Government

Prime Minister Calls For Revamp Of Land Transaction Process

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is calling for a collective response from the experts involved in land transactions to speed up the process to make it easier for Barbadians to own a plot of land or home.

She made the call recently at the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Maintenance’s Housing Colloquium on Transforming the Land Transaction Process at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Ms. Mottley told the audience, which included representatives from legal, financial key public and private sector entities, and members of the public, that the time had come for the land transaction process to be reconstructed with the help of all involved in the varying stages of home ownership.

“I am using one thing here, my power as Prime Minister to convene because the time has come for us to put these things behind us. This meeting … will not be the end of the process…in fact, it is the beginning of the deconstruction and the reconstruction [of the process]. For me, we have put down investments earlier to prepare for this day.

“The time has come, however, for us now to use the collective expertise in the room to deconstruct and reconstruct and give the average Barbadian not the promise but the reality of being able to own land or property in this country first and foremost, that is affordable, that is accessible and that is done efficiently in a quick way,” she stated.

The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of moving to a fully digital platform, adding that systems designed in the middle of the 19th Century could no longer propel Barbados into the fourth decade of the 21st Century.

In this connection, Ms. Mottley insisted that while the rest of the world is moving, the island runs the risk of being left behind if it failed to transition from the outdated analog digital environment.

Elaborating further, she pointed out that land transactions, for example, are settled in other Caribbean countries in a “fraction of the time that it takes here”.

She stressed that successive governments had already laid the foundation for affordable land access via the Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act and gave the undertaking that her administration would continue in this vein by making affordable housing a priority for citizens.

“Everybody needs shelter, and everybody should have the right to security of shelter and it should be affordable and… accessible in good time. If we are to make the cost of land transactions as difficult and as high as they are, and if we continue to make the process even more than the cost [and] the process, as difficult as it is, then we would have failed in this generation,” the Prime Minister insisted.

During the meeting, there were presentations from the Bar Association, Lands and Surveys Department, National Housing Corporation, Planning and Development Department, and Barbados Revenue Authority, among others. (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.

Government

Prime Minister Mottley Pays Tribute To Pope Francis

The world today feels like a lonely place with the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis. For me, Pope Francis was the beacon of global moral strategic leadership.

I confess that it was Pope Francis’ writings and teachings that guided and inspired me through the dark and desolate days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as I worked with others to lead Barbados through that period of grave uncertainty. He was, in every sense, my hero.

I was later humbled to have spent time with him late last year, where he reinforced in me the importance of always aligning our hearts, our heads, and our hands with our faith – to see, hear, and feel all people, so that we may help them, and to protect our planet.

His voice comforted and inspired many. His hands led him to places where others dared not go, and His heart knew no boundaries. His humour and his laughter were not only infectious but calming.

Let us, each and every day, see, hear, and feel people—to fight the globalisation of indifference. In so doing, we will walk the road he paved tirelessly to the very end of his life.

If we dare to live with heart, to serve with courage, humility, and to love without borders—then Pope Francis still walks among us.

May His soul forever rest in peace. (PR/GIS)