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Last Thursday (27 Feb 2025), the Government published a list of 92 stone masonry buildings scheduled for demolition. Rather than protect the structurally stable stone-masonry walls and replace the timber-framed roofs and house people, we have chosen to waste the labour and materials already spent on constructing the stone-masonry buildings.

Where is the innovation of an intelligent people? Where are the good ideas? Where is the respect for the built-legacy of our foreparents? Where are the guardians of our heritage? None of these questions matter, because our radical activists have decided that stone-masonry houses are vestiges of colonialism that must be destroyed so that our new Republic may flourish.

This new demolition schedule brings the number of published stone masonry buildings to 1,007. On this scale of destruction of our built heritage, we are like ISIS who destroyed treasures of the middle-east.

The main differences are: (i) ISIS destroyed their built heritage for radical Islamic religious reasons, while we are destroying ours for radical activist reasons, (ii) ISIS destroyed tombs and monuments of the dead while we are destroying the structurally stable stone-masonry walls of buildings that can house the living, and (iii) guardians of the middle-east resisted ISIS’ lunacy with their lives – while our guardians have placed themselves on long leave.

Grenville Phillips II is a Doctor of Engineering and a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

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15 responses to “Long Leave”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    I guess they want to free up the land for multi floor structures and their piles.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Our home not a derelict

    Elderly couple shocked as residence listed for demolition

    by MARIA BRADSHAW

    mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    PASTOR URILENE SPRINGER and her husband Clyde want to know how their “beautiful and well maintained” home came to be listed among the demolition of derelict buildings advertised by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) last week.

    An upset Pastor Springer said she was shocked last Thursday when she saw her home at King Street, St Simon’s, St Andrew, which she has lived in for 55 years listed to be demolished on March 20.

    “I sent my husband to the supermarket and the spirit just tell me to tell him to pick up a newspaper. I was on the machine doing some work and he bring the paper and put it in front of me. I said to myself, I ain’t got no time to read the paper. Then the spirit said to me, like a human being talking to me, pick up that paper and check it. So when I open it, it opened right in the middle and I saw a government notice demolishing buildings and I continued to read the names and then I saw me and my husband’s names. I started to laugh and I ask who could give the NATION this information?”

    Springer recalled that last October a woman came to her house and indicated that she was doing a survey.

    “She said she would like to know the names of the adults in the home and I gave her my name and my husband’s name but when I went to give her my daughter’s name, she said ‘the two of you is alright’.

    I found that strange because she asked for the names of the adults who live here and my daughter is 32. She is the only body that come to me.”

    Springer said she also spotted other properties in the neighbourhood which were unoccupied and dilapidated, including two in front of her house where the owners had passed away and which were being managed by relatives, who did not live in the area.

    Church listed too

    The pastor pointed out that she saw the Bethany Baptist Church at Haggatts, St Andrew which is still in operation and was recently renovated also listed.

    “I called up the pastor and told them to look into the newspaper because the church is there to be destroyed.”

    Springer questioned how someone could visit her home and determined that it was derelict.

    “From November last year to January this year I painted this house. I realised that it had a small leak and I changed 40 galvanised sheets on the roof. I don’t let my home go down. We work too hard for this. So if anything want changing, we change it.

    So I didn’t take no chances,” she said of her two-storey home which also has the family church next door which is also in pristine condition.

    The 77-year-old Springer said she also tried to contact her attorney about the matter as it had offset her and her husband.

    “My husband suffers with hypertension and he had an appointment with the doctor the next day and I am a diabetic. So to see these kind of things published in the NATION newspaper it means that you’ll get a bad report. I got to get this rectified. They got to do things the right way.

    “Even if this home was breaking down and we choose to live in it that’s our choice,” Springer said.

    “From the time they [the woman] get out there they would see a beautiful home.

    The devil want to destroy it.

    He got another thing coming.” The DAILY NATION was unable to reach the director of the EPD. However when contacted Minister Adrian Forde under whose Ministry the agency falls advised Springer to contact the EPD office.

    Source: Nation

  3. John Avatar
    John

    You have to be joking, what sort of power mad creeps we got in Government.

  4. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    When you put lawyers and quasi lawyers in charge of your affairs, how can we ALSO expect common sense to prevail?

    This is a government whose MAIN achievements so far has been:

    1- to knock down a SOUND $30Million dollar building in the heart of Bridgetown … to build a park (WHILE PAYING A FORTUNE TO THEIR FRIENDS for rental of government offices)

    2 – to spent UNTOLD sums on a botanical garden that seems mostly designed to give out political largesse in a particular constituency.

    3- knock down a fire station in CENTRAL BRIDETOWN – and THEN scramble to find replacement coverage

    4- Confiscate and demolish a PRIVATE business in Bridgetown, one can only surmise that any constituency contributions from said business were miniscule at best.

    5 – allow a cement plant to be built right next to the ONLY flour mill. (well Bushie DOES NOT eat any shiite with flour- as you can guess)

    Millions of dollars have dissappeared UNACCOUNTED so far, .. in HOPE, STEAL, HELP, BAMC, NIS, QEH, UWI, Four Seasons, …THAT WE KNOW OF…

    While all we hear is of MORE BEING BORROWED – to be repaid in BLOOD, by our children (those of us who HAVE any children that is…)

    So does Grenville REALLY expect this government to CARE about refurbishing 92 houses at about $60,000 each (a measly $6M)- to house 92 families?
    ..WHEN INSTEAD, THEY CAN PAY THEIR POLITICAL FINANCIERS $80 MILLION of borrowed funds – for yet another HOPELESS housing scam?

    What does WUNNA think…?
    Is Grenville living in Wonderland or Brassbados?
    Steupsss.

  5. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    But Bushie!

    Yuh still eating grains like quinoa.

    What’s the difference.

    Separately
    With all these maladies, expertly listed, on the thread above someone still tried to proffer that an internal logic about key performance indicators could have some value in making things better.

    Why does it seems to escape us that sometimes man made systems cannot always be repaired, prevented from collapse.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    A fairly accurate assessment of current state hyperbole included.

    Recently there seems to be a push by traditional media to highlight the youth and positive aspects of society. Who will disagree? It is also important to understand one bad apple can spoil the barrel. We rightly highlight the positives but not at the expense of what is going wrong.

  7. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Pacha
    “Yuh still eating grains like quinoa.
    What’s the difference?”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    No clinker dust ingredients.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    It is unfathomable the list of properties to be destroyed would not have been reviewed and approved by a government officer or officers in the know?

    EPD apologises for data entry error

    by MARIA BRADSHAW

    mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Department (EPD) yesterday apologised to Pastor Urilene Springer and her husband Clyde, as well as the principals of the Baptist Church in St Simons, St Andrew for including their properties on the list of derelict structures earmarked for demolition.

    A day after this newspaper highlighted the Springers’ complaint that their “beautiful and well maintained home” was listed in the EPD’s public listing last week, the department admitted that it was an error.

    “The Environmental Protection Departments take this opportunity to extend an apology to Mr and Mrs Clyde Springer and the principals of the Baptist Church in St Simons, St Andrew, for the inclusion of their properties in the publication of structures for demolition under the derelict programme, as reported in the March 4 edition of The Nation Newspaper. It has been determined that the inclusion of these properties was caused by data entry error. The Department is therefore working with the Lands and Survey Department to incorporate the Barbados Building Identification Number into the process to reduce future incidents of data entry error,” EPD said in a statement.

    Conditions

    The EPD explained that the activities of the derelict programme were executed by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 (a) of the Health Services Act Cap 44, to control potential breeding sites for rodents and harborage for disease carrying vectors like the Aedes aegypti mosquito.”

    It added that this work was conducted on behalf of the Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health and Wellness and the aim of the programme was to reduce infections from disease-carrying vectors and improved the aesthetics of communities.

    The EPD further noted that a building was deemed to be derelict if it meets one or more of the following conditions and is likely to cause a nuisance: a. unoccupied; b. collapsed ceiling; c. corroded galvanize roof; d.debris; e. harbouring undesirables; f. litter; g. missing doors; h rodents; i. structural cracks ring beams; j. structural cracks vertical walls; k. termite infested rafters; l. termite infested support member.

    The EPD explained that under the programme, environmental inspectors and officers visited communities and conducted investigations. Once a building is deemed to be derelict, a notice is served to the listed landowner. This notice gives the land-owner the opportunity to rectify the issues related to the building within a specified time period.

    If no action is taken to rectify the issues, EPD then proceeds to issue a tender notice for the demolition of the building. Landowners are invited to contact the department at 535-4600 if there are concerns or issues with buildings that are published. It should be emphasised that the department does not demolish buildings that are in good condition or legally occupied.

    “The department regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused and wishes to assure the affected persons that the notices shall be withdrawn.”

    Source: Nation

  9. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Obviously, a data entry error. Somebody got their lists crossed. Ridiculous really, but these are the times we live in. What I wonder is – suppose the demolitian team shows up to such a property and find it vacant – would they question the demolition order?

    The way things are these days, one cannot be confidant that they would. SMH

  10. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Hopefully.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2025/03/05/thorne-demands-answers-on-hope-inc/

  11. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    “teething problems” ? Doogood is an experienced dentist.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2025/03/05/hope-restructured-amid-scrutiny-cuts-1m-in-costs/

  12. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    “We don’t want to convey units that are not of a good standard. So that is why we are deliberately working on the wells programme, we are deliberately working on the electrical upgrade programme, at a cost of $21.6 million,” he said.

  13. Grenville Avatar
    Grenville

    It is worth noting that in the 1990 census, there were 2,401 occupied stone masonry houses in Barbados. In the 2010 census, there were a total of 2,645 stone masonry houses of which 497 were unoccupied. In the 2021 census, there were only 273 stone masonry houses left in Barbados, of which 79 were unoccupied.

    While our radical activists are rejoicing at their success, I happen to think that this is alarming.

  14. Grenville Avatar
    Grenville

    The Nation (5 March 2025) reported that the Environmental Protection Department’s (EPD) derelict programme was in accordance with the Health Services Act (Chapter 44, Section 11(a)) to control breeding sites for rodents and mosquitoes. If the owner did not rectify the EPD’s requirements within a specified period, the EPD would list it for demolition.

    The EPD definition of derelict was: “if it meets one or more of the following conditions and is likely to cause a nuisance: a. unoccupied; b. collapsed ceiling; c. corroded galvanize roof; d.debris; e. harbouring undesirables; f. litter; g. missing doors; h rodents; i. structural cracks ring beams; j. structural cracks vertical walls; k. termite infested rafters; l. termite infested support member.”

    The Health Services Act states something different. The Minister is to list a set of works that must be done on the property. If they are not done, then the Minister may cause them to be done and recover the costs either from the owner or selling the property by public auction and giving any surplus to the owner.

    So, why are we ignoring this law and going straight to demolition which: (i) deprives potential home-owners of an affordable property since the footings, floor and walls have already been constructed, and (ii) deprives the property owner of an asset of value and converts it into rubble that is then disposed of?

  15. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @d. debris

    Good thing I swept my yard of all debris today otherwise my home might be on the hit list.

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