarely hold long-term positions with a single employer.

    By 2026, Gen Z workers have only ever known a labor market shaped by neoliberal norms, and most have little understanding or appreciation for the gains won by unions in past decades – such as the mid-20th century push for stable, lifelong employment with guaranteed pensions, a standard that has all but disappeared in the modern economy.

    Historically, trade unions have centered their mission on advocating for worker rights, fair wages, and workplace welfare. But today’s young workers are more educated and critical of institutional power than previous cohorts, and many have grown disillusioned with what they see as increasing political partisanship within union leadership. This perceived partisan alignment has created deep divisions both between rival unions and within individual organized labor groups, gradually eroding young workers’ trust in union leadership and discouraging them from joining.

    A further structural blow to union density has come from the steady rise in self-employment among young workers. For many young people today, the appeal of flexible work lies in the ability to take full control of their own skills and career trajectories, rather than being tied to a single employer or institution. As a result, worker loyalty is increasingly directed toward individual career advancement rather than to companies, employers, or collective labor organizations, notes Dennis De Peiza, a labor and employment relations consultant at Regional Management Services Inc.

  • Enterprise vendors fear worsening sargassum will threaten livelihoods

    Enterprise vendors fear worsening sargassum will threaten livelihoods

    One of Barbados’ most beloved coastal destinations, Enterprise Beach in Christ Church – universally known to locals and visitors as Miami Beach – is facing an escalating ecological and economic crisis driven by record levels of invasive sargassum seaweed washing onto its shores. Local vendors, whose income depends heavily on foot traffic to the beach, have warned that the worsening sargassum problem is driving away visitors at the worst possible time: the slow summer off-season, when area businesses rely almost entirely on local patronage to stay afloat.

    In interviews with Barbados TODAY, vendors issued a urgent appeal to the national government, calling for urgent action to clear accumulated seaweed from the beach, explore innovative commercial uses for the harvested sargassum, and invest in year-round programming to attract consistent visitor traffic. One long-time local vendor, who has lived in the Enterprise area for all his 42 years, described a steady deterioration of conditions that he says is unprecedented in his lifetime. “I have never seen this much seaweed in my life. It does not originate here – it breaks off from masses further out and drifts to our shores. Something has to be done, because this is going to put all of us out of business,” he said.

    While the vendor acknowledged that the government already operates a beach-clearing program to address sargassum accumulation, he noted that the dynamic nature of the tides makes consistent removal extremely challenging. Piles of seaweed pushed ashore by waves are often quickly replaced by new masses washing in with the next high tide, making large-scale clearance efforts inefficient and costly in the short term. Even so, he warned that if the problem continues to worsen year after year, it will eventually drive even repeat visitors away from the beach during the summer months, dealing a devastating blow to the local economy. He pointed to the current unintended boost the area has received from tourists displaced by hurricanes in Jamaica, noting that any advantage will be lost if visitors have no clean space to relax and swim.

    For most beach businesses, local residents are the backbone of revenue during the off-season hurricane period, the vendor explained. “If it weren’t for locals, this place would be completely shut down. Tourists do spend money, but during hurricane season, almost all of our business comes from locals, especially when the beach looks like this. We owe everything to the local community,” he said. Despite plummeting income, closing permanently or even part-time is not an option for most small vendors, who face fixed monthly costs regardless of seasonal fluctuations. “I can’t close seven days a week – if I close, I can’t pay my bills. Even if I only make $100 or $200 a day, that’s better than nothing,” he added.

    The vendor also criticized the common practice of removing beach chairs and public amenities from the coast during the off-season, arguing that it undermines efforts to promote year-round tourism. Barbados enjoys mild, attractive weather year-round, he noted, so even when visitor numbers are lower, amenities should remain available for both locals and the tourists that do visit. “They say they’re promoting tourism, but they only put chairs out from November through April. For the other six months, the chairs are locked away, and that kills business. If people can’t sit and relax, they won’t stay,” he said, calling for a rotation schedule that would keep amenities available year-round.

    To turn the beach into a sustainable year-round attraction, the vendor said policymakers need to invest in new activities to draw visitors, pointing to the decades of reduced programming that have left the once-vibrant beach quiet. “This is the most tranquil beach in Barbados – very little harassment, very little overcrowding, it’s the perfect place for relaxation. But right now, there’s nothing here to captivate people. When I was growing up, we had summer jams, volleyball tournaments, football games on the sand. Now it’s just dead. All the activity stopped,” he said. He added that restrictive local regulations around public events and noise have made it impossible for vendors to organize their own activities to draw crowds, creating unnecessary barriers to economic growth.

    Another local beach worker echoed these concerns, noting that the lack of year-round activities has not just hurt income – it has also eroded traditional local beach culture and limited employment opportunities, with most coastal workers only able to find work during the peak winter tourist season. Beyond expanding programming, he argued that the government should move beyond simply clearing sargassum and instead invest in developing a local industry that repurposes the invasive seaweed into valuable commercial products. He noted that sargassum can already be used for a range of purposes, from animal feed additive to construction material for bricks, but small local entrepreneurs face major barriers to accessing financing to launch these projects. Instead, he warned, large outside companies will likely move in, capture the economic value of the sargassum, and leave local workers with nothing to show for the loss of their beach.

  • Bajan sprinters earn places in NACAC championship finals

    Bajan sprinters earn places in NACAC championship finals

    The opening day of the 2024 NACAC Under-18 and Under-23 Athletics Championships, hosted in Mexico, delivered mixed results for Team Barbados, with several young competitors punching their tickets to the final rounds of their events while others fell short of progression.

    Barbados’ campaign got off to a flying start thanks to Nyah Clarke in the Under-18 Girls’ 100-meter sprint. The young sprinter dominated her qualifying heat, crossing the finish line in 11.91 seconds to secure an automatic spot in the final. She went on to improve her time in the title race, clocking 11.69 seconds to claim sixth place in a talented field.

    In the Under-23 Women’s 100m, Kishawna Niles replicated Clarke’s qualifying success, taking third place in the second heat with a time of 11.59 seconds to advance. Her teammate Aniya Nurse narrowly missed out on progression, recording 11.74 seconds in the first heat that was not fast enough to move forward. Nimes went on to run 11.41 seconds in the final, finishing sixth overall in the competition.

    For the male sprinters, Jahkye Brewster delivered a strong performance to qualify for the Under-18 Boys’ 100m final, stopping the clock at 10.60 seconds to take a qualifying spot from heat one. He stepped up his pace in the final, shaving 0.10 seconds off his qualifying time to finish fourth with a 10.50 second run. In the Under-23 Men’s 100m heats, Amari Knight missed the final cut by just 0.01 seconds behind Brewster’s qualifying time, finishing with 10.61 seconds that did not secure progression.

    Moving to the 400-meter distances, Krystal Bentham suffered an early setback when she pulled up mid-race during the Under-18 Girls’ 400m preliminaries and could not finish. In the corresponding Under-18 Boys’ 400m event, however, Aidan Moore and Zacharry Wall both secured their spots in the next round. Moore claimed victory in the third heat with a time of 47.91 seconds, while Wall took second place in heat two in 47.13 seconds to advance.

    In the Under-23 Women’s 400m, both Kadia Rock and Twaneise Johnson earned places in the final. Rock topped the podium in her heat, winning heat two with a 53.25 second run, while Johnson qualified by taking fifth in heat one in 53.91 seconds. For the Under-23 Men’s 400m, Shamari Greenidge-Lewis secured qualification despite only finishing fourth in his fourth heat, crossing the line in 47.44 seconds to move forward. Brandon Hinds, by contrast, missed out on a final spot after taking fifth in heat one with a time of 48.21 seconds.

  • Govt opens doors for 92 young interns

    Govt opens doors for 92 young interns

    Starting this Monday, 92 young Barbadians will step into the public sector to gain hands-on professional experience as participants in the annual Summer Internship Programme, a joint initiative led by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information and the Office of the Attorney General. The programme was officially announced to incoming interns and stakeholders during a press briefing hosted at the Barbados Postal Service this past Friday.

    Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nicholls opened the briefing by noting that the initiative is a continuation of a programme launched by former Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams, who now serves as Attorney General. Nicholls explained that after taking office, Abrahams prioritized sustaining the programme across all 15 to 16 departments falling under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and cross-agency collaboration made the 2024 intake possible.

    Framing the internship as a strategic investment in Barbados’ most valuable resource – its youth – Nicholls emphasized that the programme goes far beyond filling temporary summer roles. Instead, it is designed to open professional doors, expand participants’ worldviews, and give young people a practical introduction to public sector work in the country. Interns will be placed across a wide range of government departments and agencies, including the Probation Department, Immigration Department, Barbados Postal Service, Government Printery, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Government Information Service, National Council on Substance Abuse, Barbados Meteorological Services, Department of Emergency Management, Barbados Prison Service, Government Industrial Schools, and the Barbados Broadcasting Authority.

    Nicholls shared key guidance for the incoming cohort, urging interns to approach the programme as learners, explorers, and future leaders rather than temporary seasonal staff. He encouraged participants to bring curiosity to their roles, ask respectful questions, and seek to understand not just how tasks are completed, but why they matter. He noted that even the smallest assignments offer meaningful learning opportunities, and that growth often happens when people step outside their comfort zones. He highlighted three core attributes that will serve interns well: resilience when facing unfamiliar challenges or mistakes, robustness defined by strong character, discipline, professionalism, and reliability, and consistent respect for colleagues and supervisors. Nicholls closed his remarks by reminding participants that regardless of their eventual career paths, Barbados will rely on their energy, creativity, integrity, and vision to drive the nation forward.

    Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams expanded on the programme’s core mission, explaining that it fills critical gaps in soft skill development that are rarely taught in formal education. These gaps include workplace dress codes, professional etiquette, communication norms, and overall professional conduct. Abrahams added that the programme also serves as a talent pipeline for the public sector: a large number of past interns have gone on to secure full-time positions in the same departments where they completed their summer placements.

    As an example of the immersive, real-world learning the programme offers, Abrahams recalled interns placed with the Department of Emergency Management during Hurricane Beryl, who gained first-hand experience in disaster response, from managing emergency calls to coordinating community shutdowns. He stressed that the experience is not just a way to occupy summer break, but an opportunity to learn life and work skills that will serve participants for decades. Abrahams also encouraged parents to engage with their children about their experiences and challenges, to help them get the most out of the placement. He noted that the programme often drives transformative change, helping young people shift from a student mindset to a mature professional outlook, sharing that participants from his own constituency entered the programme raw and undisciplined, but left as focused, polished young professionals.

    Incoming interns expressed widespread enthusiasm for the opportunity to build practical skills and insight into professional work. Amiah Padmore, who plans to pursue a career in psychology, described the programme as a transformative opening step. “I feel very good. I feel like this is a great opportunity for me and I will definitely have experience doing things like this because I want to go into psychology. And I like to talk to people,” Padmore said. Though she has no preference for placement, she plans to make the most of whatever role she receives, noting that programmes like this fill a critical need: many young people enter the workforce with little understanding of how professional environments operate, and the internship gives them a low-stakes space to learn and practice.

    Seventeen-year-old Davidson Griffith, a participant in the Barbados National Youth Parliament and a former youth ambassador for students with disabilities after his own dyslexia diagnosis, echoed that enthusiasm. He said the programme gives young people a rare chance to build interpersonal skills while serving the Barbadian public and contributing to national development. “My interest in this internship is to serve. If it’s serving in whatever department that the internship offers, I just want to be there to serve the people of Barbados and to be an example for young people of Barbados, especially young men in Barbados, that the government is providing these opportunities and don’t take them for granted,” Griffith said, adding that he is prepared to serve in any department he is assigned to.

  • EDITORIAL: Embracing EVs while protecting the environment

    EDITORIAL: Embracing EVs while protecting the environment

    Barbados has emerged as a regional trailblazer in the shift toward sustainable transportation, with new data showing that battery electric vehicles, conventional hybrids, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles now make up nearly 70 percent of all new passenger vehicle sales on the island. This dramatic market shift represents one of the fastest transitions to low-emission transport in the Caribbean, and signals widespread public acceptance of clean vehicle technology among Barbadian motorists. The progress delivers three core benefits: reduced household transportation costs, lower greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, and decreased national reliance on costly imported fossil fuels. Industry leaders and analysts widely attribute this success to proactive policy measures implemented by the Barbadian government, which introduced targeted tax concessions to lower the upfront cost of electric and hybrid vehicles. Brent Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Automotive Retailers Association, notes that the country’s incentive framework stands out as one of the most effective in the region, positioning Barbados as a leader in EV adoption among Caribbean nations. The significant tax differential between zero and low-emission vehicles and traditional gasoline-powered cars has reshaped consumer purchasing decisions, with lower excise taxes and reduced import duties making clean vehicles far more accessible to ordinary buyers than they were just a few years ago. Complementing these policy changes, global automakers have expanded their lineups to include more budget-friendly EV models, ending the era when electric vehicles were exclusively reserved for luxury buyers. Today, shoppers can find new clean vehicles at price points aligned with what most Barbadian consumers already expect to pay for a new car. The financial benefits of switching to an electric or hybrid vehicle extend well beyond the initial purchase price. With global fuel prices continuing to rise, putting intense pressure on household budgets in Barbados, the running cost savings of EVs have become a major draw for buyers. Murphy calculates that motorists save roughly 75 percent on energy costs compared to driving a traditional gasoline-powered internal combustion engine vehicle. For owners who install rooftop solar panels to charge their vehicles at home, those savings can climb even higher, eliminating most ongoing transportation energy costs entirely. Consumer confidence in EV technology has also grown alongside falling prices and policy support. Improvements in battery technology, longer manufacturer-backed battery warranties, extended driving ranges, and greater public awareness of how electric vehicles work have resolved most of the early concerns that once deterred potential buyers. The Barbadian government’s commitment to clean transport extends beyond incentivizing private passenger vehicles: the island now operates the largest fleet of electric public transit buses in the Caribbean, replacing aging diesel buses that once pumped thick black exhaust into communities across the island. The visibility of these zero-emission buses on Barbadian roads underscores that the clean transport transition is a whole-society effort, led by both government action and individual consumer choice. While the rapid progress in EV adoption is a major win for climate action and energy independence, stakeholders warn that unaddressed challenges loom on the horizon, most notably the growing problem of end-of-life lithium-ion EV battery disposal. If not managed properly, lithium-ion batteries contain toxic materials that can leach into soil and water systems, while also posing significant fire hazards if stored or discarded incorrectly. As EV sales continue to climb, the volume of spent batteries that require proper management will rise steadily in the coming years. Mark Hamilton, General Manager of Platinum Motors, one of the island’s leading vehicle dealers, has emphasized that battery disposal and its associated environmental risks are two pressing issues that the country cannot afford to delay addressing. Barbados has long built its national brand and tourism economy around its reputation as a clean, green tropical island, and protecting that reputation requires proactive long-term planning. Currently, the country lacks a comprehensive, robust regulatory framework and specialized infrastructure designed to manage large volumes of discarded EV batteries. Waiting for a crisis to occur before acting would be a costly mistake, environmental and industry leaders warn. Moving forward, the Barbadian government should collaborate closely with national environmental agencies, vehicle importers and dealers, and international recycling experts to develop clear, enforceable standards for every stage of spent battery management: collection, secure storage, transportation, and recycling. Vehicle importers should also be required to take extended responsibility for end-of-life batteries, ensuring that old units do not end up dumped in landfills, gullies, or local waterways. Stakeholders emphasize that the transition to clean transport should not solve one environmental problem by creating another. A truly sustainable transition requires careful management of every stage of an EV’s life cycle, from manufacturing through to final battery disposal. The explosive growth of EV adoption in Barbados is an inspiring example of how smart policy, market competition, and public willingness to change can deliver rapid progress on climate and energy goals. With lower fuel costs for consumers, reduced national emissions, and improved technology, the island has set itself on a path toward sustainable transport. The next critical step will turn this progress into long-term success: updating national environmental regulations and building out the infrastructure needed to manage spent EV batteries safely, ensuring that Barbados remains a clean, sustainable island for future generations.