GRASS FIRES STRETCHING RESOURCES OF FIRE SERVICE

By Sheria Brathwaite

The recent uptick in grass fires has been putting the Barbados Fire Service under strain and Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard is pleading with Barbadians to avoid starting fires.
Meanwhile, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is urging the Ministry of Education to act more promptly in closing schools impacted by heavy smoke.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY on Monday after 8 p.m., at which time crews were still out fighting fires, Maynard expressed concern that many of the grass fires were caused by people, intentionally or otherwise.
“We are definitely extremely concerned because the fires are stretching our resources beyond limit. Just today, we had in excess of 14 fires up to 7 p.m. and now we are still having fires. They are stretching our resources to the limits, [to the point that] the admin staff, the senior officers, everybody had to come out today,” he said.
Maynard said crews were out from as early as 9 a.m. on Monday in Colleton and Greenidges in St Lucy, Pool in St John, Padmore Village and Farm Road in St Philip, and Callenders and Coral Ridge in Christ Church.
So far this year, there have been 176 grass fires, 20 more than during the January to March period last year.
“All are not due to combustion. Some have to deal with human intervention, accidental or otherwise,” Maynard said about the cause of the fires. “So we are encouraging all persons to avoid burning. Those who are doing it intentionally should stop it and those [doing it] unintentionally should avoid burning; because of the dry conditions and high winds, you will lose control of these fires.”
For the past few weeks, classes at several schools have been affected by billowing smoke.
While saying he was concerned about the disruption, president of the BUT Rudy Lovell said the health of those being impacted by the smoke was more important.
He said he was also concerned about how long it took the Ministry of Education to give the directive to close schools in these circumstances.
“Complaints from our members suggest that in some instances, schools remain open for a prolonged period, waiting for official notice from the Ministry of Education to close, and we would want the ministry to establish a protocol which gives the principal of the school the leeway to make decisions in the best interest of the occupants of the school compound,” Lovell said, noting that while principals wait for the green light from the ministry, students and staff “are suffering from smoke inhalation”.
“We know there are a lot of asthmatics and people with other respiratory ailments and we do not want to expose these people unnecessarily to these environmental issues that can be avoided,” the BUT president added.
In a press release, the Ministry of Education advised parents and guardians to ensure their wards walk with medication if they have respiratory illnesses, noting that they should also have a plan to ensure they can collect their children in a timely manner.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb

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By Anesta Henry

Asthmatics and persons who suffer from allergies and sinus complications have been advised to take all precautionary measures to protect themselves as the country continues to experience a series of cane and grass fires.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. The Most Honourable Kenneth George is also supporting the decision of the Ministry of Education to close affected schools to protect students and teachers from the potentially harmful inhalations.
However, Dr George told Barbados TODAY that he had received no reports from polyclinics or the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) regarding an alarming increase in persons reporting to the facilities complaining of health issues due to the environmental hazard.
“The major persons who would be affected are persons who have some form of allergy. And we know that asthma and sinusitis and sinus headaches and so forth fall into the allergy category and those are the people who should try to protect themselves the most.
“The best way to protect yourself is to leave the area that is close to a site that is burning. We know that that may not always be easy, or it may be easier said than done. Therefore, individuals who can’t get out of the situation, many of you may have masks in your houses because you would have used masks during the COVID pandemic. If you can’t put on a mask, you have to try to lock your houses so that the influx of smoke will not affect you,” he said.
Dr George noted that smoke comprises chemicals which can lead to acute respiratory injury or a reaction that produces bronchial spasms, runny nose and itchy skin.
In recent weeks, the Ministry of Education has had to summon parents and guardians to collect their children after the institutions had to be closed prematurely.
Dr George said even though it may appear to the public that schools are being closed too frequently because of fires, “from a public health perspective, we need to make sure that people are protected.
“We know that asthma kills one or two individuals every year. So it is better to be safe than sorry. I am supportive of the Ministry of Education deciding to close schools, particularly if staff and students are reporting that the environmental conditions are affecting their health. I haven’t received any reports, but the polyclinics are always willing and able to provide any acute care,” Dr George said.
Meanwhile, the CMO recommended that schools establish a treatment plan to guide what measures should be taken to manage students or staff who may experience asthma attacks.
“I think schools should invest in some form of treatment plan for asthma because asthma is so common. Schools should have some area identified as an asthma bay so that they can give some form of acute treatment to persons who are in distress,” he said.
Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) Sabu Best explained that there has been a significant reduction in rainfall in recent weeks, particularly in the St Philip, Christ Church, St Lucy areas and this has led to an increase in grass and cane fires due to the dry topsoil.
Best said that while the grass and cane fires usually last for a few hours, the smoke is likely to travel for many miles.
“This is going to make life a bit complex for residents in Barbados, particularly those living in St Michael and working in the Bridgetown area. We expect that these kinds of conditions are going to continue into April where grass and cane fires will be sparking off because of the dry conditions.
“There is not going to be any rainfall coming in anytime soon and I just want Barbadians to be aware that they can expect to see more fires in days to come and just be prepared. This is not an uncommon thing to be actually happening during the dry season,” Best said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) is reporting an increase in the illegal use of its facilities by people burning materials to get copper in order to cash in on the growing trade in that metal.
At a media briefing on Friday, public relations officer (PRO) Carl Alff Padmore said the use of the Mangrove, St Thomas landfill for that purpose was extremely dangerous and put residents in the nearby communities at serious risk.
“The landfill area is dry because, naturally, we are not getting any rain. Why is that a problem for us? We have persons who are trespassing on the compound and they are creating a nuisance because what they are doing is burning copper. There is a trade for copper in Barbados [and so] they are trying to get the rubber off of the copper,” he complained, explaining that these fires were happening in an area near the old Central Cricket Club pavilion.
Saying that no permission had been granted by either the SSA or the Barbados Fire Service to start these fires, Padmore warned: “A simple flame can ignite the grass around the landfill and once the landfill catches, we know it will cause serious strain on our resources because we have to get crews to out it; it will cause strain on the fire service because they will have to deploy trucks; and environmental officers from the Ministry of Health would have to come and do air quality testing.”
“So one simple act . . . has the potential to be a nuisance at a bigger scale,” he added, noting that residents living downwind, in areas such as Arch Hall, Bennetts and Bucks, would be impacted if a fire started at the landfill.
The SSA spokesperson said the culprits tend to start the fires early in the morning and while some people had been spotted leaving the dump, no one had been caught.
He reminded that anyone found engaging in the illegal practice could be slapped with a fine of $5 000 or be jailed for creating a public nuisance.
During the briefing, Padmore also reminded Barbadians not to commingle old mattresses they take to the dump with other waste.
He said there was a programme in place for the SSA to dispose of those kinds of items which come from households, businesses such as nursing homes, and government facilities like the Geriatric Hospital.
Padmore said the SSA would engage in a controlled burn and those were the only fires that were conducted and considered safe at the Mangrove Landfill.
(SZB)

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CTUSAB RECOMMENDS EARLIER TERM’S LEAVE FOR TEACHERS TO AVOID FATIGUE

By Jenique Belgrave

Teachers must once again be allowed a term’s leave after five years’ of service.
General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados Dennis DePeiza made this clear on Friday as he insisted that educators have to be protected from the very real threat of burnout.
Saying some believed that the three school breaks per year provided enough time for teachers to rest, he suggested that for many of those days, they are still occupied with work.
“When schools are on recess, teachers are at seminars, summer school, preparation meetings and they get burnout. They were supposed to be given a term’s leave after every five years and someone determined that this should be moved to 15 years. I think there needs to be a rethink and teachers should be given a term’s leave after five years,” he said, noting that such a job needed to be incentivised to draw a higher level of interest.
Speaking to the media at the Barbados Union of Teachers’ Merryhill headquarters on Friday, he also expressed concerns over the number of school disruptions being experienced in recent times due to environmental issues and instances of violence.
“When we see disruption that is continuous like this it says something about how we are managing the system…As soon as something happens, somebody pops up, makes a statement and then disappears, but there seems to be no direction coming from the Ministry of Education, none whatsoever to deal with these ongoing issues,” he charged.
Depeiza noted that such stoppages have an impact on the island’s productivity and he suggested that a broad discussion with all stakeholders is necessary if issues affecting the education sector are to be addressed.
“We need to get something done where we engage all stakeholders because this disruption is having an impact on the country’s economic development. You may say only the schools are closed but when the schools are closed, parents have to go for children all during the day, they lose income and some jobs may be on the line because they are not at work.
“There are other social factors that are affected as people who have a little money are spending it on someone to keep their children and on meals as the children are, in some cases, missing out on the school lunches provided.
“We have to look at this broadly and find out what are the problems right across the system, have some serious discussions and look for solutions,” Depeiza added.
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb

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More needs to be done by Government officials, health-care providers and civil society to help expand the access to primary ear and hearing care in Barbados, the Founder and Chairman of the The Deaf Heart Project said Saturday.

Che’ Greenidge said even though World Hearing Day is an international day celebrated every year, the lack of attention it has received so far in Barbados is worrying, considering the critical need to expand ear and  hearing care on the island.

“That to me is just testament of the fact of how much we neglect our ears and neglect our hearing, whatever our varying degree of our hearing ability may be or what hearing loss we may be experiencing,” Greenidge said as she addressed attendees of Saturday’s World Hearing Day Barbados 2023 event, held at Solidarity House.

This morning, our main goal is to channel appropriate ear care, primary health care as well, and understand that the two are closely related,” she said.

Greenidge praised Audiologist at Barbados Speech and Hearing Centre, Dr Mariella Stabler, volunteers from the Barbados Community College and representatives of Rotary Club Of Barbados for joining forces for the worthy cause on the special day, stressing that partnerships in the area are invaluable.

She stated: “These are the types of partnerships that are needed to make sure that we are promoting healthy ears [and] ear care because once we have more persons involved in the community and more persons aware of it, then we would be able to make sure that this is a [continuous] event.

“We understand the fact that our deaf community, our deaf colleagues, their ears need taking care of too, and this is something that persons may not have thought about.”

Meanwhile, John Hollingsworth, Director of the National Disabilities Unit, said the event organised was an important one, stating: “This exercise this morning, apart from addressing the whole issue of hearing treatment, speaks to the need for significant work as it relates to issues affecting persons with disabilities.”

The director also reiterated government’s commitment to assisting members of the deaf community, stating that an expansion of the Deaf Empowerment Project, which is an initiative used to help the deaf and hearing impaired better communicate with persons when conducting business in both the public and private sectors, would soon be expanded into government offices at the beginning of the new financial year.

“We have on the cards a project called the Video Relay project, which basically assists persons who are deaf or hard of hearing to be able to communicate with the essential services in Barbados. This project is set to begin sometime in the new financial year — after April — where a deaf person who wants to access the services of the hospital, police, immigration department, [etc],” Hollingsworth said.

“What they will be able to do is with their cell phone, approach these agencies and the person at the reception or another person within the organisation, who happens to have a government-issued cell phone, will be able to share that with the deaf person, and they will be able to communicate with the organisation via an interpreter [using the phone].”

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By Marlon Madden

The COVID-19 pandemic can no longer be used as an excuse for the performance of the tourism industry, says Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Renee Coppin.
In fact, she is concerned about the slow pace of recovery and calls for greater information sharing.
Coppin said while she was encouraged by the industry’s performance for 2022 which showed signs of a comeback following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more must be done to bring Barbados back to 2019 levels.
“In order to have your best performance you have to train hard, prepare fully, set aggressive goals and go up against your best competition. So Barbados has to be prepared to do all of these things because we have no more room for excuses. We can’t be here at the end of this year. It is time for us to get in the game,” said Coppin.
She was delivering her report during the BHTA’s first quarterly meeting for 2023 at the Accra Beach Resort on Wednesday, which had as its theme Women in Tourism: Making a Difference.
“We were very excited to see that in December, for the first time since the pandemic, arrivals exceeded our last normal year, 2019. While we ended the year 250,082 persons down on 2019 levels, what we are optimistic about is a sustained revival of our sector as we claw our way back to consistent performance,” said Coppin.
However, indicating that the issue of information sharing will be key to the industry’s continued recovery, Coppin said it will be important to get “good information and use it logically and intelligently”.
“Doing the right analyses, asking the tough questions and being prepared to face hard truths will be very important. When we look at our performance for 2022 relative to the rest of the world and the rest of the region, we are very aware that Barbados fell below global and regional averages in our pace of recovery,” she said.
Barbados’ tourism recovery was estimated to be around 66.2 per cent of 2019’s performance at the end of last year while the Caribbean recovery was recorded at 83.7 per cent and the global recovery at around 62.6 per cent at the end of 2022 compared to 2019.
“It is important that we look at these numbers and that we are very frank and very real as to where we are and do what we need to do to get back on track. We no longer have COVID as a justification and so we will need to interrogate our information even more rigorously to ensure that we are staying ahead of our competitive set and so that we in the industry are bringing our “A” game to the table,” she cautioned.
Coppin, whose report came a day after the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) reported that visitor arrivals to the region could surpass 2019 record levels, reported that for January this year, Barbados welcomed 58,492 stay-over visitors, or 81.8 per cent more visitors than the same period last year.
(MM)

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Exercise is the main medicine needed to fight the scourge of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Barbados and the wider Eastern Caribbean, in addition to good nutrition.

While speaking on Saturday, the day dedicated to celebrating World Obesity Day, medical practitioners recommended how exercise should be used in patient care.

The Exercise is Medicine Initiative is a global movement by the American College of Sports Medicine, which was used to assess physical activity as a vital sign.

Speaking during the relaunch of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) ceremony over the weekend and the Exercise is Medicine presentation, Sports Physician and past President of the Barbados Sports Medicine Association Dr Rene Best encouraged doctors to use exercise as a vital sign similar to how they would check a patients’ heart rate or oxygen blood levels

“Physical activity is a vital sign and you should be documenting that. You should write that this person is getting 250 minutes per week of physical activity. That is the sign to show us that there is something to treat because if that number is zero in writing, you will interview them and try to change it,” he said, adding that it is not a difficult process.

He said inactivity was the one true pandemic before COVID-19.

“From 2012 the pandemic was physical inactivity and it is still going on and affecting us today and probably getting even worse,” he said.

Meanwhile Medical Practitioner Dr Kristyn Kirton shared that their recommendation to physicians is to follow the BRIEF system – an acronym for Baseline activity, Readiness for Change and Risk of participation, Intervention for the individual, Exercise prescription or Expert referral and F for Follow Up.

Baseline activity is to attain the vital sign of exercise to see how much the individual is doing.

“If they are doing nothing we need to use this visit to introduce the idea of exercise and if they are doing something we need to encourage them to keep doing so.”

As for Readiness for change and Risk of participation Dr Kirton said that the physician must look to see how ready the patient is to change.

She also encouraged physicans to intervene in monitoring the individual as a part of the BRIEF process.

As for Exercise Prescription or Expert Referral she said that this is all about the FIT principle, which is about Frequency, Intensity, Timing and Type. The frequency principle is how often a person will exercise, how difficult and when they should exercise and the variation of exercise that they should perform.

She also had this bit of advice for physicians:

“Like any other drug, remember to start low, go slow, stay within your limits, go with the patient and physician because if you know you can’t do a squat don’t advise them to do so unless you’re giving them a printout online or referring them to someone who can,” she said.

Also presenting were physiotherapists Sheldon Batemen and Marita Marshall who spoke on “Steps to Positive Systematic Change United Healthcare.”

“We have a big problem in the Caribbean and Barbados starting with our children – one in three children between the ages of 13 and 15 are obese. That speaks volumes. That should tell us a lot. That should shake us up. We need to do something and we need to do something fast,” she said.

While referencing statistics, which indicate that the English speaking Caribbean has the highest prevalence of diabetes, she said that systems must be put in place to do something about the climbing rates. (MR)

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Members of the public are invited to come out to a coastal sundown walk from Martins Bay, St John, to Bathsheba, St Joseph, on Saturday, March 11, beginning at 3 p.m.

The walk is being hosted by the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), as part of activities to mark Coastal Hazard and Earthquake Smart Month, March 1 to 31, celebrated under the theme All Aboard with Coastal Resilience.

The walk is geared towards showcasing the various coastal features along Barbados.  It is also a health and wellness family-oriented event for children ages five and older.

Bus transportation is available from the Warrens Tower II, Warrens, St. Michael car park, from 2:15 p.m. sharp.  Persons desirous of travelling on the buses are encouraged to visit the CZMU office at Warrens Tower II, Warrens, St. Michael, from Monday, March 6, to collect tickets between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Persons attending the walk are encouraged to bring water and wear long sleeves, comfortable shoes and loose clothing.

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In recognition of World Obesity Day, commemorated on March 4, the Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition (BCOP) shared a letter of commendation to the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training for the February 15 launch of the National School Nutrition Policy. On hand to receive the letter from Dr Kia Lewis, Chairperson of the Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition, was Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson.  

The BCOP Chair outlined that the new policy was a brave one to protect children in Barbados. The new policy removes sugar-sweetened beverages from schools and forges a healthier school food environment from April 2023. 

The school nutrition policy has been part of the ardent fight by the Coalition since 2019 and the group stands ready to support the Ministry through vendor training, building awareness about childhood obesity with all stakeholders including teachers, students and parents, and monitoring and evaluation of the platform to ensure the policy has the power to change the health of students across Barbados.  

The theme for World Obesity Day 2023 is Changing Perspectives: Let’s Talk About Obesity. When we talk, debate and share, we can change minds, shift norms and transform health outcomes. In Barbados, the conversation has been about advocating for policies and this has brought a massive change among parents, students and government, who recognized that the trajectory of the alarming levels of childhood obesity in Barbados was putting the health of children in jeopardy. 

A societal problem like childhood obesity will require a societal response. Research shows that in Barbados, one in three children between 13 to 15 years old are obese or overweight. This is alarming and puts the health of a generation under threat. 

Adamson thanked the Coalition on behalf of the Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training the Hon. Kay McConney gave the assurance that the Ministry will work with the Coalition and the Ministry of Health to help reduce childhood obesity. 

(PR)

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AUTHORITIES RAMP UP EFFORTS TO KEEP AFRICAN SWINE FLU, BIRD FLU OUT

By Anesta Henry

Cabinet has approved the resources to bolster efforts to prevent African swine fever or bird flu outbreaks on the island.
Although not saying exactly how much had been provided, Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Trotman said that in addition to monitoring outbreaks in other countries, the Ministry of Agriculture has been working closely with farmers to ensure they are implementing preventative measures to protect their pigs and birds.
There have been outbreaks of African swine fever across Europe and bird flu in parts of Asia.
Speaking from the well of Parliament as the Estimates Debate continued on Friday, Dr Trotman said the ministry has also been producing public service announcements to inform Barbadians about the two “serious” diseases, including the damage they had the potential to cause.
“At the end of the day, it is up to the farmers to put measures in place to prevent the entry of the viruses, whether it be bird flu or African swine fever. From an entry standpoint, we are doing some monitoring of landing sites because the bird flu is a highly pathogenic avian influenza, to use the correct term.
“This particular outbreak seems to be transmitted through migratory birds which is a little different from the previous episodes, which makes it a totally different beast to deal with,” Dr Trotman said.
He added: “So we are monitoring sites where wild birds come into the country. Barbados, as you know, is right in the middle of the Atlantic flyway; birds travelling south in the winter do rest in landing sites in Barbados and that poses a risk of entry of the disease into the country. So monitoring those landing sites becomes important, so if we do get birds that are potentially coming in we can pick that up.”
The Chief Veterinary Officer said officials have also been creating a database on the poultry and pork industry to identify where farms are situated and what risk factors exist, particularly if they are close to landing sites for birds.
He said that while there is an ongoing community outreach programme to register farms, there is evidence of a significant number of unregistered farmers.
Dr Trotman pointed out that these farmers do not access the services of the Ministry of Agriculture for technical support or veterinary assistance because they do not consider themselves farmers.
“We are putting GPS points on each of these farms so we have a good overview of where they are, not only so that we can identify them, but in the event of an outbreak we can map it and identify how the disease can possibly spread from there outwards.
“We have found that we have well over 1 500 pig holding areas, which were a lot more than we thought there were. The poultry industry, they are such a diverse group of farmers – you have your commercial entities, you have your small holders, you have your backyard farmers – and each of them has to have a tailored approach in terms of what they can do to protect their farms,” he explained.
With respect to the importation of pork and poultry products, Dr Trotman said as the need arises and outbreaks widen within certain countries, restrictions are being implemented to prevent the entry of the viruses.
“We put restrictions to prevent it from entering through passenger baggage, through commercial entries, while trying our best to safeguard a certain level of trade. We have had to take a more surgical approach to this rather than an outright ban on all poultry and pork products.
“We have done that quite successfully with countries such as the United States and Canada, and so we are looking to try to do it with the United Kingdom as well,” the Chief Veterinary Officer said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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