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Pic-O-De-Crop Finals now at CARIFESTA House

Sherrylyn Clarke
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Pic-O-De-Crop Finals now at CARIFESTA House

The 2026 Courtesy Garage Pic-O-De-Crop Finals, powered by Q100.7 FM, will now be staged at CARIFESTA House, Waterford, St Michael, on Friday, July 31.

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) said this change was occasioned by the announcement that the State Funeral for National Hero The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers would be held at Kensington Oval next Wednesday.

The finals were originally scheduled to be held at the historic cricket venue.

“The national farewell to Sir Garry is an occasion of profound significance to Barbados, the Caribbean and the wider cricketing world. The service will be conducted with the full ceremonial arrangements of a State Funeral and requires the close coordination of numerous state agencies and national stakeholders,” a release said.

“Preparations for an occasion of this magnitude extend well beyond the hours of the service itself. They encompass exacting ceremonial, protocol, security, broadcast, technical and operational requirements, together with the careful preparation and subsequent restoration of the venue. Kensington Oval must therefore remain fully available to accommodate the national arrangements and ensure that Sir Garry receives the dignified farewell befitting his status as one of Barbados’ National Heroes.”

Additionally, the short interval between events would not deliver “both occasions at Kensington Oval with the care, safety and professional standard each demands”.

The NCF said although a new venue, CARIFESTA House has been the site of several successfully staged events this Crop Over season, including the Republic Bank Pan Yard Lime, Fusions and the Scotiabank Junior Monarch Finals. The change in venue allows the Pic-O-De-Crop competition to proceed on its originally advertised date while the country fulfils the solemn national responsibility of honouring Sir Garry.

In the meantime, the release continued, the NCF’s technical and operational teams are reviewing all supporting logistics to deliver the best experience for competitors and patrons

“This moment calls upon us to honour, with dignity and unity, the life of a National Hero while preserving the continuity of the calypso tradition through which generations of Barbadians have chronicled the life of our nation. The relocation allows both responsibilities to be met with the care and respect they deserve,” the NCF said. (PR/SAT)

AM Best upgrades Sagicor

Shawn Cumberbatch
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AM Best upgrades Sagicor

Financial services group Sagicor Financial Company Limited, including its Barbados-based subsidiaries, has received a series of credit rating upgrades from AM Best.

The global credit rating agency attributed the upgrade of Sagicor Financial, which is registered in Bermuda, to its “very strong” balance sheet, strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Reacting to the higher credit ratings when they were announced last Thursday, the group’s president and chief executive officer Andre Mousseau said the improved ratings “will allow us to continue to expand our distribution reach and improve our cost of capital”.

AM Best said it “upgraded the financial strength rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit ratings to “a” (Excellent) from “a-” (Excellent) of most of the subsidiaries of Sagicor Financial Company Ltd.”

“These subsidiaries – Sagicor Life Inc. and Sagicor General Insurance Inc., both domiciled in St. Michael, Barbados, Sagicor Life Insurance Company, Austin, Texas and ivari, Toronto, Canada – collectively are referred to as Sagicor Financial by
AM Best and represent the organisation’s Canadian, United States and a portion of the Caribbean operating companies,” the rating agency noted.

“In addition, AM Best has upgraded the long-term issuer credit rating ICR to “bbb” (Good) from “bbb-” (Good) and the Long-Term Issue Credit Rating (Long-Term IR) to “bbb+” (Good) from “bbb” (Good) of the US$550 million, 5.3 per cent senior unsecured notes, due 2028, of Sagicor Financial Company Ltd, the ultimate parent.”

AM Best added: “Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of “a-” (Excellent) of Sagicor Reinsurance Bermuda Ltd. (SRBL) (Bermuda), as well as the FSR of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICR of “bbb+” (Good) of Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited (SLJ) (Kingston, Jamaica). The outlook of these credit ratings is stable.”

Reacting to the series of credit rating upgrades, Mousseau said: “We are pleased with the continued recognition of our financial strength by way of improvements in our credit ratings, both at our parent company and at many of our operating subsidiaries.”

AM Best said it “views Sagicor Financial’s consolidated risk-adjusted capitalisation as “strongest, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, supported by diversified operational earnings from multiple subsidiaries”.

“Financial flexibility is demonstrated via multiple debt issuances as well as a revolving credit line. Financial leverage and debt service coverage metrics support Sagicor Financial’s current ratings,” it said in announcing the upgrades.

“Liquidity is adequate and in line with peers. The investment portfolio is conservative with a majority allocation to government and corporate bonds, alongside equity and commercial mortgage loans positions.

“Sagicor Financial’s strong operating performance is driven by a track record of consistently positive earnings spread over multiple subsidiaries and geographic areas including Canada, United States and the Caribbean.

“Premium growth has been steady with continued new business recorded at the consolidated level. Investment performance has also been strong with net yields that outperform peers.

“Overall volatility has slowly been decreasing driven by a more conservative investment portfolio and a larger asset base.”

AM Best added: “Sagicor Financial’s neutral business profile reflects very strong market presences in the Caribbean and Canadian markets, as well as a captive agency force, which maintains strong business growth in multiple Caribbean territories.” (SC)

Mottley: Pay on time

Gercine Carter
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Mottley: Pay on time

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has defended workers’ rights to pay and has advised them to educate themselves on the conditions and provisions surrounding such rights.

“Once a worker has done the work, the employer must pay money on time. The employer must not take money from their pay packet without proper authority,” Mottley said yesterday, reinforcing the provisions set out in the Protection of Wages Bill, 2026, which was later passed after extensive debate in two successive sittings of the House.

Mottley explained the legislation “recognises the imbalance between the relationship between employer and employee and seeks to level that playing field, such that advantage is not taken of the workers, and that if it is, the employer must face real consequences when the law is broken”.

She asserted a wage packet was not just an accounting entry, but the means by which people were able to put food on the table for their families.

“We can decide that the money already earned by a Bajan worker, must arrive on time, must be backed with a remedy with teeth.”

The legislation contains several stipulations which Mottley broke down, explaining that, “pay day becomes a legal obligation; that the pay packet belongs to the worker; that modern payment must not just become modern coercion; that leaving a job or seeing a business fail does not erase the right to earn pay; that a right must always be paired with a road to a remedy; that the law acquires consequences worthy of the offence.”

The legislation makes pay day a legal obligation as spelled out in Clause three of the legislation which stipulates that the employer must establish a recurring pay period and a recurring pay day. That certainty, Mottley said, was critical for employees to plan out their lives

 She asserted wages earned for that period must be paid no later than the pay day applicable to the payment arrangement for the respective period of work, be it weekly, monthly or fortnightly.

“I want every worker from the fields to the factories; from the hotels to the homes, to understand what is at stake and what is being reinforced and protected by this Bill,” the Prime Minister said.

Spelling out conditions applicable to minimum wage payments, she explained: “At the general minimum wage we already know that with the minimum wage at $10.71, that 40 hours of work works out to $428.40 before deductions . . . If you are a minimum wage earner working a 40-hour week, you should be earning $428.40 before a cent is deducted from you in any respect. That money is earned . . . and the worker should not have to lend it back to any business by waiting beyond pay day.”

The Prime Minister stressed the wage packet “belongs to the worker” and  warned the employer “do not touch it. It does not belong to you.”

Similarly, she pointed out Clauses 7-14 of the Bill put rules around wage advances, deductions and the recovery of wage overpayments. In addition, an employer is prohibited from charging interest on any advance they make on wages.

The legislation places a limit of one-third with respect to advances, certain deductions and overpayment recovery from wages.

“I want the workers to know that if somebody is doing that to them, then they need to go to their union or to the Labour Office.” (GC)

Murderer gets 40-year sentence

Heather-Lynn Evanson
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Murderer gets 40-year sentence

The convicted murderer called “a threat and a danger to society” was sentenced to 40 years in prison when he appeared in the No. 4 Supreme Court.

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Efforts to refloat sunken MV Barima to begin today

Nationnews Desk
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Efforts to refloat sunken MV Barima to begin today

GEORGETOWN – The Guyana government says it will begin operations at midday on Wednesday to refloat the sunken MV Barima using specialised flotation equipment as rescue and recovery efforts enter a critical new phase.

The MV Barima capsized last Saturday night, resulting so far in the deaths of 53 people, including 15 children and the rescue of 76 others.

The authorities say the search continues for the estimated 70 people still unaccounted for after the 87-year-old vessel sank as it made its way from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, a small village within the Barima-Waini  administrative region of the country.

“We are continuing all night. There is a plan also being discussed now between the technical people, the Coast Guard and the expertise that came in. We are going to try to activate that plan by midday,” President Irfaan Ali said during a late-night briefing on Tuesday with families of those still missing following the maritime tragedy.

He assured them that technical teams and emergency responders would continue working around the clock until every possible effort has been exhausted. He said the operation will involve using flotation devices in an effort to move the vessel from the seabed.

President Ali said it allows responders greater access to continue the rescue and recovery mission and that additional divers and specialised assets are scheduled to arrive early Wednesday to support the operation.

Ali said teams from the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, police, private sector partners, and civilian volunteers will maintain their search throughout the night.

President Ali said the government has utilised advanced seabed mapping technology, with support from ExxonMobil, to determine the vessel’s exact position and guide recovery efforts. The survey revealed that the vessel is resting on its starboard side on the seabed, with its stern closest to the shoreline.

“We have not ruled out rescue just yet,” he told the families.

The official manifest had 116 passengers and a 17 member crew,  but the authorities said that as many as 179 passengers and crew may have been on board the vessel.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said that there’s a likelihood ”based on the fact that they had 179 passengers on board…there is likelihood that they may encounter more bodies there.

“But right now, the focus and the concentration is on searching and recovering as much as possible bodies from the vessel,”  Phillips said, adding that the authorities are also facilitating the release of bodies to  loved ones. (CMC)

Husbands plans to open riding school

Stefan Walker
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Husbands plans to open riding school

Barbados’ most decorated jockey is looking to take professional horse racing in Barbados to the next level.

Hall of Fame jockey Patrick Husbands, one of the best ever to come from this country, is looking to ensure Barbados produces the next generation of world-class riders by establishing a riding school on the island, to repay the sport that transformed his life.

The racing legend, whose glittering career spans more than three decades and over 3 700 winners, has begun laying the groundwork for the ambitious project and recently met with Minister of Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith and senior ministry officials to discuss the initiative.

“I want to give back to the sport that has given me so much,” Husbands said recently, adding that the proposed academy would provide aspiring jockeys with the technical skills, discipline and professional mindset needed to compete successfully on the international stage. (SW/PR)

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Move to upgrade hurricane shelters

Carlos Atwell
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Move to upgrade hurricane shelters

Some hurricane shelters in the region are old and unfit for purpose, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is working to improve them.

CDEMA’s programme manager (preparedness and response), Mandela Christian, was speaking to the media yesterday following the opening ceremony of a three-day United Nations (UN) workshop, funded by the European Union, titled the Caribbean Advanced Emergency Shelter Training Of Trainers, part of the Resilient Caribbean Project. It was held in the UN House, Marine Gardens, Christ Church.

“From what we have seen, it’s that a number of shelters are not purpose-built facilities. It’s like schools and community centres that are being used as shelters, and some of these facilities have been there for a while. So, they have been through a bit of wear and tear over the years, and sometimes the facilities and amenities in those facilities are not adequate.

“So, we have been encouraging various governments, ministries and agencies responsible for shelters to integrate those recommendations when they go retrofitting the shelters. And they are building the facilities in accordance with these new standards,” he noted. (CA)

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Death toll rises to 41 in Guyana boat tragedy

Nationnews Desk
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Death toll rises to 41 in Guyana boat tragedy

The death toll in Guyana’s boat tragedy has risen to 41 as search and recovery operations continue.

In an update issued this afternoon, the Government of Guyana said 77 people have been rescued, while 41 bodies have now been recovered.

The first recovery for the day was made at 10:15 a.m., with 14 bodies retrieved by 1 p.m.

Search efforts have been intensified, with 16 vessels deployed in the wreckage area. Authorities have also expanded the designated search zone by an additional 400 square miles, extending to Waini Point, in an effort to locate any remaining persons.

French and local divers continue underwater search and recovery operations at the wreckage site.

The identification of recovered bodies is being carried out by family members at Suddie Hospital, while all bodies recovered during the operation are being transferred to the custody of the Guyana Police Force at the established facility at Charity River Dam. (PR)

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