Motorists are being advised of traffic changes in Bridgetown this evening to facilitate the We Gatherin’ Last Lap Street Party along the Princess Alice Highway.
The Barbados Police Service said the event will take place today, Wednesday, December 31, and traffic changes will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
Police said the Princess Alice Highway will be closed from its junction with Mortuary Road, between the Fisherman’s Corner and Immigration buildings, to the traffic lights at Redman Drive and Prescod Boulevard. Only Transport Board buses and public service vehicles will be allowed access.
Several traffic diversions will also be implemented. Vehicles travelling along Hinks Street towards the Princess Alice Highway will be diverted onto Mortuary Road, while traffic from Prescod Boulevard will be redirected onto Redman Drive. Vehicles exiting the Barbados Port Authority will be required to turn left onto Prescod Boulevard and proceed to the Elsie Payne Roundabout.
No parking will be permitted along Princess Alice Highway, Hinks Street, or Redman Drive, except for the purpose of picking up or setting down passengers.
Parking for VIPs and specially invited guests will be available at the rear of the Pelican Craft Centre, the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation, and at the entrance to the Bridgetown Port.
Police warned that anyone who contravenes the traffic rules or fails to comply with instructions from uniformed officers may be fined $500 or face up to three months’ imprisonment. The restrictions do not apply to emergency vehicles or those operated by the Barbados Police Service, Barbados Defence Force, or Barbados Fire Service.
Police officers will be deployed to manage traffic, and the Barbados Police Service has thanked the public for its cooperation while apologising for any inconvenience caused.
The body found in a grassy area at Maxwell, Christ Church yesterday was identified by a relative as that of Nicholas Narad Eastmond of nearby Hilton Road in the same district.
Police received an anonymous call around 12:30 p.m. yesterday and the 39 year old was found on a property at the junction of Laynes Road. There was blood on his face.
Investigations are continuing and anyone who may have witnessed this incident or have any information that may assist, is asked to contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1800-8477, Police Emergency 211 or the Oistins Police Station at 418-2612 or 418-2608. (PR/SAT)
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Update
Police have launched an investigation after the body of a man was discovered in a bushy area along Maxwell Main Road, Christ Church, this afternoon.
Assistant Superintendent Victor Brewster, Senior Investigating Officer attached to the Southern Division, said police at the Oistins Police Station received a report from an anonymous caller shortly after 12:30 p.m. today.
Officers responded and found the body of a male lying in bushes along Maxwell Main Road at its junction with Laynes Road. There were no signs of life.
As a result, an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death has been initiated.
Police are appealing to anyone who may have information about activities in the area during the course of last night or this morning to come forward. Persons are asked to contact police at 418-2612 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-8477.
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Earlier story
Police confirmed a body was found at Laynes Road, Maxwell, Christ Church.
One man was confirmed injured following a shooting incident at the gas station at the junction of Deacons Road and Black Rock, St Michael, around 11:10 a.m. today.
The Nation understands a man and a woman arranged to collect a car at the gas station when they were approached by an armed man wearing a mask. He robbed the woman of her property and discharged the firearm, injuring the man before fleeing the area.
Ambulance personnel treated the victim at the scene.
Investigations are continuing and anyone who may have witnessed this incident or have any information that may assist, is asked to contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1800-8477, Police Emergency at 211 or the Black Rock Police Station at 417- 7500 or 417-7501. (PR/SAT)
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Earlier story
There are reports reaching the Nation of a shooting at the junction of Black Rock and Deacons, St Micheal.
Initial information is that two people were injured in the incident.
The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it is providing a grant of US$190,000 to support the hosting of regional events and conferences that advance the growth and competitiveness of the Caribbean’s Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs).
CDB said that the funding is being provided through its Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) and that the deadline for applications is January 31, next year.
Established in 2017, CIIF enables the region’s cultural and creative industries to become globally competitive by fostering innovation, collaboration, and sustainability. The fund delivers technical and grant support to stakeholders across the Bank’s19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs).
The CDB said that the proposals are for events and conferences scheduled between March 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027 that address key development priorities for CCIs and that eligible activities should focus on facilitating policy dialogue to strengthen the enabling environment for CCIs.
These include building capacity for micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) to improve competitiveness; enhancing sector data and market intelligence; promoting marketplace and trade activities; or preserving cultural heritage.
“CDB, through this grant call, aims to support home-grown activities that help unlock pathways for our creative Caribbean talent and businesses to become even more empowered,” said CIIF coordinator, Malene Joseph, adding “beyond facilitating necessary policy dialogue and building data-driven insights CIIF is further enabling creative MSMEs by offering financial support to these targeted events”.
The region’s premier financial institution said that six grants ranging from US$20,000 to US$50,000, will be awarded and that applicants must be formally registered entities, including Business Support Organisations (BSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), universities, Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), or government agencies serving the Creative Industries sector.
Entities must have at least three years’ experience hosting industry events and provide co-financing of at least 10 per cent of the total project budget.
Established in 2017, CIIF enables the region’s cultural and creative industries to become globally competitive by fostering innovation, collaboration, and sustainability. The fund delivers technical and grant support to stakeholders across the Bank’s19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs). (CMC)
Having played a major role in helping England secure their first Test match win in Australia in 11 years, Barbadian Jacob Bethell has his eyes set on securing the all-important number three spot in the batting lineup.
Called up to replace Ollie Pope for the Boxing Day fourth Test in Melbourne, Bethell hit the topscore of 40 in England’s second innings which helped them register a four-wicket win, their first of the series.
With his performance, it is anticipated the left-handed batsman will also feature in the fifth and final Test, slated to begin on January 4 in Sydney.
And while the 22-year-old made his crucial knock batting at number four, his aim is to cement himself at the number three position.
“I like three. You come in when the ball is new and in some scenarios the ball’s going all over the shop, but in other scenarios it presents opportunities to score when bowlers are trying to take wickets and the field is attacking there’s loads of gaps.
“I’ve still got a lot more to do to call it my position. I would like to (make the spot my own). I would like to just nail down any role in the team. If you’re in the XI and contributing to winning I’m pretty happy with that,” Bethell said. (CMC)
Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former US President John F Kennedy, has died aged 35.
Her family announced her death in a social media post shared by the John F Kennedy Library Foundation, writing: “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.”
In November, Schlossberg, a climate journalist, announced her diagnosis of an aggressive form of cancer. She said in an essay that she had been given less than a year to live.
Schlossberg was the daughter of designer Edwin Schlossberg and diplomat Caroline Kennedy, and is survived by her husband George Moran and their two children, three-year-old Edwin and one-year-old Josephine.
In an article published last month in The New Yorker titled, “A Battle With My Blood,” Schlossberg revealed she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in May 2024, after giving birth to her second child.
“My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” she wrote.
Schlossberg described the treatments she received, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but shared that doctors did not give her a good prognosis.
She also wrote of the pain she feared her passing would cause for her family, which has endured multiple personal tragedies. Her grandfather, President Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963 and her uncle, John F Kennedy Jr, died in a plane crash in 1999.
Her younger brother, Jack Schlossberg, is running for Congress in New York.
“For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry,” Schlossberg wrote.
“Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” she said.
In her essay, Schlossberg also expressed disappointment in her relative Robert F Kennedy Jr’s appointment to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Another relative, Maria Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California, paid tribute to her “sweet, beloved Tatiana” as someone who “loved her life”.
“She created a beautiful life with her extraordinary husband George, and children Eddie and Josie. She fought like a warrior. She was valiant, strong, courageous.”
“Tatiana was a great journalist, and she used her words to educate others about the earth and how to save it”, Shriver wrote on Instagram.
Before her widely-read essay about her diagnosis, Schlossberg forged a successful career as a climate journalist.
Schlossberg authored the book “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have”. She also wrote about climate and other beats for the New York Times.
In December 2021, she reported on local experiments to harness the energy of the London Underground to provide heat to homes, in an effort to fight climate change.
“I think climate change is the biggest story in the world, and it’s a story about everything,” she told NBC News in 2019. “It’s about science and nature, but it’s also about politics and health and business. To me, looking at this as a journalist, it seemed like a really important story to tell.”
“And if I could help communicate about it, that might inspire other people to get involved and work on the issue,” she said. (BBC News)
Those with hopes of finding a reservation for Old Year’s Night celebrations will have to move quickly as many restaurants and hotels are reporting heavy or full bookings.
Manager of Radisson Aquatica Resort in Aquatic Gap, St Michael, Gerry Lewis, said recently they were expecting a sold-out crowd for the night with a rush of reservations coming immediately after Christmas.
“We have a full house with a 100 per cent occupancy on that night, so we will have non-resident bookings, which are local bookings as well as our in-house guests. The bookings coming in at the moment are driven by non-residents,” he explained.
At Primo Bar & Bistro, all tables have been booked at the ocean-front diner in St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church.
“Since we opened we always had a full house Old Year’s Night,” owner Zary Evelyn told the DAILY NATION.
“We could have filled it twice if only we had the space. Bookings started as early as the summer, and that included some people who already made their vacation plans and repeat customers who know what it’s like around Old Year’s Night,” he added.
On the night, 75 per cent of their bookings will be by visitors.
“We didn’t stray too far from our regular menu. We just added a few little touches to it, some new sides and changed the variety a little bit, but a lot of our classics remain on the menu,” he said.
Buzo Osteria, on Hastings Main Road, also in Christ Church, is also expecting a full house. Owner Danny Mansour said up to 80 per cent of their reservations were from locals, many of which were made as early as the summer.
“Old Year’s Night is one of those nights that we try to cater to our loyal local market. We will be running our a la carte menu. [We want] people to come and enjoy a good meal. We’ve been doing it for 364 days and we will maintain that throughout the entire Old Year’s Night,” he said.
On the West Coast, front desk personnel at upscale The Cliff in Derricks, St James, informed that they only had a few reservations remaining.
At the Sea Shed Restaurant in Mullins, St Peter, events manager Shania Gittens said they would be at full capacity for the Old Year’s Night dinner and after-party.
She said 300 patrons were expected for the dinner that would feature a Greek-inspired menu.
“It’s a four-course dining style for the restaurant and that will probably be the hit for the night, and then small bites for the party people. The party is drinks-inclusive starting at 9 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m. We have a fire show, a violinist and a live DJ before and after midnight and fireworks as well,” she said.
Jacqueline Lloyd intended to spend Monday celebrating her 61st birthday, but it rained on her parade.
Instead, she found herself cleaning out her waterlogged, dilapidated house for several hours and wondering where she was going to lay her weary head.
“I am depressed,” she said, looking at several buckets, filled with dirty water, which she was forced to place throughout her small wooden house during the many hours of rainfall Sunday night.
Lloyd, who lives in Villa Road, Brittons Hill, St Michael, lamented that everything she did to make herself comfortable in the house for Christmas, such as new curtains, sheets and foodstuff, was damaged when the rain poured in through the old ceiling.
Choking back tears, the mother of two, who was previously featured in the NATION pleading for assistance to have her house rebuilt, said the house in which she has lived for the past 27 years, had deteriorated to the extent where it had become uninhabitable.
She said that on Sunday night, as she was kneeling on the floor praying, the rain started to “tumble down”.
“I had to run and get buckets and all through the night I throwing out water from the buckets because they were filling up fast.”
Jacqueline Lloyd celebrated her birthday Monday by emptying buckets filled with water at her dilapidated home. (Picture by Maria Bradshaw.)
Pointing to her small twin bed, Lloyd said she tried to position it so it would not get wet, but that proved futile and she was forced to lie in the foetal position on the rain-soaked bed.
“I used to go to Urban (Urban Development Commission) back and forth. Urban come and they say it can’t repair, so they would have to rebuild the entire house.”
She said the commission further informed her that because of the small size of the land, it would have to build a bigger property for her and her daughter who lives next door. However, Lloyd said she rejected the offer because she and her daughter were estranged and involved in a legal matter.
However, she said there were several vacant spots of land in the Brittons Hill area which Government owned and on which she was told by different Government officials that a house would be constructed for her.
“When the Chinese came out here and built the first steel house, they come and tell me that I will get a house too,” but that never materialised, she said.
Lloyd said she had been in contact with parliamentary representative for St Michael South Central, Marsha Caddle, recalling that Caddle visited her during an incoming storm earlier this year and made arrangements for her to go to a shelter.
“She tell me that she didn’t want me to get hurt, but after the storm, you mean you never check back?”
Pointing to rashes and several cuts about her body, Lloyd said she got them from insects in the house while galvanised sheeting was constantly falling from the ceiling and cutting her.
“All of my skin does be itching me. You can see the termites crawling all over the house,” she said, adding that she also did not have a waterborne toilet.
“I went to Marsha (Caddle) about three weeks ago and she told me she submit my case as a priority. I am a Bajan and all kinds of people coming to Barbados and getting houses but I can’t get no help,” said Lloyd, who pointed out that she works every other week for the National Conservation Commission cutting grass along the streets. She said this was preventing her from being able to rent a room as she only received $520 every two weeks.
When contacted, Caddle said: “I prioritised Miss Lloyd with the Urban Development Commission, who similarly prioritised her case. And what she has said is true, that this plot is too small to rebuild a completely new house.
“And Urban said to her, ‘We will build something larger for you that other family members who also are in need of housing solutions can benefit from’. And she said no. She said that the Government cannot tell her who to live with.
“Now, as would always happen, and I have to give credit to the officers at Urban, they tried their best to accommodate people’s wishes and the ways in which they wish to live. But she had to be re-enlisted for that reason because there wasn’t an immediate individual solution for her at the time.”
She added: “I am aware that she is on a list for another project.”
The Police at Central Station are conducting investigations into a stabbing incident which occurred around 3:25 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30th, 2025 along lower Broad Street, Bridgetown, St Michael.
Investigations revealed that there was altercation involving two males, resulting in one of the males receiving a number of wounds about his body.
Ambulance personnel responded to the area, the victim was treated and transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for medical attention.
A person of interest is assisting police with their investigations.
Social Media Blogger Jason Omar Taylor was back in court yesterday for a video post to his Facebook page despite his cell phone having been confiscated by lawmen.
He was fined by the District “A” Traffic Court after admitting he used another device to upload the post.
Taylor, 44, of Pillersdorf Development, Long Gap, St Michael, admitted he used a computer to send an electronic communication, between December 11 and 22, which was menacing in character, to wit: “MN438 is a big s******* b***** . All the ladies does **** s**** up”, intending to cause or was reckless as to whether he caused annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to Rasheed Chandler to whom he intended it to be communicated.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Cindy Greaves said there was a prior incident between the two men, who are neighbours, which resulted in bad blood.
On December 18, the complainant was on social media when he saw a video posted to someone’s account. In the video, Taylor was seen making certain remarks and referring to the complainant.
Taylor posted other videos saying he had been charged for sending a malicious communication and referring to the sergeant who had dealt with him.
The prosecutor further told the court Taylor posted another video in which he declared: “Wunna can’t get me in prison. Wunna ain’t tired charging me?”
The complainant made a report to police and, when interviewed, Taylor admitted uploading the videos on a new phone after his last one had been seized by police.
Greaves further told the court Taylor was currently on bail for similar offences, one of which was before the same court.
Taylor, who was represented by attorney Neville Reid, has 30 previous convictions.
Magistrate Alison Burke fined him $3 000 in three months or six months in prison.
