Submitted by Ras Jahaziel
STOP TALKING ABOUT SLAVERY SO MUCH
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We have heard this so many times from successive governments but …
Govt vows to protect public beach access
GOVERNMENT IS UNDERTAKING more positive and long-term enforcement to protect and maintain public access to beaches across Barbados, with increased monitoring, enhanced use of planning tools and the development of a comprehensive public space access policy.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Economic Affairs and Planning, Marsha Caddle outlined this position during a site visit to Paynes Bay, St James, on Tuesday, where officials from the Planning and Development Department and the Coastal Zone Management Unit examined the potential impact of proposed coastal protection works in an area close to an existing public beach access point.
The Minister explained that the visit was prompted by an application involving the proposed installation of seven groynes, one of which could affect the public access at Paynes Bay.
She noted that coastal erosion, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, had already significantly reduced the available beach area, limiting the ability of beachgoers to move along the shoreline.
“While this is the official public access … because of some of the coastal erosion that has taken
place, especially recently, and especially around HurricaneBeryl, we see that there is really not much beach left,” Caddle stated.
She indicated that the works proposed under the application were for the purpose of the kinds of shoreline protection that are often necessary, but that nonetheless, the relevant agencies were continuing their assessments, including a review of the environmental impact assessment, to balance coastal protection issues with those of public access and amenity.
The Minister indicated that any temporary construction activities should seek to preserve public access wherever possible.
“ We’re not talking about permanent removal of the access at all,” she emphasised, adding that maintaining some level of access during the execution of the works was among the considerations being examined, to the extent that it remained safe for the public. (BGIS)
Focus on crime
Researchers: Spike in murders caused by vigilante justice
VIGILANTE JUSTICE was driving Barbados’ murder statistics at the beginning of this year.
This is because the murder culture is predominantly retaliatory and not predatory at this point in time.
This was among the findings disclosed on Tuesday night during the Barbados Government Information Service’s In Focus live programme, Crime Trends For 2026: Tracking Criminal Activity And Justice Issues In Barbados as part of Crime Awareness Month.
The panel included Cheryl Willoughby, director of the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit; Kirt Goodridge, a senior research analyst with the unit; and Assistant Commissioner of Police Vernon Farrell, who has responsibility for crime with the Barbados Police Service.
“Last year, for every murder, it was usually followed by two or three more within the coming week. That seems to have cooled off as this year progressed,” Goodridge said.
While overall figures for murders are down, robberies, especially with guns and other weapons, are on the increase in Barbados.
Trends
The statistics showed that St Michael remains the parish with the most crimes.
Goodridge did a breakdown of the most recent crime trends and said the composition had changed.
“In the first quarter, January to March, you would have had 170 major crimes and then for the next two quarters, which are April to June and July to September, it would have been 160. So that roughly translates to 490. The worrying trend is the composition of robberies. Of those 170, major crimes, 41 per cent, or 69 of them were robberies,” he said.
This continued to be the main factor for the other quarters, showing that while other crimes decreased the robberies were up.
Goodridge added that they were also seeing the age of murder victims rising with more males in their 30s and 40s with 46 being the oldest. It was mostly teens and people in their 20s in 2025.
ACP Farrell said the statistics supported what the Police Service was observing.
“Youth crime and violence comes to the fore immediately. We’ve seen those video clips with young people involved in skirmishes, some of them not ending too well, that have come to the fore. There is a continuous proliferation of firearm-related crimes, not just possession but robberies where vehicles are stolen, robberies where the gold is stolen,” he said.
Farrell said preventative approaches were being used and crime was now on a plateau which was a good sign for them.
Vehicular theft
However, vehicular theft had become a worrying trend because they were being used to commit robberies and other crimes across the island, giving the criminals more reach when they used fraudulent licence plates.
Farrell also cautioned motorists against late night “parking out” because it had the potential to make the individuals targets.
Meanwhile, Willoughby said while the statistics helped with the creation of crime prevention programmes, they were looking to go into the communities with a focus on the victims. She said she was in full support of community policing to help stymy crime and they would be started in primary schools.
“Schools will be targeted shortly for intervention programmes. We all will converge under one strategic plan because I believe that the more people that are involved in the process, the wider you can spread your initiatives.”
Willoughby said schools were a microcosm of what happened in society and that was where they would start.
The unit has also done a survey on the economic and social costs of crime but its findings cannot be revealed as yet.(WB)
Source: Nation
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