Commentaries

N.B: The views expressed in this piece are solely those of the Bajan in 5 blog

Highway to where? PART 2

(Bajan in 5 File Photo) ABC Highway

As noted in our previous commentary the manner in which roads in Barbados are maintained does leave a lot to be desired. However, the recent visit of a royal nature showed that given a factor of motivation, work can be done effectively and a timely way.

In the weeks leading up to the visit the public saw a display of dedication and efficiency not normally seen on the island when it comes to road maintenance. One such illustration was instances of foliage clearing done during the night. As far as this blog is aware that is unprecedented on the island. In addition the debris cleared was placed in bags and picked up from the side of the highway in no more than two days (instead of the normal situation where the un-bagged piles of debris lay on the highway verge for weeks on end).

The country also saw the re-painting of road markings and the re-paving of roads in certain parts of the island. With news of the up-coming visit of a royal nature as well as signs of efficient and timely road work and road maintenance it became obvious which route those on this visit of a royal nature would be taking. In fact there was no need to say which roads they would be travelling on. The following is a sample scenario which members of the public could confidently deduce “well based on the fact that the road marking and repairs stop there and continue when you turn right…that means the procession would turn right at this intersection!”

The rush to complete repairs was not only limited to the roads, some government buildings also received a much needed spruce-up. It should be noted that many people in Barbados were upset about the amount of money spent for this occasion (it was reported in the press to be around $800,000Barbados dollars).

While it is true a large sum of money was spent, the country as a whole did benefit. In addition, it is possible that some temporary level of employment was created. However, that does not negate the fact that what was done for this visit of a royal nature is something that should be done all the time. This is Barbados and the proper maintenance of roads and government buildings should be done all during the year for the benefit of residents and visitors to the island. Road maintenance is not ‘just for show’ and special occasions.

Some commentators on the island even opined that they would not mind a visit of a royal nature every month…their only stipulation being that the visiting party would have to visit a different part of the island each time so that the whole island would benefit from road repairs and maintenance! As much as we are sorry to admit it, it does seem like their suggestion is the only way the people of Barbados would benefit from efficiency when it comes to road maintenance. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Highway to where?

A sign along the ABC Highway partially hidden by overgrown foliage

While Barbados has done well overall in terms of its development (for example Barbados is the highest ranked Caribbean country in the United Nations Human Development Index) there are some areas of concern. One major cause of worry relates to road maintenance, or in Barbados’ case, lack there of.

This commentary shall focus specifically on the maintenance of road signage and foliage along the roadside. Some would argue Barbados has a high road density (more than 1,000 km of roads) considering its small size. While this is true it does not take away from the fact that residents of Barbados as well as visitors to the island deserve better.

As can be seen in the sign above, there are times (embarrassingly too often) when the foliage at the side of the road as well as the sign become one. This unification is not only unsightly it also defeats the purpose of why the sign was placed on the road….to give directions. With such occurrences, one can only imagine the frustration that would occur when a driver (resident or visitor) approaches the sign looking for guidance only to be greeted by an unreadable sign.

In addition to foliage growth on some road signs, there are times when foliage also starts to creep onto the road shoulders and when the side of the road starts to resembles a tropical rain forest.

An example of the overgrowth of foliage that is often seen along the side of the ABC Highway

As stated earlier Barbados has a high road density but the country only has one major highway-quality road, that is the ABC Highway. That stretch of road is no more than 15 miles in length, yet (as can be seen by the photos) proper maintenance on that highway can not be maintained. In Barbados, tax revenue is collected via several methods, including a 17.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) and an annual Road Tax for each vehicle. With such tax structures in place it should not be too hard to ask for better roads on which to drive and for the proper maintenance of such. What is interesting though is that if given the motivation, proper road maintenance can be achieved. This observation is based on a recent visit of a royal nature which saw roadwork done in record breaking amounts and times...more on that in our next commentary..

_________________________________________________

"WI" can buy via "E" (WICB joins the 21st Century)

Well another item regarding West Indies cricket can be taken off the list….online ticket purchases. For many years sporting fans in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Canada have been able to purchase tickets online to their favourite sporting events from the comfort of their home. After the purchase a confirmation code is received and sometimes a barcode to printout. On game day the ticket purchaser goes to the appropriate ticket booth section at the stadium, provides their identification and their confirmation code (if needed) receives their ticket and then proceeds to enter the stadium to enjoy the game.

Alas, this ease of ticket purchasing was only something we in the Caribbean had experienced once. That was for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. Outside of that event, the main form of ticket purchasing involved going to your local ticket office in person and the subsequent long wait in line. As if that was not a big enough inconvenience there were times when an announcement was made that tickets would be on sale a particular day and fans go to the ticket office that day or the day after even,

then to be told that tickets are not yet available for sale!

Sometimes a phone call prior to the trek down to the ticket office did not yield any more reliable information. In all honesty, prior to this new addition by the West Indies Cricket Board it was much easier, more convenient and less stressful for someone living in Barbados to purchase a ticket to an NBA game in Miami than it was to purchase a ticket to a cricket match right here in Barbados!

The NBA ticket could be purchased online and on the day of the game the individual goes to the arena, presents the required documents, signs their receipt and voila….they receive their ticket. The average process of collecting the ticket at the stadium takes around two to three minutes. When added to the time it takes to purchase the ticket online (on average five to ten minutes depending on availability of seating arrangements) this is a grand total of around ten to fifteen minutes. This is compared with waits usually of more than half an hour in line at the ticket booth at Kensington Oval.

So congratulations are in line for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for this initiative and hopefully the system they have in place will work efficiently and the feedback received would be good.

The WICB’s online ticketing portal can be found at: 

https://www.eticketing.co.uk/windiescricket/default.aspx

___________________________________________________________________________

Cultural venues

There is no doubt that Barbados has many talented and gifted musicians, actors and actresses. It is also true that over the years there has been an improvement in the quality of venues on the island. Facilities such as the Frank Collymore Hall, the Wildey Gymnasium and the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination come to mind.

Even with the development of such facilities there has been a continuous cry from some in the cultural community that the cost of renting such locations is cost prohibitive (either due to total cost or the fact the facility is too large for the production in mind). As a result, shows such as Laff-it-Off and Pampalam are generally held in school halls. This situation brings forward two areas of concern. First, the viewing comfort of the audience is diminished. Most school halls in Barbados only have provision for seating to be located at one level. The ensuing result is that the further back a patron is seated, the worse their view of the performances would be. If variables such as sitting directly behind a tall individual are included, the less than ideal situation diminishes even further. The patron because of the quality of the production might still enjoy the show but that enjoyment could have been further enhanced if the production was held in a facility with multi-tired stadium seating such as the Frank Collymore Hall.

The second concern is that of comfort of both patrons and performers. Most of the aforementioned school halls are not air-conditioned; as such both patrons and performers at times have to contend with extremely hot and humid conditions. In addition some bathroom facilities for patrons are less than ideal while performers would be faced with situations such as the absence of proper dressing and rehearsal rooms.

For many years there has been a lot of discussion about building and or renovating adequate and affordable cultural facilities in Barbados. Unfortunately it has for the most part been just that….discussion. This year’s Laff-it-Off production in its title sums it up nicely “Talk Cheap”….when you add that with the Bajan saying “I don’t pay taxes for my mouth” it becomes pretty obvious that it may be many more years the public of Barbados has to listen to what at the end of the day equates to empty promises.