Live in Barbados

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.

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

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.

West Coast wave

Always worth keeping an eye on Tarik’s surfing photography: Flickr: TarikB’s stuff tagged with surf. A lot of his more recent surf shots are not tagged as surf, so check the main photostream too.

More Barbados video porn for you…

Anyone recognise the song?

Marcello Estevão IMF speaks after latest visit to Barbados:

Barbados has been severely affected by the global economic crisis. In particular, the deep global recession has curbed tourism, affecting related activities such as construction and trade which, in turn, depressed aggregate demand and raised unemployment. As a result, economic activity contracted significantly in 2009 after remaining broadly stagnant in 2008.

via Barbados’ Premier Business & Investment Resource • Business Barbados.

BBC News – West Sussex to host Barbados athletes for 2012 Olympics.

The Kristen Lopez Medical Trust Fund has been set up by Kristin’s family in order to help her receive the proper treatment that she needs as a recently diagnosed A.M.L patient.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia or A.M.L is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.

Kristin is a young, determined young woman who as you will read below has been taken away from her her tennis scholarship in the USA to receive chemotherapy.

If you would like to get involved, details of this trust fund are shown below and there is also a Facebook group which you may join.

We hope that Kristin stays strong and know that she has an expansive support group of friends and family by her side to help her through this.

Please read the below from the Founders of The Kristin Lopez Medical Trust Fund:

Dear Friends,

I am sure that you are aware of the tragic situation that has befallen Kristen Lopez.

Kristen who is currently on a tennis scholarship in the USA has been diagnosed with A.M.L, a very aggressive form of leukemia. Kristen is undergoing her first stage of chemotherapy now and all indications are that this will be a lengthy and extremely difficult and expensive process for the Lopez family.

In an effort to help defray some of the considerable cost for treatment, travel accommodations etc., we the Friends of Ocean View Tennis have established the “Kristen Lopez Medical Trust Fund” of which Archie Cuke, David Sumpter and Adrian Brancker are the trustees and we are asking the corporate friends of Ocean View tennis to generously support this cause.

The Trust Fund has been established at BNB, the account number is 018288232001.

Kindly make your cheques payable to “The Kristen Lopez Medical Trust Fund”

Your donations will be greatly appreciated and will contribute tremendously towards Kristen’s successful recovery.

Yours truly,

Adrian Brancker
Archie Cuke
David Sumpter

The most coveted trophy in local horse racing arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday, signalling the countdown towards the most prestigious thoroughbred horse race in the southern Caribbean – the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup.

Piloted by Loraine Raincock, the Boeing 777 touched down around 3:50 p.m., bringing with it the solid gold trophy for the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup. Raincock is the first female to have made the trip with the Gold Cup, continuing a tradition that began in 1984.

Back then the cup was transported aboard a Boeing 747, and from 1985 until 2000 aboard the Concorde. Raincock noted BA was proud to continue the tradition of bringing the Gold Cup home for yet another year.

“We are also pleased to be a part of a great and wonderful partnership with the Sandy Lane Hotel. We fully recognise the significance of the Gold Cup event to Barbados and to your visitors, some of whom would have flown with us today.

See full article here.