Your comments are very important to us Report dead links etc

Bible Reading

Psalm 37:28 - "For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever"

Celebrating the Life and work of Archbishop Granville Williams Spiritual Leader of The Spiritual Baptist Church

The race the World has been waiting for: Lewis Hamilton vs Ken Block

Top Gear Festival Barbados. It’s On

Top Gear Festival

Barbados 17  - 18 May 2014

Sunday 18th May 2014: It’s a race that the world of motorsport was eagerly awaiting, and Top Gear Festival Barbados didn’t let us down. For the first time ever, race ace Lewis Hamilton, took on Gymkhana star Ken Block on the beautiful island of Barbados. The all action head-to-head took place at the new Bushy Park Circuit at Top Gear Festival Barbados, which made history this weekend by hosting the first Caribbean round of the Global Rallycross Championship.

Lewis Hamilton, at the wheel of his MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One car, took on Ken Block in his Global Rallycross car on the Bushy Park Circuit and rallycross course.

The question on everyone’s lips as the engines started up was: Who will come out on top in a full three-lap race?  Head to head, which is actually faster?  A rally car or an F1 car? The answer may have seemed obvious, but when the race began between two of the best drivers in the world with the rally car on a shorter rally track, it really was anyone’s guess.

The crowd were not disappointed.  It was world-class entertainment from the start, with the two racing superstars going head to head around the track. It was a nail biting finish and in the end there was nothing between the two cars as they crossed the finish line in style, with a sequence of donuts to create the perfect photo finish.

Lewis Hamilton: “I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Ken Block as a driver so I jumped at the chance to go head to head against him in our cars at Top Gear Festival Barbados. Racing Ken is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, he’s such an exciting driver and is always pushing the boundaries with the cool stunts he does with his car! It was awesome racing against him and I can’t wait to do it again today.”

Ken Block: “"I had a ton of fun racing around with Lewis during the Top Gear Festival Barbados. I never thought I'd find myself racing an F1 car with my Ford Fiesta racecar and I'm super stoked with how it performed—especially off the line! I'm looking forward to getting out there with Lewis again today."

Top Gear Festival Barbados thrilled petrol-heads everywhere today who were treated to the first of two days of high-octane motoring action.  

Hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, together with guest presenters Eddie Jordan, Lee McKenzie and Tiff Needell, were on hand to dole out a non-stop schedule of motoring antics and visitors witnessed The Stig and key members of the Top Gear Live Stunt Driving Team take to the track in a series of stunts, races and challenges.

The action didn’t stop there and visitors were also treated to 2008 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton demonstrating his skills in the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One car, and legendary drivers from Global Rally Cross, including Ken Block, Nelson Piquet Jr and Tanner Foust, compete in the first round of their 2014 season – an historic debut in the Caribbean for GRC.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has lamented that even though Small Island

Developing States (SIDS) have kept their side of the bargain in attempting to implement

sustainable strategies consistent with the Barbados Programme Of Action (BPOA) and

the Mauritius Strategy of Further Implementation, the resources promised by the

international community have not all been forthcoming.   

Mr. Stuart made the comments while delivering a statement on The Journey of

SIDS – Recalibrating and Consolidating for the new Development Pathway, at the

Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, being held in Samoa

from September 1 to 4.

 The Prime Minister told his audience: “Far be it, however, for any SIDS member

state to claim that larger and wealthier countries and international financial institutions

have done nothing to help SIDS. We just say that present circumstances require them

to do more.

“But we cannot afford to be seen merely as disgruntled and complaining

suppliants. We must recognise that there are things that we can do for ourselves.”

 Mr. Stuart reiterated that SIDS must speak with one voice at the international

level, saying the new global architecture for sustainable development, including the

United Nations Environment Assembly and the High-Level Political Forum, demanded it.

 He contended that although much had changed since the early 1990's when the

first SIDS Conference was held, a lot had remained the same. According to him, in the

second decade of this new century, the world continues to battle the old and new foes

of sustainable development.   

 The Prime Minister added that the International Monetary Fund had also

acknowledged that SIDS had slid down the ladder of progress in the last 10 years.

Therefore, he stated, the ongoing conference must make a difference and he suggested

that it should be used to forge a revitalised and fresh partnership between SIDS and the

international community to address some of the fundamental social, economic, and

environmental challenges bedevilling them.

Mr. Stuart repeated his view that the achievement of the major outcomes of the

conference would require a commitment to establish inter and intra-regional SIDS inter-

governmental mechanisms in the three SIDS regions.

“These entities should be intergovernmental in character, driven by SIDS, with

the support of the international community and should provide an institutional basis for

facilitating SIDS-SIDS cooperation. Once operationalised, these mechanisms could also

be used as intermediaries on behalf of SIDS for facilitating direct access to resources

such as the Green Climate Fund.  

“Our fear is that if this august gathering does not have the will to attack frontally

the unsatisfactory pace of implementation of the BPOA and the MSI, the execution of

many elements of the Samoa pathway will be cheated of fulfilment,” he suggested.   

The Prime Minister called on the United Nations and international community to

give consideration to his proposal, saying Barbados stood ready to work with them and

that it would also gladly serve as a hub for inter and intra-regional SIDS cooperation.

(SA/BGIS)

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart

Wed, September 2nd 2014

RENEWABLE ENERGY THE WAY FORWARD FOR ECONOMY

Wed, September 2nd 2014

Government remains committed to facilitating change in the energy sector in order to reduce Barbados’ dependence on fossil fuel which results in $800 million in imports on an annual basis.

 Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, said that given all the exogenous factors, this was one

item that they (Government) had very little control over in terms of price, especially the

world market price.  And, given all the environmental factors that had an impact in this matter, Government had come to a firm decision that renewable energy must be the way forward in Barbados.

2014-09-03

ADD: RENEWABLE ENERGY THE WAY FORWARD FOR ECONOMY - 1

 He made these comments this morning at the consultative workshop on the

Renewable Energy Consumer Guide Handbook for Solar PV Systems at the Barbados

Coalition of Service Industries, Harbour Industrial Estate headquarters.

 He said: “We are very mindful of what the State has been doing in terms of the

Electric Light and Power Act that was passed in parliament last year, [and] two of the

regulations are being finalised now to be rolled out shortly as well as the other

incentives that have been granted – the fiscal incentives that have been granted via our

Income Tax regime to ensure that the inputs necessary for the development of an

industry in Barbados can go ahead unhindered.”

 The Minister stated that “far too often we roll ahead as technocrats to address a

lot of these issues looking through the lens of technical people oblivious to the fact that

there is an educational role to perform.”

 He asserted that in this regard the consumers in Barbados should soon find

themselves far more enlightened regarding the the renewable energy industry and how

it impacts upon them at the consumer level.

 Mr. Inniss told his audience that it was his opinion that in order to really develop a

viable sustainable industry, they needed to look at the wider Caribbean region.   

-more-

-7-

2014-09-03

ADD: RENEWABLE ENERGY THE WAY FORWARD FOR ECONOMY - 2

 “You have to ensure that the individuals who are giving advice on renewable

energy systems and photo voltaic systems in particular are competent, tested and tried

and are qualified as far as possible to provide that service,” he advised while adding

that “this was not an industry that we can settle for mediocrity nor is it an industry that

we feel that any and every one can turn up at your homes, give you advice and install

your system.”  (TB/BGIS)