Easter Sabbath Road View Beach Lime

How's the beach?

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How Many More?

THREE (3) MORE DIED ON THE ROAD VIEW - MULLINS - GIBBES STRETCH TODAY

  "THREE PEOPLE LOST their lives including a 14 month old baby, along Gibbes Road, Mullins St. Peter, this morning around 10:30 after the car in which they were travelling was involved in an accident with a mini-bus.
Police reports said the deceased are Sherese Alleyne 19, of Durants Village, St James, her son kion 14 months old and Nakira Harewood 17 years also of Durants, St. James. Alleyne and Harewood died on the spot while the infant died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.The victims were travelling in the same vehicle." NationNews.com

Click here to sign the petition to curb the insanity.  See also: http://j.mp/rvSAFE

High Drama In The Coastal Zone

"Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, Dr Leo Brewster, has been sent on leave by Government and advised to retain an attorney-at-law.

A senior Government official told Barbados TODAY that Brewster was officially relieved of his duties on August 1 and that six charges would be brought against him stemming from an internal audit into the CZMU conducted more than two years ago by the office of the Accountant General.

The Government official indicated that the CZMU’s deputy director, Dr Lorna Inniss, had assumed responsibility for the management of the unit.

Almost three years ago Brewster was summoned before the Accountant General and asked to explain, among other things, the awarding of contracts for work within his department without adherence to the Financial Management and Audit Act, or the Financial Rules, 1971.

It was alleged that Brewster and one of his senior officers, hydrographer Lester Toppin, formed a company called 2007 that remained incomplete up to the time Innovations R Us Incorporated in September 2004, and two of the audit. In his report laid in Parliament the months later Brewster started awarding work at CZMU to Accountant general charged that under Brewster’s

his own company. The audit revealed that between 2005 and 2007 CZMU paid over $300,000 to Innovations R Us for a variety of services ranging from clearing sites and regrading sand to professional fees that went as high as $53,000.

The Accountant General also reported that CZMU awarded a contract to Innovations R Us at Graeme Hall Swamp, where equipment was purchased by the private company for CZMU and used by the former to carry out the work. An invoice was later made out in the name of CZMU but attached to an invoice from Innovations R Us stating “fees”. The Accountant General’s Office could not locate the equipment up to the time of the audit.

The Accountant General also said the private company’s invoices showed it collected VAT from the CZMU but did not pay it into the VAT Department. As a result, it was noted that Innovations R Us was indebted to Government and this should have precluded CZMU from doing business with it.

Amounts in excess of $60,000 per annum were also paid by CZMU to people who were not VAT registrants. The Accountant General cited where CZMU paid a company over $178,000 without any work quotations. The CZMU also made full payment to Innovations R Us for a project in March management, CZMU made out cheque payments to post office boxes for people who had no physical addresses.

The investigation raised a red flag with respect to conflict of interest when travel claims were made to CZMU for a site visit to a project at Ginger Bay, St. Philip, although the claimant was also a director of Innovations R Us which had been awarded the work. Brewster gave a written response to the Accountant General, indicating that CZMU had ended its dealings with Innovations R Us, and that he and his colleague had terminated their association with the company.

Brewster also promised that the CZMU would “ensure suitable quotations are sought in the future” with respect to work allocations.

In February 2010 Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin confirmed that the matter had been passed on to them. Brewster and workmate Lester Toppin removed themselves as directors of the company, Innovations R Us, in December 2007 but it continued to exist under new directorship."

Source: Barbados Today - "In Hot Water"

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Battle For The Beach In Speightstown

The beach at Godings Bay, Queen Street, Speightstown before and after start of construction of new beachfront mcmansion

Trouble In the Cholery

It's usually not good, but you never know what you will find when you go for a walk along the beach in Road View/Mullins these days; that is, what's left of a beach that is tragically the result of all the overbuilding for tourism in the area.  Yesterday morning was no exception as I witnessed polluted water being pumped from the Palazzate construction site straight on to the beach and into the sea and ending up in The Cholery where a family with very young children were playing and swimming.  The last time this blogger complained about this sort of thing happening at another construction site in the area it ended up in the national media and a foreman from the offending company branded me a troublemaker.    






Click here to enlarge slideshow

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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