We’re all familiar with the old, but still highly popular adage: if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. It is this adage at work in Barbadian superstar and songstress extraordinaire Rihanna, who must be congratulated for her recent stance in declining to perform at the Super Bowl in support of National Football […]
Category: Editorial
Thousands of miles away from Barbados yesterday, 19 students were killed and dozens hurt when a student went on a shooting spree at a college in Russia. The shooter, 18-year-old Vladislav Roslayakov, was later found on the compound dead from what officials said were self-inflicted gunshot wounds. From this distance, we can only express sadness […]
“The Prime Minister or the Cabinet of this country has no power to fire any member of any statutory corporation or any public servant.” Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, February 9, 2008. Whenever political naiveté and polarization are mixed in any country, politicians walk on water and camels fly. Much has been said about the ineptness […]
Eighty years ago this month, Barbados lost perhaps the greatest journalist of the early 20th Century, an “avenging angel” for social justice in colonial Barbados, as historian FA (later Sir Alexander) Hoyos described him. Clennel Wilsden Wickham was born in 1895, the same year the Advocate newspaper was born, the paper for which he would […]
The pain of austerity will hit home in a few weeks’ time for some Barbadians; for others, it already has. Admittedly, in recent times we have been consistently warned to brace for difficult times ahead, but there’s a sense that reality is now settling in. We have all had front row seats to the flurry […]
When will Barbadians pay attention to customer service? From gas stations and restaurants, to supermarkets and hotels, the level of customer service which is delivered is quite shockingly low. And for a country where tourism is its biggest foreign exchange earner and economic engine, the lack of efficient and effective customer service delivery is dangerously […]
“The time for talk must be over as it relates to agriculture,” said the Prime Minister as she opened Caribbean Week of Agriculture here. Her message was clear and on point. We can only hope it falls on fertile ground and new growth is unearthed in agriculture, which is now virtually buried beneath the other, […]
Government’s stated intention to review a number of archaic Barbadian laws is indeed welcome news. Yesterday during debate on the Law Revision and Law Reform Bill 2018, Attorney General Dale Marshall said Government was moving to hire a law revision commissioner as well as establishing a law review commission to help modernize certain Barbadian laws. […]
Great things can happen when a society comes together. Challenges can be tackled, people can receive support and solutions can be developed to chart a better future. All this and more was evident this past Sunday as over 35,000 Barbadians took the annual Walk for A Cure in support of the fight against breast cancer. […]
Oh, how the mighty mouth has fallen silent. Months after the May 24 general election sent a score or more of politicians into retirement, questions abound as to their decade-long stewardship as Ministers of the Crown. But we were struck – or perhaps dumbstruck – by the steadfast refusal of one of loudest of loyal […]
Fresh concerns raised about the future viability of the National Insurance Scheme yesterday by pensions experts Eckler Limited are troubling. And our new Government, as transparent and engaging as it has shown itself to be over the last four months, has a duty to put these concerns to rest. The National Insurance Scheme is sacrosanct. […]
Reports of public office buildings closing because of environmental issues are not new. But now, they have become too frequent, too costly and shameful. This vexing trend has no place in a modern Barbados where productivity and innovation – indeed, just being open for business – are most needed to kickstart economic recovery. On Tuesday, […]
The country sick, the country ain’t well, see it as a person and then you will tell.- Red Plastic Bag, 1989 The former Democratic Labour Party (DLP) government spouted the obvious mantra that Barbados was not just an economy but also a society. It was akin to stating that following Sunday, Monday comes. In difficult […]
By tomorrow, the coffers of the Central Bank of Barbados should receive a transfer of just under $BDS100 million dollars from the International Monetary Fund. It’s a portion of the US$290 million loan from the multilateral lending institution brokered under its Extended Fund Facility in a record deal to stabilize the ailing Barbadian economy. Months, […]
Mia Mottley did much to return some lustre to Barbados’ half-century-long contribution to global affairs with a speech that posed a problem only to the interpreters who had the unenviable task of relaying her extemporaneous thoughts in the United Nation’s other official and working languages. What could not be lost in translation was her emphatic […]
Tropical Storm Kirk brought water, and lots of it, but ironically, Attorney General and Acting Prime Minister Dale Marshall still found himself in a ‘hot seat’ over the past two days. With Prime Minister Mia Mottley out of the island, Marshall was left with the unenviable task of having to make the tough decision on whether […]
Adages about the accuracy or inaccuracy of weather forecasting are probably as old as the weather itself. This morning Barbados thankfully woke to sunshine. Schools were closed, offices – private and public – were not, on a day when it was expected that the island would have been affected by the heavy rains and gusty […]
