Black Immigrant Daily News

By the end of the year, there will be an upgraded water protection and land use zoning policy.

While speaking at the Frederick Smith Secondary School for St James Speaks town hall meeting on Wednesday, September 28, Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw stated the revised zoning legislation will be coming soon.

“We have been working on the Water Reuse Legislation, both Minister Symmonds and myself through the BNSI [Barbados National Standards Institution] and the Ministry, particularly the Barbados Water Authority on the zoning legislation,” she shared.

“I am hoping for before the end of the year,”continued the Deputy Prime Minister on the revised zoning legislation which marks the replacement of Zones One to Five with zones A to E.

The Green Paper on the 2020 Water Protection and Land Use Zoning Policy proposed the existing zones be replaced with Zone A being a strict exclusion zone, smaller in area than the existing Zone 1, with no new developments and restricted agriculture. Zone B, a pathogen management zone with stricter rules for sewage treatment and disposal; Zone C a chemicals management zone; Zone D is a recharged controlling zone, which encompasses additional limestone areas with continued standards for wastewater treatment; and Zone E a non-recharged contributing area, a non-recharge contributing area that primarily consists of areas that do not contribute to the recharge of aquifers [ Scotland District].

When questioned about when the new zones will take effect, Bradshaw stressed that Government was in the process of fine-tuning the legislation.

“We have had to look not only at introduction of the legislation but also how are we going to practically get people to look at the issues of plumbing codes when the legislation actually comes into effect….We wanted to make sure that we also have the water protection zones also sorted and so the teams have been examining that and we have had to go back and add a few zones,” she revealed.

“I believe in the next few weeks we will be able to complete that, with the view to be able to bring that to Parliament, but there is a lot of other work that has to go on behind the scenes to make sure when we bring the legislation, we can bring relief to the number of persons who have been affected in the Zone One areas,” the Deputy Prime Minister continued.

She emphasized that the Government sought to provide clear demarcation of the zones so residents will be able to identify those that can be used for housing.

“I hear the cry for being able to have one house on the land but I think you can appreciate that we are trying to protect the groundwater supply and so we have been very careful to identify what we can do in particular areas so as to stop the contaminants from being able to go into the groundwater,” Bradshaw insisted.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Police recorded eight ‘incidents’ involving mentally ill people within the previous month, they said Friday.

Given this upsurge, they are calling for caregivers to seek assistance at the first signs of any behavioural changes in their charges.

In one recent instance, a woman was accused of entering two establishments in Road Town and grabbing patrons’ handbags, according to the Police Information Office. Onlookers assisted in retrieving the handbags, and the woman was taken to the Behavioral Ward of the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital for treatment, police said.

In another incident, a man in dirty clothing swung a bag at a female tourist while she was walking on Main Street, according to the PIO. She fell back, and he tried to continue his assault before being chased away by people in the area, the PIO stated, adding that the tourist received minor bruises to her knee.

Also this month, “a registered mental patient” was seen illegally entering a vessel at Frenchmans Cay, police said. When questioned by police officers, he allegedly responded incoherently, but nothing was removed from the vessel, the PIO stated.

Three days later, however, the same man was reportedly seen pounding the hood of a vehicle while holding the driver at knifepoint, police said. He was apprehended by police officers and taken to the Behavioral Ward, where he was being treated as of Friday, according to the PIO.

Another man was reportedly seen exiting an unlocked vehicle parked in Sea Cows Bay. Police said his unresponsive behaviour led officers to take him to the Behavioral Ward for evaluation. Anyone who sees someone they suspect may harm others is asked to call the police Control Room number, 311.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

News

IAN’S AFTERMATH: A aerial view of Barefoot Beach in Florida which on Tursday was covered in debris, the aftermath of Hurricane Ian which slammed into the southwest of Florida as a monster category four storm. AP PHOTO

THEY endured strong winds, heavy rains and experienced power outages and tornadoes, but several Trinidad and Tobago nationals in Florida, US, survived Hurricane Ian.

On Wednesday, Ian was a category four hurricane with wind speeds up to 155 mph (miles per hour). This left over 2 million people without electricity and both major and minor damage to infrastructure.

On Thursday morning, it reduced to a tropical storm but in its 5pm update, the US National Weather Center said it upgraded to a category one hurricane again.

It said Ian was causing life-threatening flooding, storm surge and strong winds.

“The centre of Hurricane Ian was located near latitude 29.3 north, longitude 79.9 west.

“Ian is moving toward the north-northeast near 10 mph.

“On the forecast track, Ian will approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday. The centre will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night and Saturday.”

WE’RE ALRIGHT: From left, Tisha Henry-Chow, Marisa Persad-Dibble and Natasha Simon, all Trinis, who survived Hurricane Ian’s wrath.

It said maximum sustained winds were at 75 mph with higher gusts.

International news reports said there were at least 17 casualties and that rescue efforts were under way.

TT national Marisa Persad-Dibble who lives near Fort Lauderdale in south-east Florida told Newsday there was “rain and wind” last night but “nothing serious on the east coast.

“Lots of folks went to to work here yesterday and today (but) we did have a few flooded areas.

“Our friends out on the west coast have reported power outages, storm surge with water up to ten feet high, hurricane shutters that were peeled off during the storm and some homes and popular areas are completely destroyed.”

She said the most she can do right now is work with NGOs to “gather food, first-aid kits, blankets, baby stuff and pet supplies to send over.

“Florida is typically a very resilient state and we always see rebuilding happen quickly but this one has more damage than we have seen in quite a while.”

TT national Juliana Findley who also lives in the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale said there wasn’t any “major activity” but on Thursday afternoon it was “still windy, (there are) broken branches, scattered debris and some heavy rain but overall, our area was spared.”

Another TT national in Orlando who wished to remain anonymous said she did not get any sleep on Wednesday night.

“(It was) extremely loud (with) winds and rain…a lot of flooding.

“Everything is closed today and tomorrow. State authorities have asked everyone to ration water and 2.5 million plus people are without electricity.”

She said there have been a lot of “power dips and internet disruptions.”

Natasha Villanueva lives in Sanford, which is in central Florida said people in her area were advised not to open their front doors “because the roof could blow off with this wind speed.

“It’s really picking up…We’re told there’s a chance we could lose power this evening.”

TT national Tisha Henry-Chow is in Cape Coral – which is in southwest Florida and up to Thursday evening, she was without electricity.

She said there would be no electricity or water for a few days.

“Half of Florida is still without power, including us as we are using our generator.”

All of the TT nationals told Newsday they are in good spirits despite what is happening.

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