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Rescue mission . . . Minister to up lifeguard numbers as mother and son drown

by Barbados Today
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One day after the tragic drowning of a mother and son at a popular south coast beach, the Minister who holds the responsibility for beach safety, says there needs to be an urgent ramping up of the presence of lifeguards on local beaches.

In fact, Minister of the Environment, Trevor Prescod told Barbados TODAY that he plans to meet with the board and management of the National Conservation Commission (NCC) today, where the subject of recruiting and training more lifeguards is expected to take centerstage. The Minister explained that the numbers of persons frequenting the beaches have increased, which also increases the chances of drowning incidents. Pointing out that while lifeguards come with no guarantees, Prescod contended that their presence could reduce the number of drowning incidents.

“We have had several cases last year and this year of persons drowning and to some extent this triggered a response. We also understand that we need to upgrade the facilities in the lifeguards’ huts because we recognize the increase in numbers of persons  frequenting the beaches,” said Prescod, noting that his concern about the current state of affairs is heightened because the schools’ Christmas vacation began today.

Prescod said that even though it was approaching the final quarter of the fiscal year, there may need to be some “re-jigging” of expenditure, to determine what actions can be taken in the short-term.

“Children are going to be out on vacation and lots of persons will be going to the beach for relaxation, so we have to be concerned about saving the lives of people. We have to look carefully now and see out of what I have there in the estimates, how we can respond to the request for lifeguards. I will discuss in detail with the board and the management to see where we are. We have to make sure that if we employ these lifeguards, we can afford to train and pay them,” he said.

Back in 2014 under the Freundel Stuart-led administration’s homegrown austerity programme, sweeping cuts were made to the staff at the NCC, which included lifeguards. Thirty-one of the 97 lifeguards were retrenched, which resulted in a number of beaches being unmanned. However, this morning, Prescod made it clear that he would do all within his power to ensure that seabathers are safe.

“We are going to explore the entire situation to ensure that anything that can be done, is done. The reality is that we already know that lifeguards is an issue and we are now working on a number of posts for lifeguards. Later today I would be able to better state how soon we can have these plans in place but I can definitely tell you that it is going to be an issue that will engage a significant amount of our attention this morning,” he stressed.

On Sunday Nioca Howard, 27, and her five-year-old son, Nico Roach, 5, of Emerald Park West, Six Roads, St Philip, lost their lives while at Welches Beach in Christ Church.

Around 4:15 p.m., police received a call about the possible drowning and discovered the bodies on the sand on their arrival. Beachgoers reportedly saw the woman and child in a shallow area of the water and pulled them to the sand where they tried to resuscitate them. Medical personnel later pronounced them dead.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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