The National Peace Program (NPP) is rolling out more initiatives to engage young people in a meaningful way.

Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with responsibility for Crime Prevention, Corey Lane, today launched the LIVEWISE Campaign during a media briefing at Starcom Network.

“The LIVEWISE Campaign has 14 different programmes…. I believe about four or five of those are ready, … and members of the public will be able to see these exciting, quality programmes….

“One of the highly anticipated programmes for me is Turnaround, where you will see how a number of very serious characters in Barbados, who would have been known for some of the most serious crimes, have been able to turn their life around,” Mr. Lane stated.

He encouraged the public to also look out for the Consequences and Positive Profiles programmes, describing them as excellent.

He believes the campaign will assist in bringing about meaningful behavioural change and an awareness of NPP’s work. The LIVEWISE Campaign will commence soon, and the programmes will be available on radio, television, and various social media platforms.

Minister Lane stated that NPP partnered with the Great Hope Foundation and Minors Club to launch the National Extreme Games Platform, where young people will be exposed to riding bikes, ATVs, go-carts, bicycles, and mountain bikes off-road, in a safe way.

He noted that the National Extreme Games initiative was an opportunity to positively impact the lives of talented young people, while giving them an opportunity to receive personal and professional development, among other things.

Great Hope Foundation donated four bikes to the programme.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lane disclosed that NPP would be seeking to implement its 215 initiatives over the next three years. 

Director of the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit, Cheryl Willoughby, stressed the importance of the initiatives. She agreed with Minister Lane that it was important that interventions conducted by NPP were data-driven.

“If they’re not, it means that you are putting resources where they are not needed,” Mrs. Willoughby surmised.

She disclosed that some of her staff would be going to Dodds Prison in January to interview young people who were on remand for murder. 

She explained that they would be looking at the socio and economic backgrounds of these young people, among other things, and the information would be shared with the crime prevention officials, so the NPP’s programmes would continue to be relevant to its stakeholders.

The Director further disclosed that her Unit would be embarking on a National Victimisation Survey in the upcoming months.

“What is important about victimisation surveys is that these surveys unearth the hidden figures of crime…. Victimisation surveys…enable us to see the true extent of crime, because what we will do is compare official crime statistics with the data coming out of the victimisation survey,” Mrs. Willoughby indicated. 

Those addressing the media briefing included CEO of Great Hope Foundation, Ward Trotman, and Tomar Haynes of Minors Club and the Extreme Games Platform. (PR/GIS)

Japan’s Ambassador to Barbados, Kayoko Fukushima, is satisfied that the relationship between her country and Barbados has been deepened as a result of several achievements during her tour of duty.

Ambassador Fukushima was paying a farewell call to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, at Ilaro Court, earlier today, and reflected on her accomplishments, which included helping the fisheries sector to rebuild after Hurricane Beryl.

The two officials also spoke at length about boosting tourism arrivals; Japan’s collaboration with CARICOM countries in strategic areas such as renewable energy; and support for the Bridgetown Initiative, among other areas of bilateral engagement.

“It is so sad to see you go, but I hope that you will always keep Barbados in your heart and that you will return on vacation when you have a chance so that you can rekindle many of the friendships that you have made while here. People speak very fondly of you and that is a good thing…,” Ms. Mottley said. 

Ambassador Fukushima thanked Prime Minister Mottley for the kind sentiments and said she looked forward to spending more time with her family and enjoying her hobbies during retirement.             

Barbados and Japan established diplomatic ties on August 29, 1967. (PR/GIS)

Government has signed a US$12.4 million loan agreement and a US$300,000 grant agreement with the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) to finance its Country Assistance Programme. This is the first time that Government has received loan and grant financing from the CDF.

The agreements were signed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and the Chief Executive Officer of the CDF, Rodinald R. Soomer, at Parliament. The Chairman of the Board of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), David Wright, and BWA Board Secretary, Marlowe Fenty, were also signatories to the agreements on behalf of the BWA.  

Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn, and Minister in Economic Affairs and Investment, Senator Chad Blackman, were present at the signing.

The loan funds will be used to co-finance activities required to support the Reduce, Re-use, Recycle Climate Resilience Wastewater Systems Project, also known as the 3R CReWS Project, which is being funded by a US$39.39 million grant from the Green Climate Fund. 

The 3R-CREWs project will serve as a practical demonstration for climate resilient water and wastewater management, treated wastewater reuse and aquifer recharge through the enhancement of wastewater treatment. The grant funding from the CDF will go towards supporting the project management capacity of the Barbados Water Authority.

It is expected that the project will be executed over a two-year period by the Barbados Water Authority, which will be responsible for the overall financial management and implementation of the programme.

The CDF’s contribution to the project will directly support the aquifer recharge and renewable energy infrastructure components of the project. More specifically, under the CDF funding arrangement, 9.0 kilometres of pipeline will be installed to transport treated wastewater from the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant at Lakes Folly, St. Michael, to provide water to farmers for agricultural purposes.  

The CDF loan funds will also be used to replace approximately 0.65 kilometres of sewage force main from the River Lift Station to the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant, and for the installation of backup generators at lift stations as well as one megawatt of solar photovoltaic systems at the Belle Plantation, including the preparation of the site.

CDF has a mandate of supporting regional cohesion through technical and financial assistance to CARICOM Member States across several priority areas, including environmental resilience and climate action. 

According to the CDF, the contribution is a significant milestone, as it is the first funded project in Barbados, and sees itself as a key partner of the Government of Barbados in urgently “mobilising much-needed climate finance” to address critical vulnerabilities. “We stand ready to support the Government with its national climate resilience agenda,” the CDF said. (PR/GIS)