标签： Barbados

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.

After months of coordinated advocacy and bureaucratic negotiations over three years of unresolved labor disputes, a landmark agreement has been reached that will see Berger Paints clear all outstanding financial obligations to its former employees by September 11. The breakthrough was confirmed at the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) 84th Annual Delegates’ Conference, held at the union’s Solidarity House headquarters, by BWU General Secretary Toni Moore.

Youth advocate and social worker Natalie Murray has put forward a bold proposal to address a growing gap in post-school support for young Barbadians: the creation of a unified national framework that consolidates scattered government-run youth opportunities into a single, accessible system. Speaking at the St Andrews Ideas Forum hosted at the Alleyne School on Thursday, Murray explained that while dozens of programs for young people exist across public agencies, their fragmentation leaves many graduating students unable to find clear pathways to productive next steps after leaving secondary school.

Murray outlined that the core mission of the proposed framework is not to dictate young people’s future choices, but to meet them where they are, connect them to existing resources, and clear the navigation barriers that leave many adrift. Whether a young person’s goal is enrolling in university, pursuing technical training, starting an apprenticeship, entering full-time employment, launching a small business, working in agriculture, tech, the creative industries, or stepping into community leadership, the framework would ensure they can easily identify and access the support tailored to their path.

Key components of Murray’s plan include a centralized national online portal that lists every government-aligned youth program, regardless of which department oversees it. She noted during her research that current programs are siloed across labor, youth affairs, and education departments, leaving even motivated young people unaware of opportunities that could change their trajectories. She also called for mandatory youth transition planning to begin six to 12 months before a student graduates from secondary school, a step that is currently missing from most schools’ support structures. Too many young people leave school without any clear plan, she argued, not because no opportunities exist, but because no one has sat down with them early to map out a personalized path forward.

Murray added that the framework should also include a national database to track outcomes for young people after they leave school, allowing policymakers and support providers to identify disconnected youth and intervene early. She specifically highlighted the 19 to 29 age group, where a large share of young people have become disconnected from education, work, and training. Research links this disconnection to higher rates of involvement in harmful activity, she noted, and the proposed system would partner with existing government initiatives such as the life coach program run by the Ministry of People Empowerment to reach disconnected youth and reintegrate them as productive members of Barbadian society. The framework would also embed mental health screening into early transition planning, ensuring that young people struggling with psychosocial challenges are connected to the support they need to get back on track, rather than being left behind.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has publicly endorsed Murray’s proposal, confirming that it aligns with the current government’s youth-focused policy agenda. However, Mottley emphasized that systemic change alone is not enough: the effort requires ordinary Barbadians to step up as volunteer mentors to support the next generation. She pointed to the planned expansion of 60 hours of experiential co-curricular learning as a core curriculum requirement, which exposes young people to opportunities ranging from cadets and youth groups to sports and cultural activities. This expansion can only succeed if enough adult volunteers step forward to lead and mentor these programs, she said.

Mottley reiterated the government’s long-stated goal of building a Barbados that centers young people while upholding care for aging citizens. She stressed that the nation cannot advance if young people cannot see a future for themselves at home or choose to leave for opportunities elsewhere. Mottley added that successful local youth programs should be scaled into national initiatives rather than remaining isolated, small-scale projects, noting that piecemeal efforts cannot deliver nationwide transformation.

Drawing on a formative experience from 2017, Mottley recalled meeting 15 young men between the ages of 25 and 30 under a roadside shed, where she learned at least 12 had been unemployed since leaving school. She admitted that a previous national initiative to track youth outcomes, called Youth Traces, eventually collapsed, leaving the government without clear data on disconnected youth. Moving forward, she said, communities have a critical shared responsibility to support young people, alongside government: cultural and social values that anchor young people cannot be taught through policy alone, they must be modeled and passed on by community members.

Mottley issued a public call for all Barbadians to volunteer three to four hours each week to help mentor and shape the next generation, warning that failing to engage leaves young people’s outcomes to chance. She has also directed Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman to conduct a full review of gaps in existing youth organizations, publicize all available opportunities via local media, and encourage more Barbadians to volunteer their time to support youth.

Barbados’ leading tourism authority is taking decisive steps to elevate its visitor safety standards, bringing roughly 130 tourism industry professionals through a specialized training program focused on emergency response for incidents involving travelers. The initiative, led by the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), aims to strengthen the island nation’s capacity to manage high-stakes critical situations that can arise during a visitor’s trip.

Althea O’Neal, BTMI’s Guest Experience Manager, emphasized that how local tourism operators respond to an emergency can leave a lasting impression on how visitors perceive the entire Barbados travel experience. In an address ahead of the training, O’Neal noted that preparedness and competent response are non-negotiable in today’s competitive global tourism landscape, saying, “We want to ensure that our tourism partners, our tourism professionals, are equipped to manage these situations well because the world is watching.”

Hosted on Friday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, the workshop marked the first official Critical Incident Awareness & Response training program tailored specifically for Barbados’ tourism workforce. O’Neal pointed out that travelers today have no shortage of alternative destinations to choose from, making the island’s handling of crises a key differentiator for its long-term tourism success. She explained that a complete, high-quality visitor experience extends far beyond the enjoyable moments of a vacation, encompassing how stakeholders respond when the unexpected occurs.

“A seamless guest experience covers every touchpoint, from the moment a visitor books their trip through their arrival at the airport, interactions with taxi drivers, stays at accommodation, and visits to local attractions,” O’Neal explained. “But it also includes how we respond to critical incidents that occur right here at Destination Barbados.” She added that a wide range of unplanned events can impact travelers, and it falls to all connected tourism stakeholders to act efficiently, contain potential damage, and reassure visitors that their well-being is the island’s top priority.

The workshop brought together a cross-sector team of expert facilitators to cover all key dimensions of critical incident response. Marlon Charles led sessions focused on crisis support for affected visitors, while Station Sergeant Jamal Mohan from the Barbados Police Service shared insights on core safety and security protocols. Simon Alleyne, a representative from Barbados’ Department of Emergency Management, led discussions on emergency preparedness frameworks, and practicing medical experts guided participants through best practices for handling medical and injury-related emergencies.

Critical incidents can occur in any corner of the tourism ecosystem, O’Neal noted, from hotel properties and watercraft excursions to popular visitor attractions across the island. “That initial response really makes a difference to the outcome of these situations so we felt that it was very important to equip our stakeholders as it relates to critical incidents in the tourism space,” she said.

O’Neal closed by reaffirming the shared responsibility of all Barbados tourism professionals to protect travelers who choose the island for their vacation. The Caribbean destination has long been celebrated for its warm hospitality, and O’Neal argued that this reputation should extend to crisis management too. “We should also strive to be known as a destination that protects life, responds with compassion, and manages difficult situations with excellence,” she said. “When a visitor is having the best holiday of their life, we want to make that experience memorable for all the right reasons. But when something unexpected and potentially traumatic happens, we also need to make sure that visitors know that Barbados cares, and that is the experience we want to create.”