Business

Ministry of Environment and National Beautification partnered with Atlantis Submarines and hosted Grantley Adams Memorial School

The Shallow-draught, Bridgetown, Barbados- Under the theme “Living Sustainably…Reduce Plastics Pollution to Protect our Blue Economy”., Atlantis Submarines and the Ministry of Environment reestablished its long-standing partnership focused on environmental education, for World Environment day. “ In the early days Atlantis Submarines depended on the Ministry to provide guidance on relevant information of how coral reefs formed and why they are important to incorporate into the Atlantis Submarines School’s program called the Living classroom” General Manager Roseanne Myers, reminisced with Environmental Education Officer Donna King Brathwaite, who were both involved at that time. “The Living classroom program is still operating 36 years after its inception and has seen thousands of children from private and public schools benefit. Today, June 5th, our interaction with the Ministry will not only benefit the students but also sharpen the knowledge of the staff”

Minister of Environment Adrian Forde led the team from the Ministry in interacting with the students of Grantley Adams Memorial to transform the submarine tour into an active learning experience while fully submerged underwater. Tips on why plastics can affect the blue and green economy and how an individual can make a positive impact were shared. The students from Grantley Adams Memorial were led by Principal Major Andrew Skeete and his senior teaching staff, as he had readily agreed to the participation of the forty-six fifth-year students being able to hear from the experts and to interact with Minister Forde himself as he delivered the highlights of his World Environment Day message.

Atlantis Submarines facilitated the presentation of fruit trees donated by the Ministry’s National Conservation Commission to be planted at the school as part of Barbados’ effort to plant one million trees which started prior to the pandemic. It is also a reminder to the children that they can actively make a difference at school and at home and that what we do on land can affect the ocean. Increasing our trees helps prevent soil erosion as well as replenishes the air we breathe and fruit helps us to feed ourselves. The officials from the Ministry outlined the reason for and meaning of the theme adopted here and coincides with the UN World Environment Day theme, fighting plastic pollution, which was further contextualized for Barbados – addressing plastic pollution and being cognizant of the deleterious effects of plastic on the terrestrial and marine environment of Barbados. Mrs. King – Brathwaite further pointed out ‘The living sustainable theme has been in use by the ministry for over 10 years. In celebrating environment month, the theme reminds us that if we are to have sustainable lifestyles and achieve sustainable development as a small island developing state, we must take positive action as it relates to our environment. Reducing plastic pollution can make a tremendous difference”

The Ministry will be raising awareness all month long and Atlantis Submarines will be hosting schools throughout the period and posting messages via social media. The Atlantis Submarines Operations Manager, Robert Hinds also made available one of the PVC “trees”, to be used to establish its coral nursery, which the team will keep the school abreast of. It demonstrates the power of reuse of an item that can be difficult to dispose of by putting it to long-term use for the good of the environment. Throughout the day, it was made clear that though we speak of the Blue Economy to bring focus to the marine environment, as a Small Island Developing State, we must note that there can be no real separation between Green Economy and Blue Economy, given that they are pathways to sustainable development and that as an island, we must always be aware of the impacts that our negative behaviors can have on both the marine and terrestrial resources, almost at the same time.

As the students interacted with the Atlantis Submarines team and listened to the messaging from the Ministry, they were challenged to consider the idea that sustainable consumption and production can eventually help us to reduce our destructive activities and support wise resource use with an immediate focus on reducing plastics in their school and home environment.(PR)

Business

EXPORT BARBADOS TO LAUNCH ITS EXPORT-IMPACT (EXIM) PROGRAMME

Export Barbados is set to roll out a comprehensive suite of support mechanisms with the focus on protecting gains, expanding exports and strengthening the sector.

Business

Young Upcoming Executives Spend Time with Regional Executives

Eleven eager young men with aspirations to become executives or entrepreneurs when they grow up, had a unique opportunity recently when they visited and sat with the most senior executives at the regional head office of CIBC Caribbean.

The semi-finalists and finalists in the 2025 Mr. Executive Challenge had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of the members of the executive suite of the bank.

*Mark St. Hill chats with the students as he welcomed them to the Job Shadow Day at the bank, to his left is Donna Wellington, Chief Country Management Officer.*

The students, representing their respective secondary schools, met with Chief Executive Officer, Mark St. Hill; Chief Financial Officer, Carl Lewis; Chief Risk Officer, Patrick McKenna; Chief Auditor, Khadija Bourne; Chief Country Management Officer, Donna Wellington; Deputy Chief Information Officer, Infrastructure, Neil Matthews deputising for the Chief Information Officer Esan Peters; Managing Director, Transformation Governance and Control, Doug Williamson; and Head of Country Barbados, Kemar Polius.

*The students engaging with Michelle Whitelaw – Director Personal and Business Banking as they visit the Warrens branch*

St. Hill welcomed the young men to the bank, congratulating them on being a part of what he considered to be an excellent initiative, explaining that they had left a serious impression on him when they met at the entrepreneurship graduation ceremony a few weeks ago. He urged them to ‘Live your dreams and go for what you want to do.’ He congratulated all of them saying, “You have shown that you are a cut above the rest”

*Kemar Polius, the bank’s new Head of Country for Barbados and Joseph Taitt-Small of Alleyne School engaged in active conversation just prior to lunch*

The CEO said 70% of the bank’s workforce, and 50% of its leadership is female, noting “that is why it is important for the bank to be involved in programmes like this one, where males are encouraged to step up”.

The various executives also gave inspiring and reassuring words to the students, Donna Wellington explained that the day will serve to open their eyes to the many careers available to young men in the bank. She explained that while people normally think only of counting money in a branch, there are so many other careers in technology, marketing, risk, legal, human resources, and property management. She therefore urged them to “embrace, learn what you can, we want to open your eyes to what is possible.”

Barbados’ new Head of Country, Kemar Polius shared with the students that he never saw himself sitting in a board room like the one they were in, and working at this level in a bank, but he was given an opportunity which he grabbed with both hands and made the best of it. He encouraged them to do the same.

The general direction from the other Executives was for the young men to focus on what they wanted to do, examine every opportunity given and recognise that life is not a straight line.

Neil Matthews, in addition to his post at the bank is also a Lieutenant Commander of the Barbados Defence Force and has been coopted to head the Cyber Security and Drone Units to help protect the country from cyber-attacks. He said that as a teenager, he never envisaged himself being in this position, but people recognised some value in him and pushed him to achieve and he has never stopped learning. He added that he would be back in ‘school’ to do a course from the following day.

Coordinator of the Mr Executive Challenge, Winston Cumberbatch, explained how the students reacted “For weeks they had been looking forward to the Job Shadow with great anticipation. However, none of them could have envisioned what actually took place. They were totally blown away by the level of interest, hospitality and inspiration that the CIBC Executives gave.”

Following that eventful meeting with the executives, the boys were taken on a tour of the bank’s departments where they were able to meet staff members who explained the duties and operations of their departments and answered many questions from the curious young men, as they sought to understand the areas and the opportunities there.

They visited the Treasury department, where the team explained the department that manages the bank’s financial resources – the cash in circulation, capital management on a regional level. This department is the one that makes sure there is cash available when and where it is needed. The young men quizzed this team on how they managed the foreign exchange with the amount of shopping that Barbadians do online with Amazon and Shein, and they also wanted to know if the bank had adopted AI as yet.

The Compliance team told them about the three areas under their portfolio – AML (Anti Money Laundering), Compliance and Advisory Sanctions. The next stop at HR (Human Resources) was where they had a chat with Jacintha Hinds, Officer, Human Resources, who shared her passion for HR and answered their many questions about qualifications and the issues that affect how people behave.

Other departments which the students enjoyed visiting were the Legal department, Corporate and Investment Banking, before they went on a tour of the Warrens branch across the street, following which they sat down to a sumptuous lunch with the executives in the company’s board room.

The afternoon session saw them visiting the Marketing, Communications, Engagement and Technology units before they left and headed home, full of information which they can now process for their own careers.

In wrapping up the session, Coordinator Winston Cumberbatch added “The operations knowledge imparted during the tour of the office and the bank, along with the questions that followed, made the occasion an educational engagement of the highest order, which could not have been possible in the classroom. As Coordinator, I am extremely grateful to CIBC Caribbean for going beyond their financial support to offer such a life changing experience to these well deserving young men from eleven of our secondary Schools.” (PR)

Business

New Chief Executive Officer For Fair Trading Commission

The Fair Trading Commission announced the appointment of Brian Reece as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Reece joined the staff of the Commission as Director of Utility Regulation in August 2023. In that role he was responsible for managing the strategic goal of ensuring the efficient and safe provision of regulated utility services in Barbados. This included the supervision and leadership of a team of professionals focused on the National Renewable Energy Transition.

Mr. Reece is an Attorney-at-Law and holds an MSc. Environmental Engineering from the University of Manchester and LLB (Hons) from the University of the West Indies along with the Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School. He is also a Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

Mr. Reece has twenty years of industrial experience, along with the Chairmanship of national regulatory advisory committees. (PR/GIS)