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Wanted: Turvy Frederick

Nationnews Desk
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Wanted: Turvy Frederick

The Barbados Police Service is appealing to the public for assistance in locating Turvy Frederick, wanted for questioning in connection with serious criminal matters.

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Man charged with firearm and ammunition offences

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Man charged with firearm and ammunition offences

Police have arrested and formally charged 28-year-old Akym Gentile Pollard of Gemswick, St. Philip, for firearm-related offences committed on January 16.

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Three parties unite to form coalition ahead of February general election

Carlos Atwell
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Three parties unite to form coalition ahead of February general election

Three political parties have banded together to form a coalition to contest the February 2026 General Election.

The Conservative Barbados Leadership Party (CBLP), the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the New National Party (NNP) have formed the People’s Coalition for Progress, with mandates to move away from tourism, increase manufacturing, expand agriculture as the largest share of the gross domestic product, and build up the digital and creative sectors.

Leader of the UPP, Lynette Eastmond, said it was “unlikely” they would field 30 candidates, as they still had some logistics to work out. However, she added that they believed 30 constituencies and 22 ministers were too many, an issue they planned to address once elected.

For now, leader of the CBLP, Corey Beckles said he would be running in the City, leader of the NNP Kemar Stuart will contest St John, and Eastmond in St Philip West.


After the meeting, the party leaders, along with their members, walked through town to speak with people and spread the word. (CA)

Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, Jamaican music icon and Third World co-founder, dies at 69

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Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, Jamaican music icon and Third World co-founder, dies at 69

Stephen “Cat” Coore, co-founder of legendary reggae band Third World and one of Jamaica’s most respected musicians, has died.

The iconic guitarist passed away suddenly on Sunday evening, according to a statement from his publicist. He was 69.

Coore was one of the early members of Inner Circle before leaving to start Third World with keyboardist Ibo Cooper.

Third World’s pioneering fusion of reggae, soul, funk, pop, and rock helped shape the reggae-fusion sound and propel Jamaican music onto the global stage.

The band achieved international acclaim with enduring classics such as Now That We’ve Found Love, 96 Degrees in the Shade, and Try Jah Love, becoming one of Jamaica’s longest-running and most successful bands.

Coore, who is celebrated for his exceptional musicianship, compositional brilliance, and deep musical knowledge, was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Jamaican culture and the creative arts.

He leaves behind his wife Lisa, his children, Shiah, Kanna, Stephen, and Ashley, his grandchildren, as well as extended family, bandmates, colleagues, and countless fans across the globe. (Jamaica Observer)

3.5% growth expected

Shawn Cumberbatch
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3.5% growth expected

From five percent down to 3.5 per cent.

That is how Government’s growth expectations have shifted between its second and third Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plans – BERT 2022 and BERT 2026.

Under BERT 2022, Government had said that the economy was “expected to show a strong recovery in 2022 of around ten per cent, predicated on a rebound in tourism and a suit of large private and public sector construction projects”.

“Annual growth is expected to average 4.5 per cent for the next two years. Thereafter, it is expected that investments in the green transition, housing, climate adaptation and a more knowledge-based economy will push growth to the five per cent target,” it stated more than three years ago in the programme document.

However, in the BERT 2026 plan which Minister of Economic Affairs and Investment Kay McConney laid in the House of Assembly last Tuesday, the average growth projection between 2025 and 2029 is now 3.5 per cent.

“The macroeconomic outlook for the BERT 2026 period is framed by Barbados’ continued recovery from the shocks of the last decade and its ongoing structural transition,” the BERT 2026 plan said.

Tourism diversification

“Real GDP growth is projected to average 3.5 per cent annually over the period 2025-2029, driven by tourism diversification, public and private investment in infrastructure and housing, digital economy expansion, and targeted productivity reforms.

“This follows a cumulative economic expansion of over 25 percent between 2021 and 2024, and a streak of 17 quarters of real GDP growth as of September 2025.”

Central Bank of Barbados data shows that after contracting during the COVID-19 pandemic by 13.7 per cent in 2020 and 0.2 per cent in 2021, the economy grew by 16.3 per cent in 2022, 4.2 per cent in 2023 and four per cent in 2024, with growth of 2.7 per cent predicted for 2025.

The BERT 2026 plan said that Barbados was entering the current period “with a stable and resilient macroeconomic foundation”.

“This position reflects over five years of consistent fiscal prudence, structural reform, and policy credibility. However, the road ahead remains complex,” it stated.

“Global economic uncertainty, tightening financial conditions, and climate vulnerability all demand continued prudence and adaptability. The macroeconomic framework for BERT 2026 is therefore structured to preserve hard-won gains, reinforce debt sustainability, and enable strategic investments in resilience, productivity, and inclusive growth.

“It provides the fiscal and macroeconomic anchor that underpins the programme’s goals and sequencing of reforms.”

The BERT 2022 plan’s five per cent growth objective was predicated largely on increased investment.

“BERT 2022 targets a public investment to GDP ratio of 4.2 per cent of GDP in fiscal year 2022/23 and five per cent over the medium term, which amounts to an average of $500 million per year, highest on record,” it stated.

Raise investment ratio

“The Government needs the private sector to raise its investment ratio from the current 8.5 per cent of GDP – approximately $975 million to date – to 15 per cent of GDP, an annual average of $1.9 billion, in support of the targeted growth.

“Similarly, foreign direct investment today stands at 4.2 per cent of GDP, approximately $482 million, and is projected to move to nine per cent, approximately $1.14 billion, five per cent of GDP, over the medium term of 2023 to 2027. This ranges from an average of $550 million to $630 million in the relevant period,” it added.

Under BERT 2022, Government had said that there would be “growth enhancing structural reforms in order to generate sustainable, inclusive growth”.

“These growth enhancing reforms include measures to improve the supply of skilled labour and risk capital and to improve the speed, cost, predictability and transparency of Government licensing,” it outlined more than three years ago.”

While credit rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) are projecting that the economy’s growth will average two per cent in the next few years, below Government’s predicted three per cent, Central Bank Governor Dr The Most Honourable Kevin Greenidge said at this third quarter press conference in October that he was confident that with major investments, gross domestic product could expand by five per cent.

Greenidge said credit rating agencies and other organisations like his former employer, the International Monetary Fund, tended to be “very cautious and very, very conservative in projections”.

Mentioning improvements in investment, a lower debt-to-GDP ratio of 100.1 per cent at the end of September, and higher foreign reserves, he asserted that “the underlying economic fundamentals are stronger than they ever were before”. (SC)

Trump links Greenland threat to Nobel Peace Prize snub, EU eyes trade retaliation

Nationnews Desk
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Trump links Greenland threat to Nobel Peace Prize snub, EU eyes trade retaliation

U.S. President Donald Trump linked his drive to take control of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he no longer thought “purely of Peace” as the row over the island on Monday threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe.

Trump has intensified his push to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, threatening punitive tariffs on countries which stand in his way and prompting the European Union to weigh hitting back with its own measures.

The dispute is threatening to upend the NATO alliance that has underpinned Western security for decades and which was already under strain over the war in Ukraine and Trump’s refusal to protect allies which do not spend enough on defence.

It has also plunged trade relations between the EU and the U.S., the bloc’s biggest export market, into renewed uncertainty after the two sides painstakingly reached a trade deal last year in response to Trump’s swingeing tariffs.

In a written message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere that was seen by Reuters, Trump said: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

he Norwegian Nobel Committee annoyed Trump by awarding the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize not to him but to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. She gave her medal last week to Trump during a White House meeting, though the Nobel Committee said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.

In his message, Trump also repeated his accusation that Denmark cannot protect Greenland from Russia or China.

“… and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” he wrote, adding: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland.

EU leaders will discuss options at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday. One option is a package of tariffs on 93 billion euros ($108 billion) of U.S. imports that could automatically kick in on February 6 after a six-month suspension.

Another option is the “Anti-Coercion Instrument” (ACI), which has never yet been used and which could limit access to public tenders, investments or banking activity or restrict trade in services, in which the U.S. has a surplus with the bloc, including in digital services.

The EU said it was continuing to engage “at all levels” with the U.S. but said the use of its ACI was not off the table.

The EU’s efforts at dialogue are likely to be a key theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump is set to deliver a keynote address on Wednesday in his first appearance at the event in six years.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, meeting in Berlin, pledged a united, clear, European response to any additional U.S. tariffs.

“Germany and France agree: we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” Klingbeil said at the German finance ministry, where he was hosting his French counterpart.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for calm discussion between the allies, adding that he did not believe Trump was considering military action to seize Greenland.

“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests,” he said, suggesting that Britain would not retaliate against any new U.S. tariffs.

Russia declined to comment on whether the U.S. designs on Greenland were good or bad but said it was hard to disagree with experts that Trump would “go down in… world history” if he did take control of the island. (Reuters)

Social workers to visit pensioner facing eviction

Carlos Atwell
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Social workers to visit pensioner facing eviction

The fate of Simon Ruck remains uncertain, but, for now, he is still staying in his rented, one-room space.

Yesterday, the 65-year-old said he had not heard from the landlord concerning his eviction notice and was told social workers from the Social Empowerment Agency would be visiting today at the St Michael apartment complex.

In the last SATURDAY SUN,

Ruck’s sister Pamela Lashley raised the alarm concerning his living conditions.

She said her brother, who had limited mobility due to declining health, had no bathroom and used a bucket to relieve himself, all while paying $150 a week to rent a single room.

Eviction notice

She said when she spoke to the landlord, the reply came in the form of an eviction notice indicating that her brother had to vacate the premises by January 18.

The landlord, who requested anonymity, said he had little choice but to evict Ruck after he incurred a mammoth water bill.

He added that the pensioner had once forgotten to turn off a pipe and left it running for three days, which incurred a bill of $17 000.

“What Mr Ruck did to me, he placed my property in serious jeopardy of the Barbados Water Authority selling off my property.

“If monies are not coming in to pay the bills, what [am] I to do?” the landlord asked. (CA)

Bradshaw says leadership crucial

Colville Mounsey
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Bradshaw says leadership crucial

Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw says Barbados now stands at a crossroads where leadership, experience and steadiness will determine how the country navigates an increasingly uncertain global and regional environment.

She was speaking last Saturday night at the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) City of Bridgetown nomination meeting at Westbury Primary School, moments before Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced February 11 as the date for the next General Election.

Bradshaw framed the party’s campaign as a continuation of firm and tested leadership during challenging times.

“Leadership must matter in this country,” she told supporters, pointing to economic recovery, employment levels and Barbados’ restored international standing as evidence of the BLP’s stewardship.

“A leadership that has stood firm, that has told us to stay the course, that has taken us out of the downgrades and put us back where Barbados is recognised again by our Caribbean brothers.”

She welcomed former Democratic Labour Party (DLP) figures Michael Lashley, newly nominated for The City of Bridgetown, and Tyra Trotman (St Michael Central), describing their decisions to join the BLP as reflective of confidence in the party’s leadership rather than opportunism.

“What is it that has drawn Michael Lashley and Tyra Trotman to the Barbados Labour Party? Michael put it the right way – he said he is here because of the leadership of the Barbados Labour Party.”

Acknowledging Lashley’s past criticism of the BLP, Bradshaw struck a conciliatory note while emphasising unity within the party.

“Michael Lashley, I forgive you, because you were giving licks when we [were] in Opposition. But you are here tonight as a man coming to the people to represent the people of The City of Bridgetown.”

She added that Lashley’s legal background and experience in housing policy – he being a former Minister of Housing and Lands under the DLP – would be assets, particularly as the Government continued its focus on community development, housing delivery and legal reform.

At the same time, she warned that the BLP’s openness to new members did not signal a dilution of standards.

“The Barbados Labour Party is a party for all Barbadians. But we will not hesitate to treat you the way we treat the . . . if you don’t follow the orders and the way of the Barbados Labour Party.”

Bradshaw, who is also Minister of Transport and Works, said the current political moment required proven leadership rather than experimentation, citing global instability, regional pressures and climate-related challenges.

She added the party had already adjusted how it plans and delivers infrastructure works, particularly road rehabilitation, to account for changing weather patterns.

“Our dry season essentially is January to June. When people see roadworks starting, it is not because of any election. It is because this Barbados Labour Party has planned its infrastructure programme to deliver on the promises we have made to the country,” she said.

She highlighted ongoing work on bridges and major roads, noting that long-standing studies had been revisited and updated rather than shelved.

“We do not believe in leaving documents idle and spending money simply for people to benefit from consultancies.”

She also pushed back against criticism of Government’s handling of transport and public infrastructure, pointing to the expansion of the electric bus fleet as evidence of forward planning.

Barbados now has 121 electric buses in operation, the largest such fleet in this part of the hemisphere, she said. (CLM)

Two killed in separate accidents

Nationnews Desk
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Two killed in separate accidents

Update

A motorcyclist has died following a collision with a motorvan along Searles Road at its junction with Leadvale, Christ Church, on Sunday afternoon.

Police at District B Station said the crash occurred around 3:18 p.m. Initial investigations indicated that the motorcyclist was travelling towards Lowlands while the motorvan was heading in the opposite direction when the collision occurred.

The motorcyclist was transported by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Investigations into the fatal collision are continuing, and police are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to contact District B Station at 437-4311.

In a separate road fatality later the same afternoon, a cyclist was killed in a collision around 3:45 p.m. while travelling in the direction of Rices. The cyclist died at the scene as a result of injuries sustained in the incident.

Police from District C Station are conducting investigations into that collision and are urging anyone with information to contact the station at 416-8200.

****

Earlier story

Police have confirmed two road fatalities this Sunday, one at Crane, St Philip, and another in the area of Searles, Christ Church.

More details as they come.

Avalanches kill eight skiers in Austrian Alps

Nationnews Desk
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Avalanches kill eight skiers in Austrian Alps

Eight people were killed in a series of avalanches in the Austrian Alps on Saturday, following heavy snowfall and dangerous conditions in the region.

Five people were killed in two avalanches in the Pongau area near Salzburg, local mountain rescue officials said.

Later that day, three Czech skiers died after being buried by an avalanche in Pusterwald, about 70 miles (110km) away, police confirmed.

Poor conditions have led to the deaths of a number of people in the Alps over the past week in neighbouring Switzerland and also in France.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families,”said Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service.

“This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is.”

The incidents in Pongau saw seven ski tourers hit near Finsterkopf mountain, killing four and seriously injuring another.

In the same area, a female ski tourer was also buried and killed in open alpine terrain.

Further avalanches were recorded in the region on Saturday, but no-one was injured.

Following the avalanche that killed three skiers in Pusterwald, four others in the same group rescued by emergency crews.

“Emergency responders were able to locate and partially dig out the buried victims. Despite immediate rescue efforts, the three individuals were found dead,” a police statement said.

The fatalities follow a deadly week in the alps.

Last weekend in France, six skiers died after being caught in avalanches in various Alpine resorts and in western Austria, a 58-year-old skier died in in the Tyrolean resort of Weerberg.

On Tuesday, an avalanche killed a 13-year-old Czech boy skiing in Austria’s Bad Gastein resort.

And in neighbouring Switzerland, a German man was killed in an avalanche, and four other people were injured, as they were cross-country skiing on Friday. (BBC)

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