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It is quite baffling, that as a nation we project one reality when we know that on the ground, the average citizen sees the situation in a completely different vein.We speak to the issue of the return to full face-to-face classes in our schools since the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to introduce online teaching and then a hybrid process of education for the nation’s children.There is no denying that our children’s education has been harmed over the past two to three ...

Government is going back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get financing for a Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan 2.0.Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced on Friday that this time around, the arrangement would be for three years and once approved by the IMF, would unlock approximately US$130 million (BDS$260 million) in financing.She said entering another programme with the IMF – with the current four-year agreement concluding at month end – would also allow ...

Prime Minister Mia Mottley is promising that Government will be working to make pharmaceuticals and other medical products more affordable for Barbadians, even if it has to resort to imposing price controls.She also announced that by next year, residents will know what plans the administration has to get them affordable access to health insurance.Mottley’s pledge to ensure savings on medical supplies – which she made without providing a timeline – comes just over a month after her administ...

Prominent youth activist Roger Husbands says some of the members of violent gangs are among the island’s school population.He has therefore called on law enforcement officials and the Ministry of Education to ensure the bloodshed recently seen on the streets does not make its way into educational institutions when the new term begins in another two weeks.“One of my fears now is that school is about to start back and you have young gangsters and you have young guys who are actually running ga...

There could be a chartered flight between Bridgetown and at least one African nation in the coming months, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has announced.At the same time, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Professor Benedict Oramah, who said there could also be a routine service within the next five years, pledged financial support for the establishment of a regular air link between the two regions and indicated that the region could become home to African-based commercial bank...

Pine Hill Dairy (PHD) is negotiating a subsidy with Government in an effort to revive the local dairy industry which has been plagued with several challenges for years.Shafia London, country manager of Banks Holding Limited, the parent company of PHD, told Barbados TODAY in an interview that Government’s intervention in the industry was urgently needed to pull the sector out of hot water.Although London did not disclose any details about what PHD had proposed, she said she was satisfied with t...

United States (US) representative Mark Green has warned Barbados and other Caribbean countries that accepting investment opportunities from economic powerhouse China would come at a price.He issued the warning on Thursday as he promised a deepening of security links between the US and the region to transform island economies.Green’s advice came amidst rising tensions between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a Beijing invasion of Taiwan looms.It also came against...

Retired actuary Charles Herbert has raised an alarm over the major decline in the number of people contributing to the National Insurance (NIS), as he questioned Government’s rationale for continuing to pay non-contributory pensions.“I don’t really understand the room for non-contributory pension. That doesn’t seem to be accountable to the public,” he said on Tuesday night during an Institute of Chartered Account of Barbados (ICAB) webinar on Our NIS - The Way Forward.The latest review...

Attorney Ernest Winston Jackman who was convicted of stealing and using over half a million dollars of a client’s money says he is “embarrassed and ashamed” to be appearing before the law court in this “capacity and position”.The 67-year-old St Philip resident made the declaration as he addressed Madam Justice Pamela Beckles on Monday.Jackman has been on remand at Dodds prison since May 31 after being found guilty by a jury of stealing $678 414.75 from HEJ Limited between June 23, 2006...

The Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) has stepped in to fight for farmers at River Plantation, St Philip whose land is being taken away by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC).President Alister Alexander on Thursday instructed the farmers not to stop their operations and assured them that his association would back them at all costs.“BARVEN will fight. We have no choice but to fight cause that is what we do – fight for ju...