Her Excellency The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Prunella Mason, Freedom of Barbados, Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Dame of St. Andrew, Senior Counsel, Doctor of Laws, President of Barbados, has consented to the announcement of National Honours on the occasion of the We Gatherin’ 2025 National Celebrations.   

Awards of National Honours for We Gatherin’ 2025 

 Pride of Barbados

A person who is a citizen of Barbados or is entitled to be registered as a citizen of Barbados; or is a permanent resident of Barbados and through sacrifice, diligence and dedication to service has made an outstanding contribution to community life in a parish in Barbados or to the improvement of economic and social conditions in a parish in Barbados.’ 

 (Number of awards: Ten (10) persons who reside in the parish of St. Lucy.) 

• Mr. Trevor Harcourt Boyce 

For his selfless commitment to the development of sporting infrastructure, especially that of cricket in his community.  For his 32 years of dedicated service in preparing the pitches as curator for the Lord’s cricket ground where he has kept the picturesque grounds and pitch consistently well maintained and in pristine condition without compensation.  For his exceptional philanthropy has been a labour of love for the game of cricket and influenced by a passion for uplifting his community. 

• Mr. Vallice Sylvester Cadogan 

For his sterling contribution to the socio-economic development of St. Lucy through a life of dedicated service in the private sector and as a member of the St. Swithin’s and St. Clements churches.  For his volunteerism as the chief Fundraiser and Activities Coordinator and his community service as the youngest Church Army captain in the Anglican Diocese in the 1980s. 

• Miss Fiona P. Griffith  

For her commitment to improving community life and years of dedicated service through volunteer work with various religious, sporting and social organization in St. Lucy working to develop educational, sporting and social projects to enhance the lives and livelihoods of young people, persons with special needs, the differently abled and the elderly in various communities. 

• Mr. Hugh Griffith  

For his years of dedicated service as an educator at the Ignatius Byer Primary School where he devoted his time and energy to teaching students and members of the wider community to play various musical instruments resulting in many awards for the school over the years.  His skill, dedication and music ministry have caused Hugh Griffith to be household name across the parish as he has empowered and positively influenced the lives of young children through music and his mentorship.  

• Mr. Ian Richard Griffith  

For his outstanding contributions to the socio-economic development of 

St. Lucy and its residents as an entrepreneur and certified Funeral Director and Embalmer who provided training, mentoring, internships as well bereavement and technical support services to persons and funeral establishments especially in sensitive and difficult cases when reconstruction was required.  For his unswerving commitment to the development of people, in particular young people, through the advancement of motor sports and football in the parish. 

• Ms. Rontae Lasonta Johnson-Annius 

For her unwavering support for and significant contributions to Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness in the parish.  For her sterling achievements in managing and coordinating the work of the teams within the District Emergency Organisation (DEO) and spearheading all the cleanup efforts in the wake of several disasters.  For her steadfast commitment to being a focal point for residents and First Responders in relation to any and all emergencies and disasters within the parish and lending critical technical and logistical support to First Responders coming into the parish. 

• Ms. Patricia Delores Norville 

For her lifelong dedication to education and distinguished career of 35 years as a teacher at the newly established St. Lucy’s Secondary School, now The Daryll Jordan Secondary School, where she adopted innovative approaches to provide a wholistic education as she helped to shape the institution’s development and expand the minds of students to problem solve, think critically and collaborate.  For her achievements in establishing the school’s library, becoming its first librarian, and fostering a love for reading and learning among students.  For her philanthropy and unwavering commitment to community service by providing academic support for students, regardless of their financial circumstances. 

• Mr. Lyman Albian Roosevelt Phillips 

For his distinguished service as a healthcare professional, community leader, and mental health advocate with a career spanning over four decades.  For his significant contributions to his community by providing guidance to access resources, actively supporting social, and educational activities, as well as the well-being and safety of his community.  For his research and pioneering work to advance mental health care and ongoing advisory sessions to bridge the gaps in care and to foster a more inclusive and compassionate society.  

• Mr. Ramarion Daron Phillips 

In recognition of his dedicated service and sterling contributions as a nursing professional to improving the health and wellbeing of residents of St. Lucy particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.  For his philanthropy and spirit of volunteerism to readily assist those in need especially the elderly. 

• Mr. Derik Levie Toppin  

For his outstanding contribution and twenty years of committed and selfless service to propel and develop Agriculture and in particular, land cultivation in St. Lucy and for his dedication to providing support services for small farmers and their families to improve their quality of life. (PR/GIS)

Attorney General Dale Marshall will soon be taking to Parliament new pieces of legislation, including one on witness anonymity.

Mr. Marshall made the disclosure today as he addressed Day Two of the three-day symposium on Addressing Backlogs and Delays in the Barbados Criminal Justice System, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

The Attorney General told those present: “I expect to be able to take to Parliament, within the next few weeks, witness anonymity legislation, amendments to the Jury’s Act, and one or two other criminal justice amendments, all of which, when taken together, are intended to lubricate this wheel of criminal justice.”

He reminded his audience that an intense dialogue on criminal justice reform across the Caribbean and Barbados had begun, with the island hosting several conferences on criminal justice reform within recent years.

“We have had our own symposium on criminal justice, [and] criminal procedure rules, and arising out of those sessions, a number of legislative initiatives have already begun to bear fruit.

“One of the recommendations from our early symposiums, Chief Justice, was the enacting of legislation for Judge Alone Trials. We’ve been able to do that, and there were other initiatives that were proposed, and we have been able to check those boxes. There are still a few more to come,” Mr. Marshall shared.

He underscored the importance of the criminal justice reform, saying it was vital, as he pointed out that The Barbados Police Service has had to deal with gun-related homicides and other issues on a regular basis.

He said one of the possible causes might be that the delays in the criminal justice system have allowed the criminal minded to feel that he has time. “Our purpose is to make sure that we truncate that time so that they understand that the punishment must come swiftly,” the Attorney General stated.

Mr. Marshall stressed that the three-day symposium is not a talk shop but it “is about action”, and its importance would be seen and felt perhaps in six to eight months. The symposium, which ends tomorrow, was hosted by Government; the Inter-American Development Bank; European Union; Pace Justice and UNDP. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Attorney General Dale Marshall (centre) in discussion with Justice of Appeal of the Appeal Court of Trinidad and Tobago, Ronnie Boodoosingh (left) and Chief Justice of Barbados, Leslie Haynes.

Attorney General Dale Marshall believes the time has come to reopen discussions on lawyers prosecuting cases in the magistrates’ court instead of police officers, while lawmen concentrate their efforts on the investigations.

Mr. Marshall expressed this view yesterday as he delivered the keynote address at the opening of the three-day symposium on Addressing Backlogs and Delays in the Barbados Criminal Justice System, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

He told his audience that dialogue had started several years ago when Sir David Simmons was Attorney General, and continued under several persons who held that post, including himself. 

He added that he was now looking “seriously” at this new policy directive, which would see specialist prosecutors dealing with the cases in the magistrates’ court and not the police.

“The time has come when we have to start that discussion again. I hope that the police service is open to it. I am not making any decision; any decision of this sort has to come from Cabinet. But I think that there are a number of factors that we have to take into account which will propel us in that direction. Fundamentally, though, the idea behind it is that the investigator should not be responsible for the prosecution.

“The investigator’s only job should be to investigate, prepare the case files and hand them over to somebody else. Your job is done, except for when evidence then has to be given…. But I believe that if we make an investment now in expanding our prosecution skill set by having lawyers do prosecutions in the magistrates’ court, I think that will go a long way to helping the system move along more…,” he stated.

Mr. Marshall praised the police for their foresight in suggesting the forum to discuss the criminal justice system, stressing that it showed that they are keen in playing their part to ensure an improvement in the system. He noted that to date, 1,606 matters were awaiting trial in the High Court, in 2011, the number stood at 350.

The Attorney General pointed out that every government in the region has acknowledged a problem with its criminal justice system, and proffered that the problem of backlogs in the criminal justice system was a universal one.

“Now that is not to say at all that we should therefore accept backlogs in our system as the status quo and just leave it be. Our aspiration has to be that we have an efficient and effective criminal justice system to deal with citizens, and the reasons are obvious. The criminal justice system does not work if the backlog piles up and persists; then we will begin by eroding public confidence in our justice system…. 

“If the public is not confident in our justice system, they will not have any confidence in police action. They will not have any confidence in the ability of the system to ensure fairness and proper service. And when that happens, it creates an even bigger problem for you, because the criminal mind becomes emboldened. And I sincerely believe that we have seen the effect of this in recent years,” the Attorney General indicated. (PR/GIS)