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Cancer survivors take the runway

Gercine Carter
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Cancer survivors take the runway

Scores of patrons turned out at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed for last weekend’s “Shades of Purple” fashion show.

The fundraiser in celebration of Cancer Support Services’ 30th anniversary focused the spotlight on Barbadians journeying with cancer, highlighting survival and overcoming.

In an evening of fashion, dance and song, the Victorious Ladies Beyond Surviving and the Conquering Men of CSS, organisers of the show, presented an entertaining and uplifting picture for anyone battling with the anxiety and fear of the dreaded disease, reinforcing their belief that a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence.

Several designers bought into the vision of Joyann Joseph, Seanette Skeete and Kayshamra Hamilton-Steed, organisers of the fashion show and gave patrons a feast of their creativity.

It was displayed in Pat Brathwaite’s Paju Creations; Corine Clarke’s “We Fine Linens”; in the accessories designed by Karen Thorne, while selections from the racks of Cheryl Hoyte’s and Jan Blenman’s popular “C&J” boutique and from the fashion label “Real-S-Estate served to enhance the presentation.

The models were mainly survivors of breast, colon and cervical cancer; multiple myeloma and lymphoma, and some were accompanied by their children on the fashion walk. Their performance was greeted with sustained applause, in acknowledgement of their courage and positive attitude.

Patrons were particularly moved by that segment of the show in which models paraded “the colours of cancer”.

MC Shellaine Rice was an entertainment act on her own, adding a special flavour to the event. (GC)

St Joseph, St Thomas residents frustrated by outages

Josue Ramirez Nelson
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St Joseph, St Thomas residents frustrated by outages

Some Barbadians living in St Joseph and St Thomas are seeing little to celebrate this May Day, saying they feel as though they have been left out to dry after prolonged water disruptions.

From Shop Hill in St Thomas to Mellows, Spa Hill and Chimborazo in St Joseph, it was woe after woe yesterday as they complained about dry taps and late or infrequent visits from Barbados Water Authority (BWA) tankers.

In Shop Hill, Rosalyn Richards said she and her family have been unable to cook a single pot of food since they lost the water supply last Saturday. Her household, she added, has struggled to do simple things like laundry, and they are depending on fast food, while rationing what is left of a gallon bottle of purified water.

“We have no water and we have to be carrying water to wash the clothes, flush the toilet; it real rough. A vat (BWA tanker) came up once a Monday night and it hasn’t come back since,” she lamented.

A common complaint among residents was the infrequent visits from the vats, which they said arrived around 10 o’clock at night when they were either asleep or getting ready for bed.

Shopkeeper Kenneth Nicholls said it was hard to pin down the tankers when they passed, as the drivers offered little warning.

“You can barely get water and the vats come and drive straight down the road; they don’t even beep. By this time it’s late and people are shut up and they don’t know,” he told the DAILY NATION.

Nicholls said the water comes back on at a low pressure around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., but many people would miss the chance to collect some before the outages resumed at 6 o’clock.

“Just last night [Wednesday] it came on while I was sleeping. We tried to collect and store as much as we could but by 6 o’clock it was gone and there was no water,” he added.

Retiree Marva Downie, who resides in Shop Hill Terrace, said adequate water supply has been a persistent problem in the area for over 20 years. There were highs and lows, she recalled, but said things had worsened since the start of April.

“From Sunday, our pipes were off. You might get a trickling about 2 or 3 o’clock on mornings and by 6 o’clock when people ready to go to work, there’s no water.”

The 73-year-old said she was becoming increasingly frustrated by the situation, exemplified by the previous night when a water tanker came around 10 p.m. as she and her husband were preparing for bed. She said it stayed for less than 15 minutes, giving them a very narrow window in which to collect water.

Eleanor Thompson said that better communication was needed.

“We need to be told when we’re going to be out of water; not getting up for the day and finding out that there’s no water and we have to do without,” she said.

As a farmer, Thompson tends to her garden as well as sheep and chickens, but the water outages, coupled with the dry conditions, have placed a strain on her operation.

“It’s normally an annual thing where we don’t get water, but then the water comes on when we’re sleeping so we don’t know. I have a 1 000-gallon tank in the yard but I don’t want to use all that water. So I have to nip at it.

“Anytime the vat passes, I will fill up a can for me and a few buckets there, but that is gone in about two days, so I’m in limbo,” she said.

In Chimborazo, Joyann Hurdle said she has been without flowing water for nearly four months.

“They need to do something about it. Even if the pipes aren’t running, the vat men can come and give you a little water. You know what is five days without water?” she asked in exasperation.

“I called on Monday. I called Tuesday. I call yesterday (Wednesday), and then called again when I got home, but no tanker never came out. A tanker went in Mellows three times on Tuesday and no one ever came back to Chimborazo.

Three trips to standpine

“This is really bad and I’m a bad asthmatic. If the standpipe is running, I make three trips to it a day because the sun is hot, and then I will start wheezing really hard. I leave home at 4:30 on mornings, so by the time I get back home it’s no time to go anywhere to bring back water. I’m not a person that complains, but this is really hard,” she added.

In Melvin Hill, some residents said the water had been off for a month.

Orlando Carrington said he has to travel to Bathsheba, also in St Joseph, periodically to collect water from any running standpipes.

“Sometimes we have to leave here, and if we have a friend with a vehicle, we have to go all up to Bathsheba to get water just so that we can bathe our skin or have some drinking water, or water to cook food for our children.

“The water comes back at 3 a.m. when everybody sleeping, so you have to get up and collect some water, otherwise it is gone by 5 o’clock and then you have nothing. Sometimes the trucks come but they do as people are coming from work, leaving many unable to collect the water they need,” he said.

The BWA was contacted yesterday for comment, but no response was received by press time.

However, in a release on Wednesday, the state agency said it was experiencing low reservoir levels at two of its facilities in St Joseph and St George, resulting in low pressure or water outages in districts in several parishes.

They included Airy Hill, Sugar Hill, Todds Corner, Chimborazo, Fruitful Hill, Church Gap Clifton Hill, Clifton Tenantry, Coconut Grove, Lammings, Braggs Hill, Spa Hill and Bissex in St Joseph; and Proute, Forty Acres, White Hill Tenantry, Vaucluse Tenantry, Shop Hill, Grand View, Christie Village, Dukes Tenantry, Welches and Applewhaites in St Thomas.

“The Authority will make every effort to help persons in the affected districts via tanker while the problem persists,” it added, while apologising “for the inconvenience these service disruptions may cause”. (JRN)

Six injured in Washington state school stabbing

Nationnews Desk
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Six injured in Washington state school stabbing

Six people have been injured in a stabbing at a school in the US state of Washington following an “altercation”, police said.

Five high school students and an adult security guard were taken to hospital on Thursday, Tacoma Fire Department confirmed, adding that all were in stable condition.

Police said it detained the suspect, a student at Foss High School, who was also injured in the incident.

The suspect was booked on five counts of first-degree assault, Shelbie Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Tacoma Police Department, said.

Police responded to reports of an active assault at 13:35 local time (21:35 BST). The fire department said it also attended the scene, where it treated and transported six patients, who were taken to hospital.

Four students were initially reported by Tacoma Fire Department to be in critical condition. One adult had minor injuries and the suspect also had minor injuries.

The authorities later confirmed that all patients were in stable condition as of 16:00 local time.

Boyd told media outlets that the incident arose after “some type of an altercation”.

She added that police arrived promptly and were “able to locate the individual” and secure the scene “pretty quickly”.

The investigation would “carry on into the night”, Boyd said, urging anyone with video of the incident to get in touch with police.

Foss High School will remain shut on Friday following the incident, according to an alert on the school’s website. It will reopen on Monday 4 May, with counsellors on site to support staff and students.

In 2007, 17-year-old Samnang Kok was shot and killed in a hallway at Foss High School. The shooter, 18-year-old Douglas Chanthabouly, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 23 years in prison. (BBC News)

PM Browne leads ABLP to victory in general election

Nationnews Desk
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PM Browne leads ABLP to victory in general election

Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s gamble of calling a general election nearly two years ahead of the constitutional deadline, paid off on Thursday when he guided his ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) to a commanding victory.

Preliminary results show that the ABLP had won 15 of the 17 seats at stake in the election, reversing the slim victory it had achieved in January 2023, when the party scrapped home by a 9-7 margin.

“We are humbled and honoured by your support and confidence. Now is the time to move forward together, build on our gains and continue our work on this long journey toward the betterment of our society and the upliftment of our people. From each and every one of us, THANK YOU,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne wrote on the Facebook of the ruling party.

In his address to supporters, Browne said he was grateful for the confidence showed in his leadership and that of the ABLP to continue the socio-economic development of Antigua and Barbuda.

“We are here to serve all the people of Antigua and Barbuda. Education, jobs, business opportunities will be open to all who are prepared to seize them  and I say to my distinguished countrymen and countrywomen …when we create these opportunities for you, please seize them. Watch video

“And I add here again that no one will be left behind who is willing to move forward. And notwithstanding your political persuasion, this is not a time for laggards. This is a time for all of us to perform, to increase our productivity and to make sure that Antigua and Barbuda becomes one of the most productive small island states globally.”

He told supporters that the work has already begun and that across the nation projects are underway, transforming communities, strengthening our economy and improving lives.

“And we will build on that foundation, advancing new initiatives that uplift our people, enhance our dignity and deepen our pride as citizens of Antigua and Barbuda.

“And I want to say to you that we must remain a dignified people. We must not cower to anyone. We must not be timid. We must stand tall in every forum, every regional, every international forum as Antiguans and Barbudans.

“And as we build on the foundation and we advance new initiatives that uplift our people, we will make sure that we continue to enhance the dignity of our country,” Browne said, adding that now is not a moment of triumph.

“So just in case anyone expected me to gloat, at the end of the day, the contest is over. From all indications, the people who have supported us to get between 15 of the 17 seats, that in itself is a resounding mandate for which we are eternally grateful,” he added.

Preliminary figures released by the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) show that the leader of  the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), Jamale Pringle, was the only candidate of  the party to have withstood the ABLP  onslaught, while on the sister isle of Barbuda, the incumbent Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) retained the seat polling 609 votes as against 398 for Kendra Beazer, a former BPM member, who contested the poll on behalf of the ABLP.

Pringle defeated the ABLP’s Anthony Smith

“I want to than all Antiguans and Barbudans who have supported the United Progressive Party. We’re indeed grateful and you will hear from us in a short time,” Pringle said, extending congratulations to the ABLP.

He said while he is thankful for winning his seat and “we still maintain the constituency under the column of the United Progressive Party…there’s no second place in politics.

“Just as we did in 2018, we’ll still be standing. We can’t get enough of the United Progressive Party. We’ll still be there,” he added.

Among the other defeated candidates was Harold Lovell, a former finance minister, who had following his defeat in the January 2023 general election, quit active politics. Lovell lost to Anthony Smith in the All Saints West constituency.

Prime Minister Browne, who easily retained the St. John’s City West seat he has represented since 1999, becomes the first prime minister here to have won four consecutive general elections.

He had called the snap general election telling supporters that the campaign was a “Renaissance” and victory was necessary to continue the progress the country had been achieving under the ABLP administration since 2014.

Among the other victorious ABLP candidates is Browne’s wife, Maria, the public works minister in the last government, who easily defeated the UPP’s Ashworth Azille in the St. John’s Rural East seat.

The three independent candidates were unable to make any significant impact, all losing their deposits.

Regional pollster Peter Wickham said that the results underscore the division within the opposition party noting that the strong showing in 2023, when the UPP won seven seats had “completely evaporated.

“I am seeing overall a swing of more than five per cent, which will allow the ABLP to probably win all the seats on the mainland,” the Barbados-based Wickham, who conducted opinion polls ahead of the general election, told television viewers.

“The swing is consistent,” he said, adding “I am happy that the polling was telling us exactly what is happening.

Professor Justin Robinson, the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of its Five Islands Campus here, said that the election results answered a number of concerns that had been confronting the electorate.

“Can I see this person as leading my country and being the prime minister?  And you’re also looking at candidates, you know, who might be the health minister….So people are looking at that,” said Robinson, one of the members of the panel on the state-owned ABS Radio and Television.

“Now, so that seems to me said to be one of the UPP’s weaknesses And I think one of the challenges, one of the issues going forward, I think the challenge is that the electorate has actually chosen a leader for them if things go to form.”

He said that among the other contenders for leading the opposition party, Pringle has emerged as the “only man standing today,”.

He said that it also reminds him of the results in St. Vincent and the Grenadines “where a lot of people had argued that the election result was a rejection of Gonsalves, but he was the only man who held the seat.

“And one of the thesis or arguments tonight is that the UPP’s loss is in part a rejection of Pringle as leader. But he’s the only man holding his seat. So that’s an interesting dynamic,” Professor Robinson added.

But Wickham believes that Pringle should step down even though he may be the lone UPP candidate to have won a seat in the election.

“My sense now is that I don’t believe that he will lead the UPP for much longer. I think that they will revert to a situation where they have extra parliamentary leadership. I mean, I think if they’re wise, they will do that.

“And if he is wise, he will essentially give them the opportunity for doing that, because I do agree that it appears as though the electorate has said they put their confidence in him. But the reality is that he had the strongest seat. So that’s the reason why he’s the last man standing.

“It’s the same thing for Gonsalves. He had the strongest seat. And the same thing for Alan Chastanet (in St. Lucia). He also had the strongest seat, and that’s the reason why when all of the swing goes, he is the one that’s most able to resist the swing.

“But that doesn’t have a lot to do with leadership. In many instances, it has a lot to do with constituency strength that you were able to maintain over time. But I think that you have to have the maturity as a leader to understand that this does not mean that you are the best person,” Wickham added. (CMC)

Yacht Club seek fourth title.

Jonteau Coppin
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Yacht Club seek fourth title.

Defending champions Barbados Yacht Club will be looking to seal a fourth Interclub Tennis title when they face Paragon in the final on Saturday afternoon at the Raymond Forde National Tennis Centre.

They secured their spot in the final when they emerged 49-43 winners over Pure Tennis in the semi-final. Aiming to deny them glory will be Paragon, whose semi-final victory went down to the wire. Going into the final match, Paragon not only needed the win but had to limit Summerhayes to three games or fewer in order to reach the final. That pressure didn’t show in the result as a 9-1 victory rubber-stamped their place in the final.

CTUSAB wants action on boards

Carlos Atwell
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CTUSAB wants action on boards

The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) wants to know what is happening with the boards of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and secondary schools.

During a media conference recently at its Garrison, St Michael headquarters, general secretary Dennis de Peiza said many boards were not only non-functional, but no places were being offered to the Congress.

“CTUSAB has already made it very clear, as a national trade union centre, it should be given an opportunity to serve at that level on major national boards, wherever they are. So we’re not begging for anything; it’s something that should be a matter of course.

“Because you can’t have a national trade union centre in the matter of policy and governance and not be a part of all major interests in state-owned enterprises and other boards. It doesn’t make sense,” he declared. 

De Peiza said CTUSAB’s research showed many boards were operating with just a chairman. He made it clear CTUSAB had a vested interest in governance, labour and protecting economic security given its role. It also envisaged a broader perspective of the labour movement beyond economic policies to include democracy and the rule of law to protect trade union rights, he added.

“It is for these reasons that CTUSAB pays attention to the operational efficiency of the Government, and the issues of transparency and accountability in the conduct of the business of the state. One of the matters of immediate interest to date would be the delay that has been experienced in any announcement by the Government of the appointment of boards of directors of state-owned enterprises since the General Election . . . held on February 11.

“From information available to CTUSAB, there is some uncertainty about the status quo of the boards of SOEs and boards of management of public secondary schools. It is our understanding that the lives of some have come to an end, while there has been the extension of the lives of others. In the absence of any communication from the authorities, CTUSAB is hazy as to what the accurate position is. The Congress stresses the importance of having functioning boards, inasmuch as these are important institutions which provide public services,” he said.

De Peiza said boards were too important to be a mystery, as board appointments set the tone for governance, and the appointment of directors for SOEs was one of the biggest levers a Government must make towards ensuring they worked well.

“It is also recognised that the proper functioning of boards is necessary to ensure the protection of public assets, and to avoid wastage and ensure compliance. Importantly, boards of directors, in having oversight, ensure that key performance indicators are achieved, that there is transparency in the management of processes which minimises, if not eliminates, any political interference. It follows that any attempt on the part of ministers of Government at micromanagement is to be frowned upon.

“In the interest of public information, CTUSAB urges the authorities to immediately disclose the status of the appointments of boards of directors of SOEs and boards of management of public secondary schools,” he said.

UPDATE: Fatal accident at Lucas Street

Sherrylyn Clarke
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UPDATE: Fatal accident at Lucas Street

A male driver succumbed to injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) after a collision with a concrete structure today at Lucas Street, St Philip.

According to police, the vehicle was travelling in the direction of King George V Memorial Park when the accident occurred.

The driver was transported to the QEH by ambulance, while a male passenger was transported to a medical clinic for urgent medical treatment. Investigations are continuing and police are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to please contact the District ‘C’ Police Station at 416-8200 or 416-8201. (PR/SAT)

Reports of a fatal crash in St Philip

Nationnews Desk
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Reports of a fatal crash in St Philip

A male driver succumbed to injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) after a collision with a concrete structure today at Lucas Street, St Philip.

According to police, the vehicle was travelling in the direction of King George V Memorial Park when the accident occurred.

The driver was transported to the QEH by ambulance, while a male passenger was transported to a medical clinic for urgent medical treatment. Investigations are continuing and police are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to please contact the District ‘C’ Police Station at 416-8200 or 416-8201. (PR/SAT)

***

There are reports reaching The Nation of a fatal accident at Lucas Street, St Philip.

More details as they come to hand

Board meetings ‘at risk’

Shawn Cumberbatch
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Board meetings ‘at risk’

Corporate Boards and other bodies are facing the growing threat of their confidential meetings being leaked, leaving directors and their organisations increasingly exposed to financial, reputational, legal, regulatory and other consequences.

The increased risk of confidentiality breaches in board meetings comes following the COVID-19 pandemic-related shift to more to virtual meetings and the ability to record them, with or without permission, using smart devices including phones and watches, and note-takers which utilise artificial intelligence (AI).

Experts are recommending that the private sector and governments should establish and implement practical governance controls to safeguard confidential conversations.

The issue was the focus of a webinar titled Confidential Meetings Are No Longer Guaranteed To Be Private: Is Your Boardroom Secure?

It was hosted last week by RISSCO, an international firm which offers risk management services, including in CARICOM, and featured a conversation between RISSCO chief executive officer and founder Antonio Ayala, and Carmel Haynes, executive director of BIBA, the Association for Global Business.

They agreed that while the risk of information from confidental meetings being leaked always existed, it had grown exponentially because of the use of more virtual meetings
 smart technology.

Haynes, who is also a director of the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute, highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on meeting practices, leading to the rise of virtual assistants and the need for AI policies.

Ayala said the growing threat from leaked meetings prompted his company to introduce its Confidential Meeting Protection Framework, which includes protocols and devices to manage these risks.

For Haynes, the main takeaways from the discussion were: The risk of potential leakage of confidential information from board meetings is nothing new, but the ability for this to occur intentionally or unintentionally has risen exponentially with virtual meetings and the seamless integration of AI notetakers becoming the norm and not the exception.

 Boards must be prepared to proactively manage the risk of unauthorised recordings through setting policies and ensuring accountability whether required by regulation or not.

 Loss of confidentiality can cause reputational harm that undermines trust not only among directors but can also cause a lack of confidence in the organisation among external stakeholders.

 A loss of trust among directors can lead to poorer quality of discussions, deliberation and decision-making as board members fear their words being taken out of context beyond the boardroom or having themselves linked to unpopular perspectives by the media or in the public eye.

Ayala said: “Confidential meetings are no longer automatically private. For many years, board executive committees, Government institutions, Government security agencies, have been operated with an implicit assumption that what we said inside the meeting room would stay inside the meeting room.

“But honestly today, that assumption is under pressure, and that is not just a theoretical point of view. This . . . is not about gadgets or fears, it’s about governance, responsibility, fiduciary judgement, reputational exposure and the quality of decision-making in an environment where confidentiality of conversations can no longer be taken for granted.

“We have been seeing that in the past year there have been many cases, many examples, where conversation in the meeting room has been leaked and that has exposed the people in that meeting,” he added.

Haynes underscored the several consequences that could result from a breach of corporate board confidentiality.

“Obviously, a director has a fiduciary duty of care to the company, and the board of which they are a director, and therefore, when you have that loyalty to the organisation, if there’s an unauthorised exposure of confidential discussions, that can be seen as a breach of those duties, and then it can create reputational risk, not only for the organisation itself, but the other stakeholders, depending on what was leaked,” she noted.

“You might be opening up your fellow directors to litigation. So, this breach can have a very serious consequence from a legal standpoint. And then, of course, directors become wary of discussing sensitive matters at the board.

“You have some directors who will then perhaps abstain from votes. So then it really affects the governance of the board and the ability for the board to make certain strategic decisions that are in the best interest of the organisation.”

Haynes continued: “It can impact investor confidence at a publicly listed company, especially if what is leaked cast the directors in an unfavourable light, or even maybe the chairman in an unfavourable light.”

Ayala urged organisations to take steps to protect themselves from the fallout highlighted by Haynes and other possible negative impacts.

“One of the things that we have seen . . .  is that most organisations, private and government institutions, they have the awareness, they understand the problem, but they don’t move from the awareness to establish the controls to protect [their organisations from] those risks that they believe are important,” he observed. (SC)

Officials battling bush fires in Christ Church

Sherrylyn Clarke
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Officials battling bush fires in Christ Church

The Barbados Fire Service is at this time battling a number of fires in Christ Church, but none are structural.

This bush fire, which was visible from Silver Sands, and Sheraton Centre, is on the land at Bannatyne, which burns every year. The fire service has responded to more than 130 grass fires this year.

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