Meanwhile, Just Two Miles North ...

"The modernized swing bridge that is part of the Port Ferdinand beachfront marina development will transform the lives of everyone in the nearby fishing village of Six Men’s Bay.

The bridge, a private sector undertaking by prominent businessman Bjorn Bjerkham, is nearing completion and, according to residents of the St Peter community, it will impact either positively or negatively on them. Some believe that it will provide sparkle and boon to the area while others think it could adversely affect traffic into the fishing village.

Speaking to a DAILY NATION team that visited the northern district on Tuesday afternoon, one stall owner said the marina should have been a major state-of-the-art complex that should have included the local fishing community.

“The marina should have stretched down to the fishing village and could have been a major entertainment complex on a scale like Oistins,” she said.

The Port Ferdinand project in Six Men’s, St Peter, is one of the larger construction sites on the island where there has been ongoing activity. Construction of the 15-acre exclusive residential private marina began in December 2009 and is expected to be ready by the end of 2015.

The project, which should contribute to the country’s foreign direct investment once finished, is being undertaken in phases, the first of which should be completed by year-end.

Operations at Port Ferdinand, where 88 units and 123 berths are under construction, are being carried out by Jada Builders Inc.

A few fishermen believe that the marina may be responsible for the beach erosion in the fishing village. They charged that volcanic stones, which were dropped in the ocean just outside the marina, may be contributing to the erosion.

“It is pulling the sand away from here. This area cannot afford to have two marinas,” a fisherman said.

Matthew “The Pope” Small, a fisherman for nearly 40 years, said the marina could enhance the community.

“The marina that is being built is a good thing because it is attracting tourists and that can only be good for the country with the revenue that will come. It can’t affect traffic flow,” he said.

A female fish vendor said the work on the marina had been causing problems for her and her colleagues in Six Men’s Bay.

“This is months now that we had more dust than usual in Six Men’s Bay and it coincides with the construction of the marina at Port Ferdinand. It is worrying as we deal with food,” she said."

Source: Divide over marina -- NationNews Barbados

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Video Map Update

Aftermath of poor coastal planning at Kings Beach

"Went back to Barbados 2 weeks ago and completed some more filming. Had a fantastic time.

Had the chance to film some more beaches to help anyone visiting the island. Of course there's lots of other sites around.

Went to one beach the locals call 'Pal Bay' - old boats line the shore - fantastic. If anyone knows anything about that place then please message me. Great beach for photography. I must have been to Barbados more than 15 times and still I get the same inspiration as I did the first time to film..."

Read more: Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - video map update

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Pic Of The Day

Mullins Beach 02/10/12 (click top half of image to enlarge)

Cloudy day on Mullins Beach today, but would you rather be here ... or on the banks of the Danube?

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Time To Head For Mullins Beach

Click top of image to enlarge

"The UK is set for another bitterly cold night with temperatures possibly reaching -12C, forecasters have said. Sennybridge in south Wales recorded minus 11.3C (11.7F) on Thursday night and the Met Office has severe weather warnings in place until Sunday. It has warned that heavy snow could fall across much of England and Wales, with southern and central areas likely to be the worst hit. Sport has been hit by the weather, with several Football League matches off. Two race meetings - at Sandown Park and Wetherby - have also been called off due to frozen tracks. The AA says it has been receiving 1,800 calls an hour from motorists. Snow is forecast for much of the country on Saturday, with central and eastern parts of England expecting 5-10cm (up to 4in). BBC weather forecaster Alex Deakin said: "It's from tomorrow [Saturday] afternoon, and through the evening, overnight into Sunday, we are expecting some heavy snowfall across the central and eastern counties of England. "Certainly a few centimetres, possible as much as 10cm in some places. And, yes, that is expected to cause a few problems." He said the cold conditions were likely to continue into the early part of next week. Areas expected to record snowfall of up to 15cm include Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, North Yorkshire and the Peak District. The Met Office has issued amber cold weather alerts for a large swathe of the country. This alerts organisations, including Age UK, to the health risks to elderly and ill people. It will remain in place at least until Sunday. The temperature at Sennybridge was a record low for this winter and similar temperatures were recorded in the villages of Benson in Oxfordshire and Braemar in Aberdeenshire."

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16873411
See also: Barbados TravelAdvisor

Oi Yoi Yoi Something's Happening

It looks like we are witnessing a new chapter in the Kings Beach saga.  After many years of laying derelict the property was debushed  and cleaned up over the last few weeks and a construction fence has gone up around it.  As per usual here in Barbados no announcements were made about what's going on here - far-less any attempt to involve the local community which has to live with whatever gets built; and then we say we want to be a developed country by whenever ...  What we do know is that Kings Beach was sold last September (supposedly to The Great House next door).  Then there was a rumour that both The Great House and Kings Beach Hotel were to be torn down to make way for some other tourism development.  There was also a rumour that The Great House had flipped the property within days of the purchase.  Now there is a rumour that a five-storey condo complex is to be constructed on the site which for years already had the necessary planning approval for such a project.  Oi yoi yoi, just what we always wanted in Road View for Christmas -  Santa Claus with his bag of fifty more empty and slow-selling condos.

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Going Postal On Coastal

 

Going postal is a phenomenon first noticed among postal workers in the United States where usually on a Monday morning one worker suddenly takes out his frustrations with his job, life or whatever on his work colleagues by blowing as many of them away as he possibly can with a firearm or weapon of some sort. Let me state up front that this post is in no way intended to be construed as a call to take up arms against anyone or any organization. The title above is simply a caricature of the title of the new television series currently on CBC TV Channel 8 from and by the local Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) called "Going Coastal."  CZMU itself was quite obviously basking in the cachet of the "going postal" metaphor or at least had to know people would make that connection.  The point of this posting is to criticize the style and content of that show.

I missed the first episode of the series last week because I hardly ever watch local TV largely because of its fair of the dumb-down programming and government propaganda. However, I kept seeing the ads for "Going Coastal" in the print media and decided I should find out what really was going on as someone who was interested in environmental and coastal issues.

The only laudable thing about this show is the effort to enlighten the masses about the water that surrounds the island.  Most Barbadians have no concept of the coasts and ocean beyond the occasional rare (and getting rarer) beach outing, nor do they care enough even to find the time to learn to swim; consequently, it's only by the grace of God that a major tragedy has not yet occurred on one of those so-called "party boats."  Any effort, therefore, which tries to broaden that worldview should be commended.

Unfortunately, however, the style and content of this show leaves much to be desired.  For its prime-time slot its target audience seems to be primary schools kids.  It jumps from subject matter to subject matter like a bad soap opera trying to keep half a dozen plots and sub-plots in the air all at once.  It looks like it was stitched together by an amateur film editor with a few unrelated clips struggling with apps and a new laptop.  It does not at all come across as a serious show dealing with serious issues that are critical to the quality of life and economy of this country.  And, talking about the economy, in the current economic climate change I really want to thank the presenter who boasted about her junket to Monaco.  It is really good to know our tax dollars can still allow her such useless "perks." 

In my humble opinion, instead of jumping around from subject to seemingly unrelated subject this show and the viewing public would and could have been better served by selecting one aspect of coastal management per episode and spending the half hour properly exploring it.  Coastal issues are too vital to be reduced to the sound bytes of the pop culture format.  

The Choisuel/St. Lucia Tragedy: Lessons for Road View/Mullins and Barbados

St. Lucia and the larger Caribbean region have been plunged into mourning this weekend as a result of a tragic traffic accident last Thursday night which saw the loss of at least 16 (some reports claim as many as two dozen) precious lives.  This accident hits home for this blogger as the area where it happened was part of my old stomping ground when I worked in Soufriere, St. Lucia many years ago. My thoughts and prayers are with the families left behind. Now is the time for us in Barbados to stand with our brothers and sisters in St. Lucia in their hour of trial. Keep in mind also that just over a year ago this same general area of the country bore the brunt of Tropical Storm Tomas and is still in recovery mode. St. Lucia is our closest neighbour after St. Vincent, many St. Lucians call Barbados home, and many more, including their Nobel Laureates - Sir Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott - are of Bajan descent. "But for the grace of God, there go [we]."

It can happen here and has happened here in Barbados - re: the Lancaster and Horse Hill disasters.  In reading some of the online comments by St. Lucians about this accident I am eerily reminded about what we are calling for in the Road View & Mullins Beach Road Safety Petition:

Makak Zel Gosh says:
November 11, 2011 at 7:55 am
Let me express my Condolonces to the grieving famalies during this tragedy.
During my visit to the island I noticed that the immediate vacinity of the road signs were continuing to be obstructed by tree branches, shrubs, bush etc..  The lack of reflectors when approaching Speed Bumps, for the locals this is not a problem but for returning Nationals and Tourists alike who are unaware of the location of those bumps creates a major problem at night.  St. Lucia needs to take road safety more seriously by maintaining and erecting road signs islandwide, not just in the Nothern part of the island.
Let us wake up and do things to international standards as opposed to mediocrity.

Jerry Johnson says:
November 11, 2011 at 1:10 pm
The majority of the transport drivers in St Lucia drive under the delusion they are Formula One drivers and rarely perform suspension repairs until after the fact and only replace tires when they are bald. It was only a matter of time before a driver in an overloaded van drove too fast for conditions.
My sincere sympathies to the families and a head’s up to the island’s department of transportation to perform more diligent preventative road maintenance and to the police to actually enforce the laws.

Accidents like this and the loss of life and the grief they cause are not inevitable; they are entirely preventable when we come together - governments and people - to eliminate the traffic issues and hazards that cause them.  The dangerous bends and lack of signage warning of them, lack of sidewalks, overgrown hedges, speeding buses, cars and trucks, and impaired driving all combine in our area to make another Choisuel disaster waiting to happen.  We had a close call last August 24 when several British tourists and one local were taken to hospital.  Let this be our wake-up call.  Sign the Road View & Mullins Beach Road Safety Petition and support the Barbados Road Safety Awareness efforts today.  The life you save could be your own.

More Sand Than You Can Shake A Stick At ...

Mullins Beach - Fall 2011 (click in top portion of image to enlarge)

... but will it last?

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Here We Go Again ...

Rush hour traffic was backed up for about half an hour just after eight o’clock this morning by yet another fender-bender in front of the Texaco service station in Road View. This is at least the fourth such incident in less than three months. Although this particular accident was minor, it again underscores the danger to pedestrians and motorists inherent in the stretch of roadway between the Gibbses/Mullins border and Sweet Home Gap, Road View, St. Peter, Barbados. Several people have been hospitalized as a result of these incidences and it’s only a matter of time before there is another fatality in the area if nothing is done to rectify the problems. This is not a joke nor am I being too overly dramatic - people will die here soon if we continue to do nothing.

If you have not done so already, I urge all reading this to sign the online “Road View & Mullins Beach Road Safety Petition” to pressure public officials to act fast on this issue before it is eternally too late. Also, to show your wider support for road safety in Barbados consider adding the Barbados Road Safety PicBadge to your Facebook or Twitter profile picture for a day, a week, a month, or longer as you see fit. Thanks.



See also:

Think Globally - Act Locally

  Road View Headache (Nationnews.com)

  Barbados Road Safety Awareness

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Think Globally - Act Locally

Sign the Road View & Mullins Beach Road Safety Petition

Wear the Barbados Road Safety PicBadge

See also: 

Another week - yet another car-bus accident by the Texaco service station in Road View/Mullins

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