By Cheryl Harewood She has spent the last 20 years as a sculptor and her work can be found in South Africa, Australia, parts of North America and in Europe. Barbados has now been added to her list. When visitors and Barbadians alike travel to The Nothing Box Cafe at Martin’s Bay, St John, they will come face to face with Brush My Soul, the huge female statue which is the work of renowned sculptor Penny Hardy, who hails from South Devon in the United Kingdom. The life-like image, which was commissioned by Barbadians Liz and Curt Lashley, owners of The Nothing Box Café, is the result of a relationship the Lashleys and Penny formed back in 2023, after Liz sawthe sculptor’s work while in the United Kingdom in 2021. The sculptor told Buzz: “We met for the first time in 2023 at Ashridge House outside of London. They had...

36 Barbados has opened its 2026 Season of Emancipation with fresh urgency after new research placed the economic cost of slavery at up to $4 trillion, a figure officials said underscored the scale of harm still shaping the island’s story.   But the American economist who conducted the research said the figure was not a literal bill but the factual foundation for dialogue.   “This research is not creating an invoice for anybody to pay,” said Dr Coleman Bazelon. “It is an accounting of the harm that was done… a recognition of the harm that was done that is the starting point for reconciliation.”    You Might Be Interested In Speaking at the emancipation season launch at Golden Grove Plantation in St Philip, one of the key sites of the April 14 1816 Bussa Rebellion, programme adviser for the Office of Pan‑African Affairs and Heritage, Rodney Grant, detailed a calendar that began on the anniversary and extends through...

The Government of Barbados is making a US$80 million investment in modernising its water infrastructure, marking another significant step in addressing one of the most persistent challenges facing households, communities and businesses across the island. A press release from the Prime Minister’s Office stated the initiative speaks directly to the reality Barbadians have lived with for years: inconsistent supply, ageing mains, significant losses within the system, and the strain that these issues place on daily life and economic activity. In a country where water security is inseparable from public health, development, productivity and climate resilience, the programme has been framed by Government not as a routine borrowing exercise, but as a strategic investment in the future of Barbados, the release said. Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stressed that water must be treated as central to the nation’s development agenda, noting that Barbados is among the most water-scarce countries in the world...

0 More than four in ten Barbadian children are overweight or obese, according to new research that public health experts are calling a national crisis requiring urgent, society-wide action – including entrenching the school nutrition policy in law. According to estimates from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) observatory data, the proportion of Barbadian children aged five to 19 who are overweight or obese increased from 33 per cent in 2012 to 42 per cent in 2022. In disclosing the sobering new figures at a media conference held by the Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition (BCOPC) at the 3Ws Oval, UWI Cave Hill, on Thursday, senior lecturer at the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, Dr Madhuvanti Murphy, warned that the rate continues to rise. “We are seeing some alarming trends in terms of obesity and overweight in children in Barbados,” she said. “This is alarming in terms of the fact...

Grief, shock and a deep sense of loss have gripped an East Flatbush community in the heart of Brooklyn after a deadly fire took the lives of two Bajans – a mother and her son. Eighty-year-old Angela Griffith and her 59-year-old son Wayne Griffith, originally from Farm Road, St Peter, died in the multi-alarm blaze along Kingston Avenue Monday night. As residents of the predominantly English-speaking Caribbean immigrant neighbourhood pick up the pieces of their daily lives they are also thanking God for being spared following the tragedy. Reached at his office in Manhattan, Barbados’ Consul-General in New York, Lorenzo Harewood, told the DAILY NATION: “Words cannot describe the tragedy of the deaths of the mother and son. “Our hearts and sympathy go out to their relatives, friends and acquaintances who are obviously feeling the deep loss of the two victims who in their diverse ways have contributed to the betterment of...

157 Barbados Reggae Weekend is set to beam live performances from Kensington Oval to audiences across three continents on a pay-per-view basis, as organisers confirm ticket sales have already reached markets as far afield as Germany and Ireland ahead of the festival’s April 24–26 run. During a stakeholder walkthrough of the venue on Wednesday, sponsorship manager Michelle Straughn said all systems were in place for what is expected to be a major draw on the entertainment calendar. Sponsorship manager Michelle Straughn In a major development, Straughn announced that the event will be streamed globally. “The Barbados Reggae Weekend will be streaming the shows…to the USA, Canada, to Africa…it’s going to be all over the world, and it’s pay-per-view.” The April 24-26 festival will feature a strong international lineup, including Dexta Daps, D’Yani, Spice, Kranium and Grammy Award-winning singer Fantasia, all of whom are expected to attract large crowds. Straughn underscored...

The Courts must make it “unmistakably clear” that illegal possession of firearms “will be met with severe consequences”. So, declared Justice Donna Babb-Agard, as she ordered Shakkell Anthwon Dyall to pay a total of $31 000 in fines for an illegal gun and ammunition. “This court must make it unmistakably clear that the unlawful possession of firearms will be met with severe consequences. Firearms pose a significant threat to public safety even when they’re not actively in use,” the judge said in the No. 4A Supreme Court. “Such weapons are, far too often, used with devastating results, leading to loss of life, serious injury and widespread fear within our communities,” she added. Justice Babb-Agard pointed out that the maximum penalties under the Firearms Act for both offences were stiff and reflected Parliament’s intention that anyone who committed any of the offences should face a lengthy custodial sentence. Tossed from car Dyall, of...

676 The trial of an attorney accused of stealing more than $800 000 from a client has begun in the No. 5 Supreme Court.   Hilary Nelson, of Bagatelle Terrace, St James, is charged with stealing £347 560 (BDS$855 000) belonging to Errol Hewitt between November 13, 2018 and March 4, 2019.   A nine-member jury heard evidence from the investigating officer and several other law enforcement witnesses on Wednesday.   You Might Be Interested In Nelson is represented by attorney Daquan Nedd, while acting Senior State Counsel Tito Holder is prosecuting. Justice Pamela Beckles presides over the case, which continues on Thursday.   (JB)

Update One man has died and three others were injured following an incident at a quarry in St Michael on Wednesday morning. Police said the incident occurred around 9:57 a.m. at a quarry at Lears, where a group of individuals were setting up a piece of equipment when it collapsed. The collapse resulted in injuries to four persons. One male succumbed to his injuries at the scene, while another was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The remaining two individuals sought private medical attention. A medical doctor visited the scene and pronounced death. Investigations are ongoing. ***** Earlier story Police and emergency personnel are on the scene at Lears Quarry where it is reported that one man was crushed to death.  Two others with serious injuries were rushed to the hospital. More details as they come. (NS)

61 Barbados is spending more foreign exchange on importing cars than on medicines or ships — ranking third in the country’s overall import bill — as a growing culture of entrepreneurship and side-hustles drives vehicle numbers past 181 000, Barbados TODAY can reveal. As the government struggles to address a traffic management crisis, the head licensing technocrat said the need by Barbadians to supplement their incomes is driving new vehicle purchases and adding to the already worrisome road congestion.   In 2024, Barbados imported $111m in motor cars – only outstripped by refined petroleum at $520m, and crude petroleum – $234m, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), a globally reputed online data visualisation and distribution platform focused on the geography and dynamics of economic activities.   The OEC, which integrates and distributes data from a variety of sources to empower analysts in the private sector, public sector and...