My Barbados Blog

Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Barbados' new Prime Minister David Thompson are set to meet in Trinidad's capital Port of Spain tomorrow.

One issue that has caused the most tension between Trinidad/Tobago and Barbaos has been "flying fish" - Barbados national dish.

In 1978 negotiations between the island nations started in regard to the flying fish stock that migrate between the waters between Tobago and Barbados.

The International Tribunal on the Conventions of the Law of the Sea ruled two years ago on the demarcation of the maritime boundaries between Trinidad, Tobago and Barbados, which resulted in a draft fishing agreenment between the countries. See Previous Posting

Another concern is the massive investments by Trinidad in Barbados' distribution, media, technology and food sectors - especially since Thompson has repeatedly stressed concerns about the stranglehold by powerful cartels on the Barbadian economy, thereby resulting in the high cost of living and rapidly rising food, land and housing prices.

And the issue of air and sea transportation and national security will also be discussed. Manning has responsibility for security in Caricom while Thompson has responsibility for Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Travel Agent Magazine was on hand for the annual Super Bowl "Big Game Week" at Almond Beach Village.

Almond's general manager told the magazine about the plans to add six new spa treatment rooms to attract more American guests to the resort.

Currently Almond Beach only has one spa treatment room, and the plans are to develop the new rooms on space occupied by two squash courts that have been underused. No time frame was given for the construction date.

Plans are also underway to make Almond Beach Village's Super Bowl Party more luxurious for 2009.

This includes adding bigger projection screens so guests can view the game from docked yachts. At this year's party, the resort rolled out a projection screen onto the beach, where guests watched the game from more than 50 tables set up alongside the ocean. The plan calls for doubling the size of the main screen and arranging for several yachts to be docked nearby.

Visit www.almondresorts.com/resorts/almondvillage

Source: Travel Agent Central

Barbados is playing a leading role among Caribbean countries in the second home ownership market.

The island's appeal was enhanced recently through its hosting of the golf and cricket world cups in addition to plans by two international brand name hotels to open in the island.

75% of the people who buy second homes in Barbados are from the UK, and plans have been announced by that government which could see further stimulation of second home ownership.

Read full article at CBC (Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation)

The retired British Airways Concorde has generated a lot of controversy since it made its last landing in Barbados three years ago.

Thanks to technology those that did not get the chance to fly on board Concorde, can now try their hand at piloting the supersonic airliner.

Read full article at Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
http://www.cbc.bb/content/view/10799/10/

Barbados Free Press mentions gallimaufry blog, which has beautiful pics of Bridgetown, capital city of Barbados.

Here's one of my favorites below - boy things have changed! All of the photos are simply beautiful.

Head on over to Gallimaufry Blog, and enjoy beautiful Barbados!

The site in the Garrison Historic District, just outside Bridgetown, includes a yellow home in the Caribbean Georgian style with green shutters and louvered windows, stables, a bath house and a windmill.

Washington came to Barbados — the only foreign country he ever visited — at age 19 with his older half-brother Lawrence, who suffered from tuberculosis. Doctors had recommended Lawrence try to recover in the island's warm tropical weather.

For information on the house, visit http://www.georgewashingtonbarbados.org/

With food skyrocketing year after year, the Ministry of Agriculture has now identified 16 items which can be produced in Barbados - onions, cucumbers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, poultry, hot peppers, fresh milk and table eggs.

Barbados' Food Import Bill has reached alarming levels, and an effort is being made to cut costs, identify items that can be produced locally and give incentives to put idle lands into productive use.

Last year, the food bill was tagged at approximately $374 million, seven million dollars more than what was spent the year before.

Full article located at Barbados Nation Newspaper

The official souvenir guide for Cricket World Cup 2007 is being produced by The Nation Publishing Company Limited in Barbados.

With the Cricket World Cup (CWC) opening ceremony scheduled for March 11 at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Trelawny, Jamaica -- the first Official Publication for the eagerly-awaited tournament will hit bookstores and select locations throughout the Caribbean and the rest of the cricket-playing world -- including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA and the UK later this month.

The Nation will also be responsible for Official Match Program (inclusive of Official Score Cards) and the Official Commemorative Book.

Read the full article at the Nation News

Ambassador Oliver Jackman, accomplished Barbadian diplomat, attorney and columnist, died this week, and tourism officials are remembering his life and accomplishments.

"While the international recognition of the great Barbadian continues to flow in the wake of his passing this week, I would like to ensure that Oliver Jackman's contributions to placing the concerns of small island states on the global agenda do not go unmentioned," said Lelei LeLaulu, president of Counterpart International and an organizer for the 1994 Barbados Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Ambassador Jackman ended a distinguished diplomatic career with postings at the highest echelons of the United Nations, but as a former U.N. junior official himself in the Congo, he probably took pity on those of us stumbling around Barbados and the region trying to get the conference together with minimal resources. And he was always very kind, generous and gracious."

Source: Read more on this story at:  Counterpart.org

Barbados power came to a screeching halt just after daybreak yesterday as power failed across the island.

It is believed to have been caused by a green monkey climbing a high voltage pole while the backup systems failed.

The blackout lasted from early morning until around 1:10 pm, and seriously affected businesses, local homes and tourists across the island.

Manufactures have the option of providing their own power, and this blackout puts the Barbados Light and Power Company on the front burner with regards to  vulnerabilities of their companies operation. This blackout may push many manufacturers to start providing their own power, and also speed up the construction of wind farms in the north of the island.     

The Managing Director of the light company went on TV to explain to the public why the blackout occurred. The problem appears to have started at a fault on the 24,000 volt cable between the main generating plant outside of the capital city Bridgetown, and the central substation at Haggatt Hall.  

Two 69,000 volt underground cables, which were to provide backup services also failed. Light company officials stated that the underground cables were not operational because of damage from the construction of a highway extension, which is part of the infrastructure work to ease traffic congestion during Cricket World Cup 2007.

The company said in the area where the power outage appeared to have originated, there were reports of a monkey climbing a pole which carried the older high voltage cables - a 24,000 and 11,000 volt cable.

Andrea is still looking for volunteers for the Barbados cricket film "Barbados Hit for Six". I received this e-mail today from the Barbados Hash Harriers. So, if you are on the island, and want to participate, give Andrea a call.

Down to the last week so checking if you, or any of your friends or family, are available for any of the following...

Wednesday 1st November ­ Airport, 8am to 10.30am

Thursday 2nd November ­ Jolly Roger, 12.30pm to 4.30pm

Friday 3rd November ­ Savannah Hotel, times to be announced

Sunday 5th November ­ Party time at Windward, 1.30pm until 5.30pm

Monday 6th November ­ Nation, Fontabelle, 8.30pm to 6am

Could anyone that is interested please call me.

My contact number is 422 4256

Regards
Andrea

It's just a month before the island of Barbados celebrates its 40th Anniversary of Independence. 

The theme of the celebration will be "Barbados forty, a proud past - a world class future." 

The Independence Celebration begins on November 1 with a lighting ceremony, a Bajan folk brew and culminate with an awards ceremony on December 10.

Source: CBC Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation

When the Kensington Oval was chosen to host the ICC Cricket World Cup final, Barbados celebrated like never before. However, there has been further good news for an island that has become synonymous with cricket.

The Nation Publishing Company Limited (Barbados) – has been awarded the contract to produce the official publications for ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

Pictured above are CWC 2007 Managing Director, Chris Dehring, center, with Nation staff

Read full article
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=10123

Source: The Voice Online - UK - by Rodney Hines

A U.S. based Barbadian film director is pleading for more support to be given to producers of local films.

Miguel Drayton, director of the film, "From Barbados With Love" says with the increasing cost of living, it's becoming more and more difficult for directors and producers to secure funding. He also stated that he believes the film industry can be a major money earner for Barbados.

Drayton was speaking during the launch of the movie's theme song which is performed by Barbados' internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter Magnet Man. 

Source: CBC

One of our blog visitors, Carl Moore posted his comments to one of our recent posting about the Concorde Visitors Center at the Barbados airport.

Carl's view is shared by many of those on the island. One of the most important aspects of travel is seeing the view from those who live in a particular destination - versus the tourists view. 

While visitors to the island (including myself) used to marvel at the sight, and thunderous sound of the Concorde approaching the island, I have to ask myself, what would my thoughts have been if I lived on the island, especially close to the airport.

The Concorde was not permitted to fly across the U.S. because of the thunderous noise, however the island of Barbados had the distinction of being the only island where Concorde could land.

Even if the Concorde had been allowed to leave from Chicago, I would not have been able to afford the price.

And for that price I would not have wanted to be cramped into those uncomfortable seats, along restricted carry on luggage due to no overhead storage. 

Why did travelers pay the price? For the opportunity to ride on a super sonic flight which provided a quick trip to anywhere in the world, first class service, and great meals.

At least that's what I was told by visitors from Britain - and another interesting fact is that you could see the curvature of the Earth from your window. I actually hate to fly, but it's the only way to get to the places I love to visit, and seeing the curvature of the Earth would probably send me into hyper-ventilation.  

Of course those days are over, and the Concorde is being housed at the Grantley Adams airport. Now the new Concorde Visitor's Center is underway, and it is the taxpayers of Barbados who end up footing the bill - and many do not feel it's worth the cost. 

Here's Carl's comments . . .

A FLIGHT OF FANCY

We seem no longer to be having a “Concorde Museum”. By November – not September, as Senator Rudy Grant had told the Senate in June – we are now going to have a “Concorde Visitors Centre” ... whatever that will be.

What is there to see in the cramped passenger cabin of a Concorde? What’s so interesting about its 1960s cockpit? The passenger cabins and cockpits of a Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A-320 are more interesting.

When will be ever face the fact that Concorde was merely a fast, uneconomical passenger plane with a futuristic swept-wing design on which only the rich and famous could fly, as well as those who entertained themselves at the expense of taxpayers?

Meanwhile, can our Government tell us how much it has cost us to keep that technological conundrum in an air-conditioned hangar for the past two years?

From the outset, back in the 70s, Concorde, a vainglorious and unrealistic project, a metaphor of the hubris of two nations, Britain and France, who were left holding the bag after the commercial supersonic idea fell away.

Kevin Myers, writing in The Daily Telegraph two years ago, said: “The economics of Concorde were nonsense from the start, even with the hypothetical ‘hundreds’ of sales. It was far too small, and the trail of destruction left on the ground when it flew supersonic meant that it could only do so over the sea: and the only ocean it had the range to cross was the Atlantic. Really, a 10-year-old could have worked out how inviable this project was: but, of course, 10-year-olds are short on testosterone and high on common sense.”

Now, we here in Barbados are stuck with one of these old planes -- on loan from British Airways -- while the British have four already on display in well-equipped aviation museums in England, the Americans have two on show (one in Manhattan, the other in Seattle), and there are five others in museums and on display across the European continent.

So Barbados must have one too. Why? Because “We were one of the few places that Concorde visited". The fact is that Barbados was one of the few places that it could visit because of the excessive noise and the economic burden of operating it. So somehow we have turned a liability into a virtue; not even an asset!

Forget about Concorde. Give the thing back to British Airways; it's on loan, remember?

Does money grow on ackee trees in Barbados?

September 16th has been designated as World Ozone Day by the United Nations

World Ozone Day will be celebrated on Saturday, September 16, and Barbados is one of 168 countries that have committed to eliminating the use of ozone-depleting substances.

These efforts first began with the establishment of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, an international agreement designed to protect the stratospheric ozone layer, which acts as a barrier between the earth and harmful, ultraviolet light from the sun.

Barbados signed the protocol in 1992, and, since then, has achieved a 50% reduction in the consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) – gases that are harmful to the ozone layer and which were essential to the refrigeration and air-conditioning industries before the implementation of the protocol.

The island is expected to meet a target of reducing the use of ozone-depleting substances by 85%, by 2008. The target year for a complete phase-out of CFC's use is 2010.

With this target in mind, industry representatives formed the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Association of Barbados.

It is hoped that the association will provide further local and international training and certification opportunities in the use of non-ozone depleting substances for technicians.

According to an article in the Barbados Nation News, EXCLUSIVE CARIBBEAN COTTON INC, (ECCI) has no plans to sell cotton grown in Barbados to manufacturers in any part of the world.

Sea Island Cotton was being sold at US$10 a pound, and North American manufacturers are making huge profits from manufactured products.

For those not familiar with Sea Island Cotton, it is one of the most valuable and pricey cotton varieties.

The Sea Island Cotton fibers are 50% longer than the regular cotton strain. This particular plant has yellow flowers and black seeds.

The cotton is strong as silk, and soft like cashmere. It is very easy to care for, quite versatile and the fabric keeps your body cool in extremely hot weather.

I purchased several Sea Island Cotton dresses, blouses and pants from Bajan designer Carol Cadogan, owner of "Cotton Days" some time ago, and still enjoy wearing.

Back to the article in the Nation News . . .

Apparently it takes one pound of lint to make a polo shirt for baseball players in the United States, and manufacturers sold one polo shirt wholesale for US$125 and a retail price of US$250. Yeah, that's a lot of profit!!

The Nation reports a North American manufacturer has a large amount of cotton lint stored in a warehouse in Italy waiting to be spun into fabric there - so the services of spinners in Italy actually carry out the process.

ECCI figures it can can hire the spinners of Italy to do the same for them, instead of just getting $10 a pound - Makes perfect sense to me - keep the money at home.

West Indian Sea Island Cotton thrives in Barbados and is considered to be one of the best in the world. However, it does not grow easily in other environments.

Sea Island Cotton was cultivated and harvested in the U.S. southeast from the late 1700's until early in the 20th century. It was the most important economic force of the South, and the cotton was prized by kings and queens as being recognized as the finest cotton in the world.

Just to get an idea of how much this special cotton sells for, visit John Smedley website

Back in January I posted about the proposed $50 million dollar highway project in Barbados, which has now grown to a cost of about $70 million. Well, the project is finally getting underway . . .  Linda

Within the next 10 days, major construction work on the widening of the ABC Highway will begin, as well as the construction of bases for concrete columns that will support six fly-overs. The project is called Operation Free Flow according to the Barbados Nation News.

The ground breaking ceremony will be held on July 24, and the area that will feature the most extensive part of the fly-over works, including a "trumpet loop" that would resemble the large "cloverleaf-type intersections" found at major inter-state highway junctions in the United States.

Construction will take place simultaneously on both sides of the highway, and officials say there will be some disruption in normal traffic flow. Sounds like a lot of disruption to me.

Mia Mottley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs of Barbados was a key speaker at a businesss symposium targeted towards potential investors in New York yesterday.

The half day symposium was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Prior to arriving in New York, another investor symposium was held in Texas.

Hosted by the Barbados Government and the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation, with the theme - "Managing Global Business Expansion – Utilizing Global Sourcing & Tax Treaty Networks”, the following topics were covered:
 
- Tax treaties for global competitiveness
- Wealth management and investment banking in Barbados
- Opportunities providing global business solutions utilizing a Barbados address

Anthony Sobers, CEO of the BIDC, told potential investors that “Barbados offers competitive advantages to companies looking for practical, efficient expansion solutions".  

The government of Barbados is offering tax incentives, training grants and subsidized industrial space to help offset start-up costs for foreign businesses.

The advantages to U.S. businesses are close geographic proximity and cultural similarities.

For more information - go to the BIDC website

Ganzee - Caribbean slang for T-shirt - has thirteen stores in Barbados, including outlets at the cruise ship terminal and the international airport, as well as two outlets in Granada and one in Tortolla.  

It was previously owned by the Cave Shepherd group, one of the largest travel and duty free retailers in the Caribbean, which remains a shareholder and will play an active part in the development Tourvest plans for Ganzee.   
                                       
Managing director of Tourvest"s retail merchandising division Eric de Jager said today that Tourvest was acquiring not just a successful business in Barbados but a beachhead into the entire Caribbean, one of the world"s premier tourism destinations.  

The region attracted 36.5 million visitors in 2005, many times the South African figure of 7 million for that period.
                         
Tourvest is already Southern Africa"s dominant destination retailer, with 60 specialist stores located at all key tourism hubs from Cape Point to the Victoria Falls.
                                                   
"Given the size and spread of our presence here, opportunities for local growth are limited, hence our decision to expand beyond our existing borders by leveraging our truly world-class skills in destination retailing," de Jager said.  

“Our first priorities will be to introduce new ranges of merchandise - with a strong emphasis on the current international trend to lifestyle gifting and homewares - into the existing stores and to develop an expansion strategy in conjunction with our partners Cave Shepherd.  At this stage our intention is to
grow the store network from 16 to 35 within five years."      
                                                                      
While the Caribbean was a major tourist shopping destination, the current destination merchandise offering was largely undifferentiated, with most of it being sourced from the same wholesaler in the United States.     
               
Tourvest, on the other hand, has extensive retailing resources, which include access to a huge pool of suppliers and merchandise.  This will enable us to offer consumers a better and wider choice, as well as to provide those who visit a number of islands with differentiated products.  

For further information call Eric de Jager on 082 900 3416                      
Issued by du Plessis Associates on behalf of Tourism Investment Corporation.    
dPA contact Helen McKane Tel : +27 11 728 4701, Fax: +27 11 728 2547,
Mobile: 082 330 2034 or  e-mail: tourvest@dpapr.com                             
Sponsor : Investec Bank Limited -  Website : www.tourvest.co.za