Government

Minister Symmonds Accepts Windrush Generation Flag

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, has accepted the flag of the Windrush Generation group.

Mr. Symmonds, who accepted the flag on behalf of Government, met with a delegation from the Windrush Generation group, led by directors Nigel Guy and Charles Dacres, at the Ministry’s Culloden Road, St. Michael location recently, as part of the delegation’s Caribbean tour.

During the meeting, background on the history of the Windrush Generation was shared, which highlighted that in 1948 the HMT Empire Windrush vessel docked in Tilbury, Essex, carrying passengers from the Caribbean to the United Kingdom (UK).

According to the National Archives, which holds the ship’s passenger list, there were 1,027 people on board, of which more than 800 gave their last country of residence as being in the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, and Jamaica. Those persons on board the ship became known as the Windrush Generation.

In 1971, the Immigration Act gave Commonwealth citizens living in the UK the permanent right to live and work in the UK, including those referred to as the Windrush Generation. However, it was disclosed that the UK Home Office in April 2018 had kept no records of those granted permission to stay.

This affected persons from the Windrush Generation who were not issued paperwork and were unable to confirm their status and the right to legally live and work in the UK, and as a result prevented them from accessing work, housing and healthcare, and they faced possible deportation.

Director Guy said the group seeks to highlight the seven Cs, which are the commemoration of the Windrush Generation; the celebration; the contributions they made; the care that is needed for the Windrush Generation; the challenges and conflicts that are faced by them; and change.

Minister Symmonds, upon hearing the seven Cs, suggested that the group add an additional ‘C’, which would be “conscience” because he felt that there was an absence of justice in dealing with the Windrush Generation

Director Guy gave an explanation of the flag’s design, which has a blue background, a triangle logo with the text We Are Standing On Their Shoulders Windrush Generations and a ship in the middle of the triangle.

“The triangular shape takes on the form of our people’s journey, from the African continent all the way to the Caribbean, to the Americans and also the journey to Europe – United Kingdom. The richness of our people is the gold, the red is the blood that’s been sacrificed throughout the centuries and also the sacrifices that people have made in the UK as well….

“A white background is done in the UK, but we thought we’d have a blue background for the Caribbean nations to signify the warmth and colour of the sky and the sea,” Mr. Guy explained.

The Windrush Generation delegation visited Barbados as part of a Caribbean tour, which included stops in Dominica; Grenada; Jamaica; Saint Lucia; and Trinidad and Tobago. They were garnering support for the raising of the flag one day in May to commemorate the sailing of the Windrush vessel from Caribbean ports.

Also present at the meeting were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight; Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Paula Byer; PMO’s Press Secretary, Alex Downes; and Foreign Service Officer, Asha Pitt. (PR/GIS)

Caption: From left to right – Windrush Generation Advocate, Marcia Guy; Director, Nigel Guy; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds; Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with Responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight; and Director, Charles Dacres, display the Windrush Generation Flag.

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)