标签： Barbados

A mysterious incident involving the rescue of two men identified as Barbadian fishermen from a drifting vessel near Venezuelan territorial waters has stirred up widespread questions and uncertainty within the Barbadian fishing community, while pushing a decades-long industry veteran to push for sweeping updates to national maritime safety regulations.

The two men, Jason Alexander Harewood and Lionel DaCosta Barnes, were plucked to safety from their drifting fishing boat, the Twin Fin, off the Venezuelan coast before being transported onward to Jamaica for further processing. But in the weeks since the rescue, local fishermen have been unable to confirm the pair’s identities or their connection to Barbados’ fishing industry.

Everton Brathwaite, a 54-year veteran of Barbados’ fishing sector, told reporters that even after speaking to dozens of fellow fishermen across the island, no one has been able to verify who Harewood and Barnes are, or recognize the name of their vessel. “I don’t know the boat, and I don’t know the men,” Brathwaite said in an interview. “I’ve never heard that name before. I’ve asked so many people who these two are, and no one can give me a straight answer, so I can’t even say which port they would have sailed from.” Other fishermen contacted by local media outlet Barbados TODAY echoed Brathwaite’s uncertainty, and local law enforcement officials also said they have no additional details to clear up the mystery surrounding the two men.

This unusual, unresolved case comes in stark contrast to a fatal tragedy that unfolded earlier this year, when two Barbadian fishermen vanished without a trace while operating in rough open waters. For Brathwaite, the juxtaposition of these two events underscores just how critical updated safety technology and mandatory emergency equipment are to protecting fishermen who venture far from shore.

Brathwaite noted that modern satellite technology has revolutionized maritime safety over the past few decades, cutting the risk of fishermen going missing at sea dramatically. “On a scale of one to 10, safety is at a nine today compared to 40 years ago,” he explained. “Fishermen used to disappear all the time, but that’s rare now because of all the technology we have on board. Most of us have large marine radios, VHF communication systems, and more and more are adding Starlink satellite internet to our boats. That keeps us connected to shore the entire time we’re out.”

The widespread adoption of low-cost satellite internet systems like Starlink allows fishing crews to stay in constant contact with family members on land, boat owners, and emergency services via everyday apps like WhatsApp. If a vessel develops mechanical problems mid-voyage, crews can reach out directly to mechanics or rescue services for help, something Brathwaite said he has done personally on multiple occasions. “You can call home, talk to the people on the dock, reach your boat owner, or get help if something breaks,” he said. “It’s so much safer than it used to be.” Brathwaite, who pays roughly $571 per month for a 50-gigabyte broadband data package for his own boat, keeps his phone charged and connected from the moment he leaves port to the minute he returns.

While Brathwaite said he does not know exactly how many Barbadian fishing vessels have installed Starlink equipment, a growing share of the local fleet now carries digital tracking devices that are monitored in real time by the Barbados Coast Guard and the national Fisheries Division. These devices eliminate the uncertainty that long plagued search-and-rescue operations, Brathwaite explained, giving rescuers exact location data immediately when a vessel runs into trouble. “Looking for a small boat in the middle of the ocean is like looking for a needle in a haystack if you don’t know where it is,” he said. “It makes no sense for a boat to go missing and have no idea which direction it was heading. With these trackers, the Coast Guard can pull up the boat’s exact location and send rescuers straight there.”

But even the best tracking technology is not enough to protect crews from sudden catastrophes, including onboard fires or vessels capsizing in rough seas—events Brathwaite suspects led to the disappearance of the two fishermen earlier this year. To illustrate his point, he referenced a recent incident involving a fishing boat from Trinidad that caught fire and sank. The crew was blocked from reaching their main life raft by flames, but a small secondary dinghy allowed them to stay afloat until a passing cargo vessel rescued them.

That example, Brathwaite said, is why Barbadian authorities need to enforce much stricter safety standards across the entire local fishing fleet, including mandating that all fishing vessels carry fully functional life rafts as a non-negotiable requirement for operating certification. “When you leave port, there’s no guarantee you’re going to come back,” he said. “Fishermen need to have every piece of emergency equipment on board possible to make sure they can be found and stay alive if something goes wrong. Right now, most of these small fishing boats don’t carry any life rafts at all. That’s a policy change the Fisheries Division has to make.”

Brathwaite proposed that life raft requirements be added to mandatory vessel inspections, with boats blocked from passing certification if they do not carry the required emergency equipment. “If you don’t have a life raft, you can’t get your inspection approval,” he said. “That should be one of the top requirements, because it saves lives.”

For months, motorists and residents across the Caribbean parish of St. Peter have navigated crumbling, pothole-riddled roads, paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket for repeated vehicle repairs. Now, long-held frustrations are giving way to relief as the Barbados Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) has launched a targeted pothole remediation initiative to address the parish’s most pressing road hazards.

Work crews and heavy equipment were deployed to high-need zones starting this Tuesday, with activity concentrated in hard-hit areas including Warleigh, Farm Road, Four Hill, Douglas Development, and Church Hill Road. Transport and Works Minister Kirk Humphrey explained that the campaign was launched in direct response to months of resident complaints about unsafe road conditions. “We announced on Sunday that we would mobilize all ministry resources to St. Peter to tackle this parish’s pothole crisis, and we delivered on that promise,” Humphrey confirmed during an on-site inspection.

The minister noted that crews are prioritizing the parish’s busiest major roads, bringing in heavy compaction rollers to ensure repairs hold up longer than temporary patches of the past. While Humphrey acknowledged that current patching efforts are designed as an immediate stopgap, he clarified that the most deteriorated road segments have already been earmarked for full reconstruction by private contractors in the coming months. “Residents have long questioned how long these repairs will last, which is why we’ve brought in specialized compaction equipment to extend the lifespan of this work,” he said. “This is temporary relief for now, but full rehabilitation is already in the planning stages.”

Local Member of Parliament Colin Jordan reported that residents are already reaping the benefits of the ongoing work, particularly in stretches of road that had become nearly impassable. One of the highest priority sites, Farm Road, had fallen into severe disrepair after years of damage from broken water mains and heavy construction trucks serving development projects in the nearby Heywoods area. Jordan said that after years of unaddressed complaints, locals are overjoyed to see crews on the ground.

In addition to the completed work at Douglas Development and Church Hill Road, prep work is already underway for future repairs on Niles Road and Miller Road. The lower segment of Church Hill Road, adjacent to Coleridge and Parry School and connecting to Highway 1B near Millionaire Road, is also being prepped for restoration to reopen it as a reliable access route for students and local commuters.

Jordan emphasized that the program is specifically targeting the worst-hit pothole hotspots across the parish, and praised the MTW for mobilizing workers and equipment from across the northern region and beyond to speed up progress. For residents who have faced costly vehicle damage from uneven roads, the initiative marks a long-awaited win. “Patching isn’t a permanent fix, but it will carry us through until full reconstruction can get underway,” Jordan said. “Residents have been begging for relief after paying for new shocks and replacement parts for years. We heard their calls, and we’re acting.”

Beyond pothole repairs, the MTW’s work in St. Peter will also include broader infrastructure upgrades: road sign replacement, overgrowth clearing along roadways, and other long-overdue maintenance work. Humphrey commended the on-site crews for their relentless effort to advance the project, noting that dozens of potholes have already been fixed with many more scheduled for repair in the coming days. “Our goal when we wrap up this effort is to leave St. Peter’s roads in far better condition than we found them,” the minister said.

Across multiple parishes of Barbados, chronic water service disruptions and persistently low water pressure are pushing more residents to invest in private water storage tanks as a safeguard against unexpected supply interruptions. Complaints of extended outages have surged in parishes including St George, St John, St Philip, St James, St Andrew and St Thomas, prompting households to take personal responsibility for securing their own access to potable water.

In response to growing public pressure around water insecurity, the Barbadian government introduced targeted tax relief to encourage residential water storage investment. First announced in the 2024 March Budget, the policy eliminated value-added tax (VAT) on the sale and installation of water tanks, septic tanks, electric pumps and pressure tanks for residential properties, effective April 1 2024 for an initial two-year period. Just one year later, in the 2025 March Budget, officials extended the concession, expanding it to include customs duty waivers alongside existing VAT exemptions, with the policy now set to remain in place through March 31, 2028.

Local industry leaders report a clear uptick in consumer interest, even as immediate sales growth remains moderate. Leon Layne, operations and sales manager at Rotoplastics Barbados Limited — the island’s leading manufacturer of water storage solutions — told local outlet Barbados TODAY that inquiries about residential water storage systems have climbed steadily in recent months. Layne attributed this rising interest to two key factors: growing frustration with more frequent widespread outages, and increasing preparation ahead of the annual Atlantic hurricane season, when reliable water access becomes especially critical.

“We have not seen any dramatic change in uptake of water tanks year on year or the water pumps that go with them; however, we have seen an increase in inquiries about these water storage systems, and it might be attributed to increases in outages or people being conscious that they need to have a secure source of potable water at their home,” Layne explained. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you now whether it is one group over the other, but people inquire because they want to shore up their property in terms of secured potable water storage; people inquire because they have just experienced an outage and would not like to experience it any further; and people inquire because it is hurricane season.”

Layne added that public awareness of water vulnerability spikes sharply whenever a new outage hits a community: “Generally around this time, the thought is more in the public mind that you need to secure water for the hurricane season. Once there’s an outage in one area, people become conscious of their vulnerability of not having a water storage system at home, and they start to inquire about what it would take to have that water system in place.”

Rotoplastics currently offers six tank sizes ranging from 200 gallons up to 1,200 gallons to fit varying household needs. According to Layne, the 650-gallon and 1,000-gallon models are the most popular among consumers, while the 450-gallon option is a close third, favored by smaller households of two to three people. While some customers opt to purchase only a tank to cut costs, Layne noted that a standalone tank cannot deliver consistent access to water at home taps. The company advises customers to invest in a full system that includes a pump, filtration, valves and connecting PVC piping to ensure functionality.

“People generally stress on the water storage tank, but that alone would not satisfy because you need to get the water delivered from the tank to the tap,” Layne said. “That also requires a pump, filters and the necessary connecting pipes to make it function properly, because you want the customer to turn the tap in the home and receive water from the tank, and the only way that can happen with any consistency is if they have a pumping system.”

The trend of growing interest is echoed by major local hardware retailers. Michael Cummins, hardware manager at ACE H&B Hardware in Warrens, confirmed that both inquiries and sales of water storage tanks have seen steady growth at his location. Like at Rotoplastics, the 650-gallon tank is the best-selling option for customers, who typically select models that fit their budget. Unlike manufacturers, ACE H&B does not provide in-house installation services, so customers arrange for independent plumbers to complete setup.

“Bajans are starting to prepare a little better now, so people are not waiting until something happens to get their tanks, and it’s better to equip yourself now,” Cummins said. “It doesn’t make sense to wait until something happens to find yourself scrambling, and since we have a reduction in the VAT on tanks, it would make sense to take them now.”

Beyond tax concessions to encourage private investment, the government has also launched a broader public support initiative to boost household water resilience. As part of the 2025 Budget, officials unveiled the Household Water Resilience Programme, which will fund the installation of 600-gallon water storage tanks and all associated infrastructure for low-income qualifying households. The initiative draws financing from the national Resilience and Regeneration Fund, which supports long-term infrastructure and preparedness projects across the island.

A disabled nursing student in Barbados has come forward with serious allegations of an unprovoked, alcohol-fueled assault by a public route taxi conductor that left her with a long-term brain injury, shining a harsh light on the ongoing risks disabled people face on the island’s public transport network.

Speaking exclusively to Barbados TODAY, Tamsin King, who is also the mother of a disabled daughter and works with children with autism, detailed the traumatic attack that occurred more than two months ago, on the afternoon of July 2. A regular commuter who uses the Route 11 ZR service, King said she had long avoided this specific vehicle due to the prior unruly behavior of its driver and conductor. In a rush to reach her waiting daughter, however, she chose to board that day, a decision she says has upended her life and career.

King, who was wearing her official nursing uniform at the time, recalled that the conductor was openly drinking from a Guinness bottle when she boarded. She paid her fare and thanked him, only to overhear him tell the driver, “Watch this. I don’t like her.” Before she could react, King said the man smashed the glass beer bottle against her head. A fellow female passenger panicked, demanded the driver stop the van, and fled immediately before King could request her to act as a witness. Dazed, bleeding, and injured, King staggered off the vehicle without any intervention from the driver or other passengers, and still pushed on to collect her daughter as planned.

As the night wore on, King’s head pain worsened dramatically. She woke in the early hours with severe swelling on her scalp, partial facial paralysis, and unmanageable pain that even maximum doses of over-the-counter painkillers could not ease. She was ultimately admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), where doctors confirmed external swelling and redness matching her description of a glass bottle attack. Following multiple follow-up appointments for persistent debilitating pain, King received the devastating diagnosis: a permanent or long-term brain injury that could take months, years, or never to fully heal.

King reported the assault to the Oistins Police Station the following Monday, but five days after the attack, while she was leaving a work shift in Maxwell, the accused conductor tracked her down, stopped his ZR van, and publicly threatened her to “Don’t make trouble for me.” More than two months later, the conductor remains on the job, working his regular South Coast route, and has not been taken into custody.

The ongoing freedom of the alleged attacker has left King and her family terrified for her and her disabled daughter’s safety. A student approaching 50 years old with a nursing exam looming, King says the brain injury has already disrupted her education and career trajectory. Doctors have confirmed she will need special accommodations for her upcoming exam, a permanent consequence of the unprompted violence.

King is now speaking out to raise awareness about the vulnerability of disabled people, women, and other marginalized groups to attack on public transport. “How many of them think it’s acceptable that women with disabilities are attacked? How many people has he done this to before? I don’t want anybody else suffering like this,” she said, questioning what would have happened if the target had been an elderly person or child.

Responding to the incident, the Barbados Council for the Disabled has condemned the attack and called for systemic change to protect disabled people’s right to full inclusion in Barbadian society. “They have the right to travel on public transport, they have the right to shop, they have the right to do all the other things that ‘normal persons’ do. We are not excluded, we should be included in all aspects of this society,” said council president Patricia Padmore-Blackman.

Padmore-Blackman emphasized that widespread, ongoing sensitivity training is critical to address deep-seated negative attitudes and ignorance about disability, a core service the council already provides whenever possible. “There should be zero tolerance for targeted attacks on disabled people,” she said, adding that “the Barbados Council for the Disabled stands behind any intervention to deal with this practice. We don’t want it to be the norm where persons with disabilities, irrespective of what their challenge is, have to undergo any kind of ill treatment or anything like that within our community or within our public spaces.”

When contacted by Barbados TODAY, police public affairs spokesperson Inspector Ryan Brathwaite confirmed that authorities have recorded a statement from King and that the incident remains under active investigation. “The matter is under investigation. We will bring it to a conclusion very soon,” Brathwaite said.