标签： Barbados

A high-profile former Barbados sports and recreation leader is doubling down on fierce criticism of a controversial government decision to move a traveling circus to the island’s iconic Garrison Savannah horse racing venue, calling the approval process opaque and economically short-sighted. The circus in question, operated by the Suarez Brothers, was forced to shut down just one week ago by local authorities just after its first show at its original planned site in Belle, St Michael. The shutdown came after regulators flagged that the location sat too close to Barbados’ largest underground aquifer, creating an unacceptable risk of contamination to the nation’s drinking water supply.

Almost immediately after the first site was rejected, government officials began floating the Garrison Savannah—Barbados’ most historic and active horse racing facility that also hosts regular rugby and football matches—as an alternative replacement site. Even before the location was finalized, Duane Burke, a former director of the Barbados Turf Club and one-time chair of the venue, emerged as the most prominent opponent to the plan. Now that the relocation to the Savannah has been officially confirmed, Burke has maintained his staunch opposition, taking particular aim at the lack of transparent communication between decision-makers and the stakeholders that will be most affected by the change.

Burke explained that his criticism is rooted in publicly available information, because neither the Barbados Turf Club leadership nor national government agencies have kept impacted community members informed throughout the process. “Everything that I’m telling you is from a binocular view because the communication coming from the turf club or from the government has been very minimal,” Burke said. “I’m not understanding why because at this point in time you should be engaging all your stakeholders and basically anyone in the industry, not just owners and trainers.”

Beyond the flawed approval process, Burke warns that the decision will carry steep, long-lasting economic costs that regulators have failed to account for. The Barbados Turf Club has already scrapped its planned September 5 raceday to make room for the circus, and unexpected heavy rainfall on Monday has already put a crowded upcoming raceday this Saturday at risk. Burke argues that the full economic fallout extends far beyond just canceled races.

By his calculation, racehorse owners alone inject $750,000 into Barbados’ national economy every month through routine horse care and maintenance. On top of that permanent economic activity, the Garrison Savannah hires 150 extra temporary workers for every raceday to staff starting stalls, manage betting booths, and support other on-site operations. This does not include the wider ecosystem of independent equine industry workers—from large-animal veterinarians to hay and feed suppliers—who rely on racing events for steady income, all of whom will lose earnings from canceled events.

Burke also points to a largely unaddressed risk of permanent damage to the Savannah’s playing surfaces that could create ongoing long-term disruption after the circus leaves. “What also has not been divulged or indicated is, if there are damages to say the rugby pitch, or if there is damage to the turf, or if the repairs take on significant expense, a lot of people don’t really take this into consideration,” he noted. “What if the track is damaged and you can’t race when the circus leaves? What if the rugby field cannot be put back into use right away?”

The former venue chair also questioned the logic of displacing ongoing amateur and professional rugby and football events at the Savannah just to accommodate a short-term traveling attraction. While the Suarez Brothers Circus will only operate on the island for a limited run, the Garrison Savannah and the Barbados Turf Club contribute consistent annual revenue to the national economy year-round. He also raised concerns that the approval sets a dangerous precedent for all sporting organizations across Barbados: if the government can easily displace one long-standing sports venue for a temporary attraction, no organization is safe from similar disruptions in the future.

“How did this all transpire in the first instance? Does that mean that the next time the circus wants to come to Barbados, that horse racing and rugby has to be interrupted again to facilitate the circus?” Burke asked. “This is not just a horse racing or rugby association issue. This is an entire sports in Barbados issue because of the ease with which the government has done this to a sporting organisation. Every sporting organisation should be viewing this through the lens that this could happen to them. They need to understand that this is a real possibility.”

One week after being forced to abruptly vacate its original performance site at the Belle, Mexico-based Suarez Brothers Circus is preparing to welcome audiences again this Friday at a new location: Barbados’ Garrison Savannah. The disruptive eviction and subsequent relocation follow a week of tense negotiations between circus management and Barbadian government officials, which has finally resolved the controversy surrounding the circus’ right to operate on the island.

The original site at the Belle sits within Zone A, the country’s largest protected groundwater recharge area where most forms of development are strictly prohibited to prevent contamination of the island’s drinking water supply. For circus manager Ivan Suarez, the entire disruption could have been completely avoided if relevant government agencies had flagged the location’s protected status from the very beginning of the permitting process.

Speaking in an interview with Barbados TODAY, Suarez explained that the circus was shut down just 48 hours after opening to the public, despite the company completing what it believed were all required pre-operation checks and approvals. Two weeks prior to the opening, public health officials completed a standard inspection without issue, but returned just one day later to order an immediate halt to all operations. “I’m not really clear, but they said something about the water table; they didn’t tell us that from the beginning, but after they told us we have to move the circus from there,” Suarez said.

Suarez had visited the Belle site weeks before the rest of the circus crew arrived in Barbados to confirm all preparations were on track, and noted Barbados Water Authority staff already installing pumps on site. Assuming the work was connected to the water access the circus had formally requested, the team moved ahead with setup – only to later discover they would not be granted access to piped water at the location. The circus quickly arranged for water access from an adjacent property owner, but the temporary fix did not resolve the core issue: the entire site fell within Zone A, a protected drinking water exclusion zone that prohibits non-essential development to prevent contamination of underground aquifers.

While Suarez made clear he remains deeply frustrated by the mismanaged initial permitting process, he praised government agencies for stepping in to support the relocation effort to Garrison Savannah. “I’m not satisfied with the way that it initially happened because they should tell us before, but right now they are helping us a lot to get relocated. They gave us support in all the attempts to get the location; obviously, we have to apply again for all the permissions we had for the Belle location,” he said.

The company had already paid for all required permits and inspections across multiple government departments before setting up at the Belle, and never received any warning that the location was off-limits. For the new Garrison Savannah site, the circus has had to repeat the entire permitting process from scratch, covering new inspections from fire safety officials, public health teams and police, as well as securing additional approvals from the Planning Department, Ministry of Housing, and the Garrison Savannah Turf Club. Suarez added that the Planning Department initially only required the circus to post notice of its intended use of the Belle rather than submit a full formal application, leaving the team unaware they were operating without full approval.

The full financial cost of the week-long shutdown, forced relocation, and issued refunds remains unknown, and Suarez said the company is still calculating the total impact of the disruption. “Right now we don’t have a figure to say how much, and we don’t know how much in the end it’s gonna cost because the effect that this matter will have… it’s bad publicity in the end from the people who purchased tickets, the move-in location, the days that we lost; in the end we don’t know how much this is going to be,” he said. Despite the added costs from the relocation, Suarez gave a formal assurance that ticket prices will remain unchanged for the run of shows.

Many ticketholders have opted to hold onto their tickets rather than request refunds, waiting for the circus to reopen instead. For those who have requested refunds, Suarez explained the processing timeline can take between four and seven days due to standard payment processing procedures, a delay that has drawn minor complaints from some customers – though the delay is not within the circus’ control.

As the 50-person circus crew rushes to complete setup at Garrison Savannah in time for Friday’s opening, the team is also monitoring weather conditions as a tropical system moves across Barbados. Authorities from the environmental health division and the Barbados Meteorological Services have asked the circus to confirm its bad weather contingency plans, and Suarez said the team is fully prepared for any conditions. “We saw before that the bad weather is going to be on Saturday. As you can see, we have all the containers already on the venue; the tent is up, so it’s gonna be easy to handle at this point. The area is gonna be clear, and it’s gonna be easy to handle the situation,” he said.

Suarez added that the team has been greatly encouraged by the outpouring of support from the Barbadian public, which has followed the circus’ situation closely on social media. The Suarez Brothers Circus has been bringing its annual run of shows to Barbados for 20 years, and Suarez said the team remains committed to putting on a successful run for local audiences. “We have a very good feeling because we have very good support from the people from Barbados. They are keeping up on social media; they were keeping up with what’s going on, why they stopped the circus, why we moved from there, where we’re going to move now, when we’re going to start. So we have good feedback from the people. Let’s hope that the people just come and enjoy the show. We are very grateful for the response from the people of Barbados,” he said.

The circus is currently scheduled to run through September 20, and Suarez confirmed the team is hoping to secure permission to extend its run beyond that date, though a final decision from authorities is still pending. The company has apologized to the public for the confusion and disruption, and formally invited audiences to attend the new run starting August 21 at Garrison Savannah. Due to a pre-scheduled horse racing event at Garrison Savannah, only one show will be held this Saturday at 8 pm, after a compromise was reached between the circus and event organizers to allow the performance to proceed. To improve the patron experience, the new site will feature two entrances, including a purpose-built gravel walkway to protect guests from mud and wet grass after rain.

A 35-year-old Haitian national with no fixed address in Barbados has been ordered held in police custody until mid-September after confessing to two counts of burglary targeting two of his fellow Haitian residents on the island. Juninho Fils Bien-Aimé, who has resided in Barbados for eight years, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Douglas Frederick of the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, where he entered a guilty plea on all charges laid against him.

Court documents outline that the two burglary offenses took place on August 12, at the shared home of roommates Oger Clerger and Alain Prevelus, both Haitian citizens living and working in Barbados. On the day of the break-ins, the pair locked their separate bedrooms and left the residence for their regular work shifts, leaving no one inside the home.

When Clerger returned to the property that evening, he immediately noticed his door lock had been tampered with and damaged. Upon inspection, he found his personal belongings scattered across the room and confirmed that $1,000 in cash was missing from his possessions. Less than 60 minutes later, Prevelus arrived back at the home. As his mobile phone connected to the property’s home Wi-Fi network, it automatically synced with the residence’s internal security cameras, pulling up timestamped images that clearly showed an unknown man inside the home shortly after noon that same day. Neither Clerger nor Prevelus had granted Bien-Aimé or any other individual permission to enter their home or bedrooms, confirming the break-in was unauthorized.

A full inventory of the stolen items revealed that in addition to the $1,000 taken from Clerger, Bien-Aimé stole $2,000 in cash from Prevelus, along with two professional barbering machines valued at a combined $200, two shirts worth $200 total, and two pairs of pants valued at $140. The combined total value of stolen cash and goods exceeds $3,640.

During the court hearing, Bien-Aimé told the magistrate he had become homeless after a recent dispute with his girlfriend, leaving him with no permanent place to reside. He explained he originally traveled to Barbados for a visit but chose to remain to find work to send financial support to his family back in Haiti, a common path for Haitian migrants seeking more stable economic opportunity in the Caribbean. He told the court he had already spent all of the stolen cash on food and social outings with friends, and requested release so he could secure employment to repay the two victims for their losses.

Magistrate Frederick pushed back on the request, questioning why Bien-Aimé would target fellow Haitian migrants, who often rely on community solidarity to build new lives in host countries. Citing Bien-Aimé’s lack of fixed address and the outstanding need for Barbados’ Immigration Department to confirm his legal residency status in the country, the magistrate formally remanded him into custody, with the next court hearing scheduled for September 14.

A routine disagreement over household cleanliness between two roommates in Barbados has escalated into a violent stabbing incident, leaving one man injured and his 23-year-old attacker remanded to Dodds Prison as the court prepares for sentencing.

Rechaun Daniko Cumberbatch, a general labourer residing at 4th Avenue, Austin Drive, Eden Lodge, St Michael, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Douglas Frederick, where he formally pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawfully and maliciously wounding his roommate Kemal Howard during an altercation on August 10.

Court prosecutor Sergeant Victoria Leacock outlined the sequence of events that led to the violence. The two men shared a rental property, where each kept a private bedroom while using common living areas together. Tensions began when Howard reported to their shared landlord that Cumberbatch was leaving communal spaces messy and unkempt. The landlord then brought the complaint directly to Cumberbatch, setting off the confrontation.

When Cumberbatch returned to the property after being notified of the complaint, he immediately engaged Howard in a heated verbal dispute at the home’s entrance. Both men armed themselves ahead of the clash: Cumberbatch grabbed a knife, while Howard picked up a wrench. The initial confrontation was de-escalated before any physical harm occurred, but the peace broke down moments later as Howard began walking away from the property toward the nearby roadway.

In an unprovoked surprise attack, Cumberbatch grabbed Howard from behind in a chokehold and stabbed him four times – three times in the neck and once in the head. Bystanders who witnessed the attack immediately rushed to Howard’s aid, calling emergency services and securing the scene before he was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for urgent medical care.

Shortly after the incident, Cumberbatch turned himself in to local law enforcement and confessed to his involvement in the stabbing. During his court appearance, Cumberbatch attempted to justify his actions by claiming self-defense. He told the court that Howard had rushed at him while wielding the wrench, and that he had only acted to protect himself. Cumberbatch claimed Howard was actually the one carrying the knife, and that he sustained a hand cut while struggling to disarm Howard.

Chief Magistrate Frederick pushed back on Cumberbatch’s claims, emphasizing the severity of the violence. “You almost killed him. You know that, right? You are lucky that he didn’t die,” Frederick said. “This is a matter of tremendous violence on your part.”

The magistrate noted that offenses involving this level of violence typically result in an immediate custodial sentence. However, since Cumberbatch has no prior criminal convictions, court rules require a pre-sentencing report to be completed before a final sentence can be handed down. Due to the seriousness of the crime and the high risk of further conflict, Frederick ordered Cumberbatch to be held on remand until his next court date. Cumberbatch is scheduled to appear back at the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on September 14 for sentencing.

As a tropical storm system barreled toward Barbados triggering an urgent flash flood watch for the island, a sitting lawmaker is sounding the alarm over critical flood mitigation works that remain incomplete nearly 12 months after a deadly flooding disaster killed residents at Charles Rowe Bridge. Toni Moore, the Member of Parliament for St George North constituency, delivered the stark warning at a weekend party meeting Sunday, emphasizing that the island’s peak hurricane season puts local communities at unnecessary risk due to the stalled infrastructure project.

Moore told attendees gathered at the Valley Resource Centre that in the wake of last year’s tragic flooding event at the site, government promised a sweeping series of drainage upgrades to reduce future flood risk. But as of mid-hurricane season, that critical work has not moved forward at the pace residents expected, leaving the community vulnerable to heavy storm downpours. “We are right in the heart of hurricane season, and the outstanding drainage works are our biggest source of anxiety right now,” Moore said. “All we can do is pray that we avoid a severe storm that would bring devastating fallout to this area, because the protections we were promised still aren’t in place. We hope that by next hurricane season, we won’t still be facing this same fear.”

Beyond the unfinished flood works, Moore addressed ongoing delays to another high-priority infrastructure project in her constituency: the long-awaited upgrade to Sweet Vale Road. Originally slated to break ground in March of this year, the project has been pushed back indefinitely after coordination with local utility companies forced a full redesign of a planned roundabout, a feature first approved years ago under former MP Gline Clarke.

Moore explained that after early consultations with utility providers, engineers discovered the original roundabout layout conflicted with existing underground utility lines, making the initial design unworkable. Subsequent back-and-forth discussions between Ministry of Transport and Works engineering teams and the contracted construction firm uncovered additional unforeseen technical issues that required even more design adjustments. Rather than rushing construction to meet an arbitrary deadline and risk having to excavate the completed road to fix damaged utility lines later – a move that would create far more disruption for local residents – Moore said the decision was made to restart the design process from scratch.

“I know this delay is frustrating for everyone who has been waiting for this road upgrade, but cutting corners now would only create bigger problems down the line,” she said. “If we rushed and hit a water main after paving, we’d have to dig up the entire road just a few years down the line, and that would cause even more anger and disruption. After waiting this long, it’s far more important to get it right the first time: to make sure utility lines are properly laid, sidewalks are built to last, and streetlights are installed correctly the first time around.” Moore added that she could not yet give a firm completion date for the project, as design work is still ongoing.

To offset frustration over the Sweet Vale Road delays, Moore highlighted the early completion of upgrades to Taitt Hill – a project that was not included in the original annual infrastructure schedule for the constituency, but was prioritized after residents pushed for repairs. Moore stressed that constituent feedback does not fall on deaf ears, even when technical challenges slow down planned projects.

“Residents’ concerns are not being ignored, but sometimes unforeseen technical issues have to be worked through thoroughly to make sure we deliver infrastructure that serves this community for decades to come,” she said.