标签： Barbados

A landmark summer for Barbados’ long-running youth development initiative has brought a record-breaking cohort of new recruits to the Fire Cadet Programme, which is celebrating 26 years of operation by expanding its intake from 50 to 100 available spots — a doubling of capacity that marks the largest expansion in the programme’s history.

The milestone was formally marked at an opening ceremony hosted at Parkinson Memorial School, drawing senior government officials, fire service leadership, program instructors, and family members of the new cadets. Speaking to attendees under the 2025 theme “Empowering Tomorrow’s Future Leaders”, program coordinator Rozel Davis outlined that the initiative extends far beyond basic emergency response training, with its core mission centered on nurturing the next generation of Barbadian leaders through intentional character building.

Davis explained that foundational soft skills — including personal discipline, collaborative teamwork, and adaptive resilience — are the central focus of the summer experience, alongside structured, hands-on fire safety instruction. The program also works to embed a sense of community responsibility by centering values of service, mutual respect, and national pride.

“This is far more than a seasonal training program,” Davis emphasized in her welcoming address. “It is a direct investment in the future of Barbados. Every cadet joining this year embodies the strength, courage, and untapped potential of our nation’s young people. By arming them with critical knowledge, practical skills, and strong core values, we are not just training them to respond to emergencies — we are preparing them to live with integrity in their schools, communities, and across our country.”

Davis extended gratitude to the program’s full-time and part-time instructors for donating their professional expertise, and to parents and guardians for entrusting the Barbados Fire Service with their children’s development. She urged the new recruits to approach the summer opportunity with open enthusiasm, noting that the lessons they gain over the coming weeks will serve them for decades to come.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nicholls delivered the ceremony’s keynote address and officially declared the 2025 cohort’s program open. He praised the steady evolution of the scheme, which has grown far beyond its origins as a small seasonal summer activity to become a widely respected national youth institution over its 26-year history. While the expansion to 100 spots represents a major milestone of growth, Nicholls noted that a small number of slots remain unfilled, and encouraged interested young Barbadians to reach out to the Barbados Fire Service to claim the remaining opportunities.

Nicholls highlighted the uniquely important role the program fills at a time when countries across the globe are grappling with how to meaningfully engage young people, who face growing social pressures and rapid societal shifts driven by digital transformation. He observed that young people are too often defined by their perceived limitations rather than their potential achievements, and framed the Fire Cadet Programme as a critical counter to that narrative.

“It is my hope that the programme will continue to offer a powerful, positive alternative for our youth,” Nicholls said. “It will turn passive interests into purposeful action, it will convert curiosity into confidence, and channel young people’s energy into strong leadership. Most importantly, it proves that our young people are not problems to be solved — they are our partners in building the future of our nation.”

The minister reminded new cadets that their uniform carries a deep responsibility, representing honor, respect, commitment, and the willingness to step forward to serve when others step back. Over the coming weeks, the 2025 recruits will complete rigorous training across a range of core disciplines: fire safety protocols, first aid, disaster preparedness, water safety, physical fitness, and ceremonial drill.

In a moving interlude during his address, Nicholls paused to recognize the Barbados Fire Service officers who recently deployed to Venezuela to support international rescue and recovery efforts. He shared that the Barbadian contingent delivered exceptional performance on the mission, earning top commendations and medals from the Venezuelan government. Nicholls shared plans for the new cadets to attend the officers’ official welcome-home event on Thursday, to see first-hand how Barbadian skill and compassion can contribute to global crisis response.

Closing his remarks, Nicholls reaffirmed the Barbadian government’s commitment to youth development as a foundational pillar of national resilience. He told cadets that true leadership is measured not by status, but by character, humility, integrity, and a lifelong commitment to service.

“National resilience is not built only through infrastructure, equipment, or institutions. It is built through people,” Nicholls said. “When we invest in our youth, we invest in the resilience of our nation.”

Barbados has entered a new chapter for its national law enforcement with the swearing-in of Sonia Boyce, the first woman to ever lead the Barbados Police Service. As Commissioner Boyce settles into her new role, members of the public have shared clear priorities they want her administration to prioritize, starting with an urgent crackdown on rising criminal activity, alongside long-overdue action on the social factors driving offending. Boyce officially took office during a ceremony at State House Thursday, where she outlined a leadership agenda centered on institutional reform, increased accountability for officers, more robust criminal investigations, greater on-the-ground police presence, and repairing fractured public trust in the police force.

In interviews with Barbados TODAY, local residents universally ranked crime reduction as the top issue requiring Boyce’s immediate attention. Longtime Barbadian resident Wyville Callender argued that crime must sit at the very top of the new commissioner’s policy agenda, noting that the issue remains one of the most pressing threats to public quality of life. Callender added that Boyce, a veteran established officer with decades of experience in the service, has already proven she is fit for the role, and deserves full backing from rank-and-file officers to succeed in her new position. Beyond high-profile violent offenses, Callender also urged the service to prioritize cracking down on petty and property theft that erodes daily public confidence in safety.

Matthew Smith, a Barbadian who has personally felt the impact of rising violent crime, echoed these calls. Smith shared that gun violence, in particular, has touched his own family, after a cousin suffered severe life-altering injuries in a gun-related incident several years ago. He also pointed to the illegal drug trade as a key root catalyst for much of the violent conflict on Barbados’ streets, noting that turf wars over drug trafficking are responsible for much of the current instability. Smith added that unaddressed crime poses a direct threat to Barbados’ economic backbone, tourism – the main source of national income not just for Barbados, but for many small island developing states across the Caribbean. Lower crime rates, he emphasized, will benefit the entire country by preserving its appeal to international visitors.

Local resident Abraham Sealy echoed these concerns, stressing that out-of-control crime has left many residents feeling unsafe in their own communities, and restoring that sense of safety must be Boyce’s first mission. Sealy noted that protecting Barbados’ global reputation as a safe, welcoming tourist destination is critical to the nation’s long-term survival, emphasizing that visitors should be able to ride public transit, walk through downtown Bridgetown, and explore public spaces without fear of robbery. Like Smith, Sealy highlighted the illegal proliferation of unregistered firearms as one of the most urgent public safety challenges facing the island today.

While violent crime and immediate public safety dominated discussions with older residents, younger Barbadians pushed the new commissioner to also address the underlying social issues that push people into criminal activity, to create long-term, sustainable reductions in offending. Nazaria Jordan-Mayers, a young Barbadian, pointed to rising violence in schools as a growing problem that requires urgent intervention, arguing that unaddressed school disorder creates patterns of violence that spill into communities later in life. She also called on Boyce to lead a public conversation challenging harmful stereotypes about young Barbadians, noting that unfair assumptions that all young people are unruly and uninterested in work can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that harms both youth prospects and national economic growth.

Fellow young resident Shania Husbands echoed this focus on root causes, arguing that expanding economic opportunities for young people is one of the most effective crime prevention measures the government can invest in. Husbands noted that high youth unemployment and a lack of access to entry-level work leaves many young people with no legitimate income, pushing many into street activity and criminal offending. She called for the expansion of long-term employment programs for school leavers and out-of-work youth, providing targeted opportunities for young people to earn income legally so they do not turn to crime to get by.

A disturbing online advertisement offering a weeks-old infant green monkey for sale at $500 has ignited widespread condemnation from tourists and animal welfare advocates, who warn that the growing trade of baby primates for tourist photo opportunities is tarnishing Barbados’ global reputation as an idyllic paradise and relies on violent practices that harm or kill adult primates to separate infants from their families.

This latest controversy has pulled back the curtain on a hidden, cruel trade that has become increasingly common across Barbados’ popular coastal areas: wild primates are systematically captured, torn from their social groups and families, and exploited for quick profit, with handlers parading the infants on busy beaches and even public transit to charge tourists for photos. For long-time visitors and tour operators who bring thousands of travelers to the island each year, this explicit commercial listing has pushed frustration over unaddressed animal exploitation to a breaking point.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a frequent Barbados visitor who organizes regular group tours to the island shared that the visible escalation of animal cruelty has caused deep distress among travelers who arrive expecting a peaceful, ethical tropical getaway. “I come to Barbados constantly, I bring hundreds of tourists here every year, and I love this island deeply,” the source explained. “But I have grown more and more disturbed by the open animal exploitation that visitors see everywhere now. The most shocking example is this listing for a baby monkey only a few weeks old, being sold for $500. An infant that young should still be with its mother. The only way this seller got this baby is by killing or forcibly separating the mother to take her child for profit. This is not conservation—it’s blatant exploitation, and it’s becoming far too common.”
The source added that while some casual tourists may not recognize the violence behind the photo opportunities, many returning visitors and industry professionals are well aware of the abuse, and the practice is starting to change how people view the island as a travel destination.

These concerns are echoed by Lalu Hanuman, a Barbadian attorney and prominent animal rights activist, who called the ongoing primate exploitation “horrendous and totally unacceptable.” Hanuman echoed the anonymous source’s assessment of the capture process, noting that obtaining an infant primate that young almost always requires killing or permanently displacing the mother. “I see these baby monkeys on the beaches all the time, leashed and forced to sit for photos with tourists all day in the hot sun, with no water, stolen from their families,” he told local outlet Barbados TODAY. “This is abuse, plain and simple, and it has to stop.”

Hanuman emphasized that while existing legislation has gaps, law enforcement already has the legal authority to crack down on this practice—if policymakers and enforcement agencies demonstrate the political will to act. “The online ad had contact information, so police can easily track down the person who posted it and bring charges,” he said.
Hanuman explained that Barbados’ animal welfare legal framework has evolved in recent years, but key flaws remain that have allowed exploitation to continue. The century-old Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, passed under the Owen Arthur administration, only extends legal protection to “tame animals or animals that exist for human benefit,” which explicitly excludes wild primates like green monkeys. Instead, authorities should use the 2023 Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Act, which uses a far broader definition of protected animals that includes all terrestrial wildlife.

Even the new law has a notable drafting error that creates confusion: the legislation lists two different fine amounts for the same offense, $50,000 and $100,000, both paired with a maximum two-year prison sentence. Despite this ambiguity, Hanuman noted that even the lower penalty carries enough weight to serve as a deterrent and prosecute offenders aggressively.
When asked whether the open practice of primate exploitation on beaches and public transport means the activity has become normalized in Barbados, Hanuman pushed back on the idea that it is accepted by local communities, drawing a parallel to similar abusive tourist practices in other global destinations. “This is not normal here in Barbados, but it is a problem we see in many tourist spots around the world,” he explained. “I saw the exact same thing in Marrakesh, Morocco, where they dress baby monkeys up in clothes and charge tourists for photos. It’s abuse everywhere, and it’s illegal here under the 2023 law, so there’s no excuse for failing to prosecute.”
Hanuman added that recent setbacks for the animal rights movement have compounded the problem of institutional inaction. Leading local animal advocacy group Be Their Voice was forced to withdraw a High Court appeal over the drowning of a dog at Pebbles Beach after the state threatened the group with crippling legal costs. “It’s a real shame that Be Their Voice had to pull out of that appeal, because it was a critical opportunity to push for stronger enforcement of our animal welfare laws,” Hanuman said. “That setback makes it even more important that authorities act now on this primate exploitation case to send a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in Barbados.”

As the Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, a top Barbadian emergency management consultant is sounding the alarm, pushing local residents to set aside overconfidence and take personal ownership of hurricane preparedness — even with forecasters projecting a milder-than-usual storm cycle this year.

Selwyn Brooks, a consulting specialist with Barbados’ Department of Emergency Management (DEM), emphasized a stark, often overlooked truth for Caribbean communities: it only takes a single destructive hurricane to upend lives and destroy property, regardless of how the full season is predicted to pan out.

Current climate forecasts call for 8 to 14 named storms in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, with just 1 to 3 projected to strengthen to Category 3 strength or higher. But this relatively positive projection, Brooks warned, is no excuse for cutting corners on preparation. He pointed to a widespread culture of complacency across Barbados, where many residents grow frustrated after investing time and money into preparedness measures that go unused in a given season. “You hear people say, ‘You made me buy all these supplies and nothing ever happened. You made me trim trees and clear my property and nothing came of it,’” Brooks noted. But he pushed back firmly on that mindset: “It is always better to be prepared and face no storm, than to be caught off guard when a storm does arrive. Emergency supplies do not spoil, and the day will come when Barbados is hit. This is not a question of if we will face a major weather system — it is a question of when.”

A core part of Brooks’ message is a push to shift long-held public assumptions about who bears responsibility for hurricane readiness. For years, many Barbadians have operated under the belief that hurricane preparation is solely the job of the government or the DEM, but Brooks argued that individual households must take proactive steps before a storm forms off the coast. These steps include reinforcing home structures to withstand high winds, clearing clogged drainage ditches that can trigger flooding, and trimming overgrown tree branches that could turn into dangerous projectiles during a storm.

To illustrate his point, Brooks shared an anecdote from a recent interaction with a resident living at the base of a hill. The woman complained that her front yard repeatedly flooded during heavy rain, and told Brooks she knew the cause: plastic bags, grass clippings, and other household debris had blocked the nearby storm drain. When Brooks asked if she had ever cleared the blockage herself, her response revealed the common mindset he is working to change: “That’s not my job. Call my Member of Parliament.”

“The point I am making is that in many cases, we ourselves contribute to our own flooding risk,” Brooks explained to attendees at a DEM public meeting held at the Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist Church in Eden Lodge. “We need to embrace shared responsibility and get every member of the community involved. Now is the time to walk around your property, identify potential hazards, and take steps to reduce your risk before a storm arrives.”

Beyond physical prep work, Brooks also stressed the critical importance of adequate property insurance for all homeowners, urging residents to cover both their home’s physical structure and the personal contents inside. Many people make the mistake of only purchasing a structure-only policy, he noted, which leaves personal property unprotected if a storm hits. He also advised homeowners to update their coverage regularly as they acquire new furniture, electronics, and other valuables to ensure full protection.

Brooks also made a point to reach out to owners of chattel houses — the traditional timber movable structures common across Barbados — many of whom wrongly assume they cannot get insurance for their properties. He explained that local insurance providers now offer tailored coverage plans for these structures, with flexible monthly payment options designed to make premiums more accessible for low- and middle-income households. “Insurance companies want to stay in business, so they have adjusted their products to make it easier than ever for chattel house owners to get covered,” he said. “All that is required for most policies is that your home’s foundation is fully enclosed, which meets the standard for most chattel houses across the island.”

To drive his message home, Brooks pointed to the devastating hurricane damage that has ravaged neighboring Caribbean nations in recent years, including Jamaica, Dominica, and Grenada. He also reminded Barbadians of the recent impact of Hurricane Beryl, which caused millions of dollars in damage to the island’s commercial fishing fleet just months prior, as a reminder that storm risk is never zero — even in years with mild seasonal forecasts.