Live in Barbados

An article in today’s Barbados Advocate:

Artificial islands a viable option?

It is no secret that the available land space in this country is quite limited, and with more and more tourism-related developments popping up every and anywhere, some Barbadians are starting to wonder if there will be enough land left for them to own a piece of the rock.

It is for this reason, as well as the fact that tourism is our mainstay and needs every opportunity to progress and expand, that I think the idea of creating artificial islands off of the West Coast of Barbados is not a bad idea. That proposal, put forward by real estate magnate Paul Altman, has been on the table for about a year now and as I understand it, would consist of a 250-acre island that would house new tourism-based developments and a second with a size of 50 acres, to serve as a national park. Certainly, not only would it provide alternative accommodation for the tourists who visit these shores and provide employment for more Barbadians, but it could make this country more attractive to the more affluent tourists, which could mean more foreign exchange.

Indeed, this concept of creating islands would be somewhat new to the Caribbean region. Yes, countries have reclaimed land before, Barbados included – the current site of the Bridgetown Deep Water Harbour is what was Pelican Island – but to go to the extent of actually developing an island off the coast has not been done. However, I do think that it would serve to raise our stakes where the tourism industry is concerned.

Read full article here.

Personally I find this very concerning from an environmental impact.  Reports on the grape vine of the artificial islands in Dubai suggest the islands need round the clock maintenance to stop them from washing away.  The real estate market in Dubai has crashed and with that the influx of income to maintain the islands will surely diminish.

BPL would like to know your opinion on this controversial topic!

Tarrus Riley

The 2010 Barbados Reggae Festival starts on April 18th with the Beach Party.

In total there are now 4 events to choose from, here are the details:

Reggae Beach Party — Sunday April 18th, 2010

The Reggae Beach Party is to be held at the Carlisle Bay Centre, Bay Street from 3pm to 10pm. Artists include:

• Mr. Vegas
• Konshens
• Ding Dong
• Pumpattae
• Kirk Brown
• Omar Mcquilkin
• Ruby Tech
• Psycho
• Most Wanted
• DJ Jon Doe
• DJ Peter Coppin

Vintage Reggae Show & Dance — Friday April 23rd, 2010

The Vintage Reggae Show & Dance is to be held at Garfield Sobers Gymnasium. Artists include:

• Fab Five
• Marcia Griffiths
• John Holt
• Ernie Smith
• Ken Lazarus
• DJ’s Lil Rick
• Admiral Nelson

The Reggae Party Cruise — Saturday April 24th, 2010

Reggae lovers, tick off another date on your calendars, as the Digicel Barbados Reggae Festival 2010 expands, and its taking patrons to the high seas. Another event has been added to the ever-popular festival. Chairman of FAS Entertainment, Al Gilkes announced that a Reggae Party Cruise is in the making as negotiations are being done with Tall Ships. During the Festival’s press launch on Wednesday. Gilkes Explained that visitors to the island for the festival, complained of having too much spare time. Gilkes said” they go to Vintage on Friday, the Hill on Sunday but they have nothing to do on Saturday.

The Reggae Party Cruise is schedules to take place on the 24th of April on the M.V. Harbour Master and will give patrons a chance to mingle with the stars who are part of the Reggae on The Hill line up.

Reggae on the Hill — Sunday April 25th, 2010

Reggae on the Hill is the grand finale of the festival held at Farley Hill National Park from 10am to 8pm. Artists include:

• Richie Spice
• Maxi Priest
• Luciano
• Tarrus Riley
• Etana
• Busy Signal
• Romain Virgo
• Supa Ruben
• Buggy Nhakente
• Hotta Flames
• LRG
• Brimstone
• Albert Olton
• Ras Al-I
• Orakle
• Daniel

Tickets are available from the following box offices:

• CS Pharmacy – Bridgetown
• Warrens Ticket Centre – Super Centre Warrens
• Digicel – Sheraton
• Cooyah 246 – Prince William Henry Street, Bridgetown
• Mount Gay Visitors Centre – Spring Garden

You can also find more information by visiting the official Barbados Reggae Festival 2010 website: thebarbadosreggaefestival.com. You can also follow event organiser Fas Entertainment on Twitter and Facebook.

Most of you may already know about Barbados Free Press, a very popular local news and gossip blog. Some love it, some hate it, but most read it, including us.

Here’s a blog post they have kindly written on Barbados Property List:  Barbados Property List offers free real estate listings

The level of reported crime in Barbados is lower than what it was twenty years ago and that is a fact.

That is according to Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin who assured the public that the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) is not “cooking the figures.” His comments came at the launch of the neighbourhood watch programme at Newbury Heights St. George on Sunday evening.

“When I say to people that the level of reported crime in our country is lower than it was 20 years ago they look at me in amazement. Some people cannot believe that it is true. Some people believe that we are cooking the figures,” said Commissioner Dottin.

“What happens is that there are times when you will get some particularly serious crimes that excite public opinion and [are] scattered across the newspapers so people feel a sense of dread when we get reports of those particularly serious crimes… but the reality is that reported crime in Barbados is actually lower than it was 20 years ago,” he continued.

The Police Commissioner said that despite a low crime rate there are still some difficulties, particularly due to a pervasive drug culture.

See full article from the Barbados Advocate here.

A Lancashire leisure tycoon has handed the keys to a luxury Caribbean holiday home to a children’s hospice in a bid to raise cash.

John Morphet, the Preston-born multi-millionaire, has given the two-bedroomed apartment on his exclusive Royal Westmoreland Estate on the island of Barbados to Chorley’s Derian House to rent out over the next year.

He hopes it will help raise up to £50,000 towards the £2.25m annual running costs for the hospice, which cares for children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses.

Mr Morphet, who still has a home in Milnthorpe on the Lancashire-Cumbria border, said he was inspired to help the charity after learning it receives less than 10% of its funding from the Government.

See full article here.

Barbados is 80-90 percent ready to stage the local leg of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Twenty20, West Indies, tournament.

Word of this has come from Events Coordinator and Acting President of the Barbados Cricket Association, Conde Riley. He was speaking Monday at a press briefing and unveiling ceremony at Kensington Oval, of the first of six bats to be placed at strategic locations around the island.

Caribbean Net News: Barbados getting ready for ICC Twenty20.

Breast Cancer Golf Event

Hi All,
I hope you are all aware by now that I have entered the RW Ladies Open in support of The Barbados Breast Scrteening Programme.

The tournament starts tomorrow, I will be dressed as above, and with legs and armpits waxed (DONE).

Please support this cause if you can (i know times are tough for everyone):

Breast Cancer affects 1 in 8 women in their lifetimes. Its the most common cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer mortality.

Effective screening, and as a result early detection, increases survivability to 95%. So supporting the Barbados Screening Programme is a vitally important cause.

As a married man and a father and a son I wanted to support this cause in support of my female family members before the fact. Boys don’t be shy, get involved.

Any support you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Donations can be made to:

*’Barbados Cancer Society B.S.P’ * ( Last bit stands for Breast Screening Programme and its important otherwise chqs go into the general fund)

Facebook | Marcus Clarke playing in RW Ladies Open for Breast Screening Programme.

A friend of mine moved to Barbados from the UK recently, and one of the first things they asked was how the recycling works here. Unfortunately, most islanders do not recycle and are more than happy to send their waste to the now full landfill site. A fact which often shocks folks from overseas who have been conditioned into recycling from birth. It’s even more surprising, when you realise (took me about 2 years to discover B’s) that it’s actually pretty easy to get down to B’s Bottle Depot and drop off a bag of rubbish to one of their many helpful staff.

B’s Bottle Depot was founded in 2001 by Andrew and Paul Bynoe, with the mission of maximising the diversion of waste from landfill towards recycling. The core business of the company is the collection and recycling of plastic and glass bottles, aluminium cans, metals, vehicle bumpers and batteries from hotels, restaurants, schools, community groups and households.

Since inception, B’s Bottle Depot has expanded to accomodate increasing volumes of waste. Bottles are processed on site and made ready for major dealers like R.L. Seale & Co. Ltd. Aluminium cans are baled and exported overseas for recycling. B’s Bottle Depot also recycles card; a ton of paper made from recycled stock saves up to 17 trees and uses 50% less water. Batteries can also be collected or delivered to the depot for safe disposal.

There is also the opportunity to earn revenue from glass and plastic bottles. With funds generated from recycling bottes, the St. James Secondary School was able to purchase new benches for the school children all thanks to B’s Bottle Depot.

Recycling 1 aluminium can saves enough energy to keep an 100-watt bulb burning for almost 4 hours or run your television for 3 hours.

B’s Bottle Depots
Cane Garden, St. Thomas — Mon – Sat — 8:00AM – 4:30 PM
Bosvigo Road, St. Micheal — Mon – Sat – 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Tel: 438-9285
Fax: 438-9248
Email: bsdepot@caribsurf.com
B’s Bottle Depot PDF brochure

In extreme heat and humidity and racing right-handed on a baked turf course, Sterwins, under expert handling by champion jockey Patrick Husbands, swung wide into the homestretch of the 1 1/8-mile event. He was up in the final sixteenth to win by about half a length over Bribon, last year`s Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) winner.

Owned and bred by Melnyk, a Canadian pharmaceutical entrepreneur who lives in Barbados, Sterwins ran the distance in a scorching 1:48 4/5, just one-fifith off the course record.

via Melnyk Celebrates Sterwins’ Win in Gold Cup | BloodHorse.com.

I’m one of those who thinks that voluntary measures would have been appropriate much earlier, if only to put into people’s minds that the situation was grave some weeks ago, could get very serious, and that would require stiffer responses, including mandatory daytime shut-offs.

Living in Barbados: Watering Down The Response To The Drought.