Government

Citizen Security Council Gets Down To Business

Government has received several requests from individuals and organisations, representing various sectors, to join the National Advisory Council on Citizen Security, which was announced last Thursday and had its first meeting less than 24 hours later.

And while Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has explained that she does not wish the council to be bogged down by being too large, it is expected that others not named to the body will be coopted to lend their knowledge and expertise to the sub-committees the parent body will create.

“I am delighted to see that so many other Barbadians are keenly interested in joining the council and contributing to the creation of safer communities,” Ms. Mottley said. “While we cannot add everyone who would wish to help to the council, the council will call on you as the need arises.

“I take your desire to serve as a clear recognition that Barbadians have got the message that we all have a part to play. This must be a whole-of-nation effort if we are going to be successful.”

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley makes a point during the first meeting of the National Advisory Council on Citizen Security. Listening attentively (from l-r) are council member Michael Lashley (representing the Barbados Bar Association); President of the Senate, Reginald Farley; and Attorney General Dale Marshall.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Mottley has confirmed that subsequent to her statement to the country last Thursday, she has been able to conclude discussions with other Barbadians who are to join the council.

They are: Sarah Holder, member of the Youth Parliament; Coreen Selman-Harte, mother of fruit and nut vendor Rodney Selman, alias “Nut Man”, who was shot and killed near his home in 2020; and community activist Winston Branch. The board of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons will meet later this week to determine who will be their representative on the council.

Friday’s meeting, which was held at Ilaro Court and briefed by the Prime Minister, Attorney General Dale Marshall, and Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with special responsibility for Crime Prevention, Corey Lane, started business immediately.

Members of the committee engaged in robust discussion on critical aspects of the education system with agreement in principle on the need for approaches that would cut off the supply of teenagers to the block culture by eliminating unsupervised suspensions, as well as superannuation – except where all other reasonable attempts within the system at correcting their behaviour have failed.

In any event, the Prime Minister made it clear that Government will put in place a mechanism and facilities to cater to difficult students who disrupt the learning process in secondary schools, but who she is adamant should never be turned away without a second chance at rehabilitation.

The council will meet every other week, in the first instance, under the chairpersonship of Professor Emerita Velma Newton. (PR/GIS)

Government

Call For Global Community To Invest In Healthcare Infrastructure

The Government of Barbados is calling on the global community to support investments in healthcare infrastructure for all countries in order to address the current population trends and tackle emerging healthcare challenges as they arise.

Former Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Patrick McCaskie, expressed this view recently during his presentation at the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, held at UN Headquarters in New York, from April 7 to 11.

Mr. McCaskie led the Barbados delegation at the annual session, which was held under the theme Ensuring Health Life and Promoting Well-Being for All Ages.

The aim of the session was to review and assess the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development at the national, regional, and international levels and its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The senior government official highlighted the progress made at the national level in ensuring universal coverage and access to quality preventative and curative care and services, including the adoption of a consistent childhood immunisation and vaccination programme and declines recorded in adolescent fertility rate, which fell from 33.5 per cent in 2017 to 26.29 per cent in 2020.

Mr. McCaskie stressed the need for national and global partnerships, stating that they were necessary to “strengthen the healthcare infrastructure through investment modalities that give recognition to the unique vulnerabilities and fiscal constraints of small island states”.

“Emphasis should be placed on the development of conducive financing mechanisms, in accordance with the Bridgetown Initiative,” he added.

During the event, the significance of demographic intelligence to informing evidence-based health policies, strengthening health systems, and promoting sustainable development was discussed during a forum on Demographic Intelligence for Health Equity: Harnessing Data for Inclusive Policies and Universal Coverage.

Participants were exposed to the potential insights and policy developments based on increased data access, with examples taken from Panama and Indonesia.

In his remarks, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, Ambassador François Jackman, advised that expanded access to up-to-date and quality information on the size, structure, and composition of the population, future projections through enhanced demographic intelligence would guide the work of policy to transform healthcare policy formulation and wider national development planning processes.

Ambassador Jackman further underscored the urgent need to pursue global and regional partnerships, including maximising opportunities for triangular and south-south cooperation, in order to transform our systems and support the implementation of the SDGs.

The Programme of Action, which was adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt in 1994, aims to address many of the fundamental population, health, education, and development challenges facing the entire human community. (PR/GIS)

Government

Mental Health Workers: Champions Of Change Across Communities

Employees of the Psychiatric Hospital have been urged to see themselves as champions of change across Barbados, to lessen the stigma of mental illness.

This message was conveyed by Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Davidson Ishmael, at the 2025 Employee Rewards and Recognition Ceremony of the Psychiatric Hospital, last Saturday, at Mahogany Ridge, Plum Tree Road, St. James.

Held under the theme Excellence in Healthcare Delivery, the event saw the Minister lauding staff, for “a tremendous job” and encouraging them to continue working to uplift their brothers and sisters, as they daily handle acute cases of mental health.

Mr. Ishmael, who stressed that many people needed an uplifting hand, given the several mental health challenges faced by society, suggested a comforting word or hug, could help bring such persons back from the precipice.

He praised the hospital’s anti-stigma campaign and emphasised it needed to be embraced to break down the mental blockades which lend to persons taking a stand-off approach to mental illness.

The Minister stated: “I want us, as champions of mental health in our country, to see ourselves as bigger than the Psychiatric Hospital and see yourselves as part of the messengers that have to go out there on a daily basis, within your various conversations, …wherever people are….

“Take a moment to encourage those who are around you to take better care of their mental health, so we can avoid, and we can pull back some of this discrimination, some of these unfortunate incidents that we are seeing in our country because we really have to do better in this country, and it begins with all of us.”

He also reminded staff that excellence in mental health required not only clinical knowledge and technical skill, but profound empathy, patience, resilience, and an unwavering belief in human dignity. And Mr. Ishmael stressed it was for this reason several of them were being honoured for consistently demonstrating this belief, not only through words but through action.

“You remind us that compassion is not just a value. It is practice. You are the reason that hope reaches the hopeless, and healing touches the broken,” he stated.

Several staffers received long service awards for having spent 10 to 40 years at the Black Rock, St. Michael institution. Social worker, Cecilia Ramsay received the 40-year award while Senior Nursing Officer, Alfred Alleyne was bestowed the 35-year award. Both were presented by Minister Ishmael.

Three people received the Hospital Director’s Award – Infection Control Officer, Selvin Greenidge; Deputy Principal Nursing Officer, Michelle Moore; and Department Aide, Rodney Stuart. The hospital also recognised its retirees and presented the “Friends of Psychiatric Hospital Award” to four persons – Peter ‘Peter Ram” Wiggins, Geoffrey “Biggie Irie” Cordle, Nikita Herbert, and Faith Callender – for their voluntary service to the institution and championing mental health initiatives. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Senior Nursing Officer at the Psychiatric Hospital, Alfred Alleyne (right), is presented with the 35-year award by Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Davidson Ishmael at the hospital’s awards ceremony last Saturday.

Government

EDMUND HINKSON RESIGNS

Speaker of the House of Assembly The Hon Arthur Holder shortly after the sitting began today read a letter of resignation submitted by the Hon. Edmund Hinkson representative for St. James North.

The letter stated ‘In accordance with Section 45 (1) b of the Constitution of Barbados, I hereby give notice that I shall resign from the Parliament of Barbados a the Member for the Constituency of St. James North effective Friday April 25th, April, 2025 at 10am.