Stories about Barbados from December, 2011
Barbados: too many cars
Barbados Underground asks: how can the island solve its perennial traffic problem? “Barbados is 166 square miles and at some point commonsense will have to take root. The number of vehicles on our roads cannot be allowed to go unregulated for much longer.”
Barbados: leptospirosis outbreak
A government press conference addressing a leptospirosis outbreak prompts Barbados Free Press to ask some questions: “Why must every new leptospirosis outbreak be a surprise? Why are Barbados governments incapable of implementing and carrying through with long-term plans about issues that are foundational to the health and safety of citizens?”
Barbados: old-time Christmas
Barbados Underground indulges in some seasonal nostalgia and describes a traditional Christmas “the Bajan way”: “Our young ones are missing that special warmth that we made as children.”
Barbados: tribute to Desmond Bourne
The Bajan Reporter posts a tribute to his late father, the journalist and adman Desmond Bourne. “It was not that my father never stood on convention, he acknowledged where he felt it was expected – such as Diplomats and & Ceremony – but for the most part he ignored it….”
Barbados: prime minister's quandary
Barbados Underground offers an analysis of the “headache” created for Prime Minister Freundel Stuart by a now notorious leaked letter allegedly demonstrating his party's doubts about the PM's leadership. “Whatever he does must positively feed public perception that he is in charge of his men. The question is: will it...
Barbados: remembering “Hitch”
Barbados-based B.C. Pires posts his reflections on the death of writer Christopher Hitchens: “for all his flaws … worth a few hundred pastors and priests to me, perhaps a few thousand.”
Barbados: debating “the letter”
Barbados Underground and Barbados Free Press comment on a controversial letter allegedly written to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart by members of his party, expressing a lack of confidence in his leadership, and subsequently leaked to the media.
Barbados: Courts Send Message that Women are Nothing
“Men again learned that no matter how badly you beat women, they can always be pressured to drop the charges. Police learned that it is useless to treat an assault on a woman seriously. The judge learned that assault charges are a waste of time when a West Indies cricketer...
Barbados: Environmental Laws Needed
In the wake of a fire at a chemical warehouse, Barbados Free Press says: “This week’s spill disaster again reminds us that when it comes to environmental standards, laws and performance, our leaders have made us a third world country.”
Barbados: Silk Cotton Tree to be Felled
The decision to remove an old Silk Cotton tree to make room for a new roadway inspires bloggers to discuss the importance of green space and the power of social media to help “civic minded Barbadians…mobilize.”
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: West Indian Brotherhood?
As Barbadian fishermen appeared before a Tobago magistrate on charges of illegally entering the country yesterday, B.C. Pires suggests that “there’s something to be said…for one West Indian island locking up its brothers from another island on their Independence Day”, adding: “If you want to know what’s wrong with our...
