Government

Country Assessment Of Living Conditions Starts In July

Barbados’ true poverty line should be known by January 2025, thanks to the information that will be gained from the Country Assessment of Living Conditions (CALC) 2024, a socio-economic study that will be undertaken over the next six months.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, revealed this yesterday as he launched CALC 2024, at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.

Pointing out that the CALC project will empower lives and the nation as a whole, he stressed it was essential to understand ordinary people and ordinary living in the country while also urging Barbadians to participate in the study to be rolled out in July, by the CALC National Assessment Team in his Ministry.

Noting that such a study needed to be done more frequently, as the “spaces in between studies” have “been too long”, Minister Humphrey lamented that data is often unavailable in Barbados and the region.

“Caribbean countries have a history and a very unfortunate record of not having adequate data. There is a dearth of important information on a lot of important topics, and therefore decisions can’t be made. And then when we’re being assessed, we assess on the information that people do not have,” he stated.

The last survey of living conditions was done in 2016. Commenting on this gap, Mr. Humphrey added: “We do not know what it will tell us now, but we do know that we need to know so that we can make informed decisions. I also must say to you that in the intervening years, I have had some concerns that, while perhaps we pursue the information, that a lot of the data that should be used to make decisions are not used to make decisions. Caribbean governments are very good at collecting information sometimes, and not doing anything with it.

Giving the assurance that the information from CALC 2024, would not be “stored on a shelf to gather dust” but would be used to make serious decisions going forward, he stressed: “I also hold the view, having said that we have to do that, it cannot be a kind of made-up conjecture, gut feeling, interpretation of the reality. We need scientific, evidence-based interpretations of people’s realities and to be able to express that as a true representation of what it is that people are dealing with in this country.”

Thirty-five enumerators will be conducting the survey across Barbados, which will help Government assess the living conditions of its people and come up with a poverty line by next year.

Minister Humphrey, while acknowledging that people seem tired of surveys, urged the public to cooperate, be “nice” and respond “with grace” as the country works towards improving the lives of people.

The Country Assessment of Living Conditions 2024 will target some 2,800 households. It is expected to help Government determine the minimum income a household needs to meet its basic consumption and non-consumption needs and understand the dynamic link between poor living conditions and education, health, household size, and employment.

It will also encapsulate the voices of citizens and take on board their recommendations to improve living conditions and allow Barbados to track progress towards national-level goals and international social development agreements, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

CALC 2024 is being undertaken with technical assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. It comprises four major components – the Participatory Poverty Assessment; the Survey of Living Conditions; the Institutional Assessment; and the Macro-Economic and Social Assessment. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey (second from left) greets Caribbean Development Bank Division Chief, Dr. Martin Baptiste, at the launch of CALC 2024, at the Warren’s Office Complex yesterday. Looking on is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Jehu Wiltshire and Chief of Operations Officer for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank, Jean-Eric Theinhardt.

Government

Barbados Appoints Justice Of Appeal & High Court Judge

Victoria Charles-Clarke is the newest Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court, while Bryan Lawson Weekes has been appointed to the office of Judge in the High Court.

The two Justices were sworn in by Acting President, His Excellency The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Gibson, at State House, yesterday.

Madame Justice Charles-Clarke, a CARICOM National, is an attorney-at-law with over 30 years’ experience in the judicial and legal services as Registrar of the High Court, Magistrate and Director of Public Prosecutions of Saint Lucia, and as a Former High Court Judge in Dominica.

In her remarks, Madame Justice Charles-Clarke said she considers her new appointment as an honour and a privilege and described it as the “highlight of her career thus far”.

She stated: “I look forward to discharging my duties with a high level of integrity, commitment, and industry and to bring to bear all the experience I’ve gathered over the years to this position, and I am privileged that I am appointed here in Barbados, a place [for] which I have very strong, sentimental feelings.”

Justice Weekes, the newly appointed High Court Judge, was admitted to the Bar in 1995. He specialises in family, civil, and commercial litigation and stated that he hopes to leverage his experience in these areas to help the Chief Justice “whittle away” the significant backlog that currently exists.

“The thing is, it is going to take a lot of work, a lot of long hours, and a robust approach to the civil litigation especially, which I intend to pursue…. I intend to pursue that goal, whether through ordering mediation, which I would have the jurisdiction to do, or to take very robust case management approaches,” he said.

Chief Justice Leslie Haynes, who was present for the swearing-in, conveyed his satisfaction with today’s appointments.

Concerning the appointment of Madame Justice Charles-Clarke, he said there will now be six judges in the Court of Appeal (including himself as the Chief Justice), which will allow the Supreme Court to have two panels of three to alleviate the work and add to the efficiency of the Court of Appeal in hearing and determining matters.

Referring to the appointment of Justice Weekes, the Chief Justice pointed out that his experience in family, civil, and commercial law will provide much assistance to the heavily backlogged High Court. “I welcome them, and I have no doubt that bearing their reputations in mind… they will do an excellent job,” he added. (PR/GIS)

Caption: From left to right – New Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court, Victoria Charles-Clarke; Chief Justice Leslie Haynes; Acting President, The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Gibson; and new Judge in the High Court, Bryan Lawson Weekes, pose for a photograph at State House this morning.

Government

NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE NISSS ANNOUNCED

His Honour Senator The Most Honourable Mr.Reginald R. Farley, FB, FCA, CPA was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Insurance and Social Security Service, with effect from May 27, 2024.

Chief Executive Officer Ms. Kim Tudor made the announcement during the church service to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the NIS on June 5, 2024 at the office in Culloden Road, St. Michael.

Senator Farley is a Chartered Accountant, consultant, former Cabinet Minister and diplomat. He holds the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada). In addition, Senator Farley gained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Management from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and a Teacher’s Diploma from the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College. Senator Farley is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) and a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada – Nova Scotia Chapter.

Senator Farley was awarded Barbados’ highest national honour, the Order of Freedom of Barbados, in the Independence Day Honours on November 30, 2023.

Government

Salvaging Efforts At Archives Department Moving Apace

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight, is pleased with the salvaging efforts by the teams assembled to restore several pages of historic records damaged during a recent fire at the Department of Archives.

Speaking during a walk-through of an offsite facility on Monday, Senator Munro-Knight noted that the salvage and triaging teams assembled to preserve and restore the documents were able to restore and recover “what we thought was lost”.

She proffered that the teams assembled of over 20 persons are doing everything “they possibly can” to salvage and repair the material.

“I am really grateful to the team and [Ann Bancroft] for being able to recover the document. As you can see, this is meticulous work as it relates to how you open up the documents and treat them and these folks are working around the clock to make it happen,” Senator Minister Munro-Knight assured.

Though buoyed by the level of support from the public, she said the outpouring of support did not come as a surprise since more Barbadians were more knowledgeable and interested in learning more about their history.

“If you look at the amount of visitors that the Archives Department was having this year alone, we understood that there was a renewed interest post-COVID by Barbadians to understand and connect, so it is not necessarily surprising, but we are definitely grateful for it,” she stated.

Senator Munro-Knight stressed that there were daily debriefing meetings and gave the assurance that whatever materials or equipment needs would be addressed by the government given the importance of the records to the country.

“This is a whole of government approach, and we’re 100 per cent committed to seeing that the effort, where there’s a possibility for restoration, that it happens.”

Meanwhile, Head of Conservation and Collection Care at the Barbados Museum, Ann Bancroft, said the salvage teams were recovering hundreds of volumes on a daily basis at the Department of Archives’ site, which was now secured.

She pointed out that it was a national response which was supported by national repositories and sister institutions who were “rallying around our comrades at the Archives”.

“This is a lot of work going forward. This is not a sprint…this is a marathon…While we can’t control what happened, we can control how we respond to it and everything that can be done, I really feel is being done,” Ms. Bancroft underlined.

Heritage Consultant at the Department of Archives, Anisha Wood, gave an insight into the process that includes, but is not limited to, air drying the objects using various techniques before they are digitised. (PR/GIS)