by Marlon Madden
The year 2020 started out on a high for many businesses in Barbados, with soaring expectations and plans for several projects.
Despite starting the year with an economic decline, Government was also optimistic about several key development projects getting started, and favourable economic growth.
Then came the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and expectations were immediately lowered, hopes dashed and new plans emerged.
Shortly after the pandemic started affecting the island, rising debt and overall decline in the economy quickly became the order of the day as the Government was forced to borrow more and spend more to implement several social protection programmes and business support schemes, even as revenues declined.
December 17, 2020
A modern fire and rescue service is to emerge from a complete overhaul of the law governing the Barbados Fire Service, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said on Wednesday.
In remarks during the passing out parade of nearly two-dozen firefighter recruits at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, Abrahams said there has been no large-scale revision of the Fire Service Act since 1961 to modernize it and bring it in line with the current practices in the field.
The proposed overhaul is intended to allow the Barbados Fire Service to evolve into a comprehensive fire management and rescue operation which can deliver a modern fire and rescue service that responds to the demands of the 21st Century, he said.