Communications
Barbados has one of the finest
communication networks in the Caribbean. Its geographical location has
left it well placed to be a focal point for air and sea travel between
the eastern and western hemispheres.
AIRPORT
The airport, which is situated to the south of the
country, is approximately 16km from the city centre. It was opened on
October 19, 1938 as the Seawell Airport and was subsequently changed in
1976 to the Grantley Adams International Airport.
In 1979 a new passenger terminal, Terminal I, costing
BDS$29M was commissioned to replace the existing terminal. The terminal
caters primarily to passenger traffic and the former terminal caters
mainly to cargo and express mail/courier services. With the expansion of
traffic through the Airport, some 1.7 million in 1988, it has become
necessary to upgrade the facilities of the airport and designs are being
prepared for a new Arrivals Terminal and the refurbishment of the
present terminal to become a Departures Hall and Shopping Mall. A new
cargo facility will also be built to accommodate all of the cargo and
courier services at the Airport.
The present facilities in Terminal I provide office
and airline check-in space on the ground floor with two airline service
companies, available for ramp handling requirements. Carriers are free
however to manage their own passenger and ramp services if they desire.
Departing passengers and their carry-on luggage are effectively screened
by walk-through, hand-held and x-ray equipment prior to boarding the
aircraft.
The Security programmes are to the standards of the
FAA Air
Carrier Standard Security Programmes. First-class passengers as well as
others are able to use the exclusive lounge facilities which are
available at a slight charge for those passengers who would wish the
additional luxury.
Terminal I also provides a wide range of duty-free
shops within the Departure Lounge for those passengers wishing to make
last minute purchases, and there is also an in-bound duty-free shop in
the Arrival Lounge for arriving passengers.
The Airport Shopping Plaza (which is outside the
sterile area) is composed of nine circular booths connected by walkways
and surrounded by tropical shrubbery. Within this area are various
stores, including pharmacy, souvenir and clothing stores, an ice-cream
parlour, mini-marts, delicatessen, Draught Beer Bar, Post Office and
banking facilities.
The airport has handled almost every type of aircraft
from the Concorde which operates scheduled services during the winter
and summer months to the heavy US military C54 cargo aircraft. The
runway is over 3 353 metres (11,000 feet) and there are 17 aircraft
parking stands and provision for multi-parking on some stands. The
Airport also operates on a 24-hour basis.
The airport has excellent approach and handling aids,
considered some of the best in the Eastern Caribbean. Beside other aids,
the Airport also has radar facilities as well as Precision Approach
lighting system.
The fact that the country was able to develop its
airport at an early stage of international operations, ensured the
maintenance of its reputation as the principal hubbing centre in the
Eastern Caribbean. Most passengers travelling to other Caribbean islands
usually make their connection in Barbados. The Air Traffic Control
facilities and communication linkages allow for easy access and
departure to and from the airport with limited delays and easy access to
and from hotels and also facilitate crew change-over at Barbados.
Construction work on the Airport Expansion and
Refurbishment Project actually commenced in December 1998 with the
Pavement Component of the Expansion Project.
The work was completed in September 2000 and included
the expansion of the present car park and bus parking bays, resurfacing
of the taxi ways, runway and some portions of the aircraft parking
stands. It also included the provision of expanded aircraft parking
apron especially for cargo and executive jet aircraft. It is expected
that work on the new Arrivals Terminal will commence in the third
quarter of 2001.
Airlines
A wide range of airlines - international, regional
and local - provide passenger and freight service between the island and
other countries. BWIA International provides regular scheduled services
to and from Toronto, New York, Miami, Washington, London as well as
other Caribbean points. Daily scheduled services are also operated by
British Airways, Air Canada, American Airlines and Air Jamaica, and
regular scheduled services by Virgin Atlantic Airways, JMC (formerly
Caledonian Airways), Aeropostal and Suriname Airways. The regional
carriers, LIAT (1974) Ltd., EC Express and Caribbean Star provide
connecting and island-hopping regular scheduled services to all points
in the Caribbean, using a fleet of aircraft ranging from 48-seaters to
37-seaters.
Charter services are provided on a year-round basis
by Royal Airlines, Sky Service and Canada 3000 Airlines Ltd., out of
Canada. Britannia Airways, Air 2000 Ltd. and Airtours International
operate out of the United Kingdom. At times, LTU International Airways
and Condor operate out of Germany, Miami Air out of the USA, Premiair
out of the Scandinavian countries. Lauda Air presently operates out of
Italy.
Various small operators, such as Trans Island Air,
Helen Air, Eagle Air, St. Vincent and Grenadines Air, Carib Aviation,
and Mustique Airways operate air-taxi and day-tour charter services into
and out of Barbados.
Scheduled all-cargo services are operated by BWIA and
Amerijet International, whilst most of the other carriers offer
belly-cargo services. DHL, Federal Express and UPS operate daily jet
cargo and courier services into and out of Barbados.
SEAPORT
Deep Water Harbour
The Bridgetown Harbour, on the North-Western side of
Carlisle Bay, was completed in 1961 and since then it has been
substantially modernised.
The Harbour can accommodate vessels with a
draught of 9.6 metres. It also provides 702 metres of Quay space,
approximately 829 metres of Break Water, and the Berthing facilities for
eight vessels of which up to five may be Tourist Vessels.
Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels over 1,000
tonnes entering the Harbour. There are two tugs. Tugs are compulsory for
vessels over 1,000 tons or 16.8m in length.
A 24-hour service is provided for Marine as well as
Cargo Handling particularly for Container vessels.
Facilities at the Harbour include a Container Park
which can accommodate 3,000 containers. The Port has modern container
handling equipment including Seven Straddle Carriers and one Gantry
Crane with lifting capacity of 40 tonnes. There are plans to add shortly
a Mobile Crane to increase and improve the handling of containers. There
is also an incinerator for the disposal of ship generated waste.
Bulk facilities are also provided for sugar –
81,248 tonnes – and a Bulk Unloading Facility for grain – primarily
wheat, corn, soya bean meal – which is capable of receiving and
storing 2,400 tonnes.
Sixteen refuelling points are provided along the
Berth.
In January 1994, the newly refurbished and exclusive
Passenger Terminal was officially opened. There are 20 large Duty-Free
shops with an additional 12 Small Carts and a Chattel House Village for
small vendors. Customs, Immigration, Health, Security and the Tourism
Authority offices are located in the Terminal as well as an efficient
and modern telephone system which can link passengers to anywhere in the
world.
Shallow Draught
Provision has also been made for a Coastal Cruise
Facility and a Boat Park and Haul-out Facility at the Shallow Draught
area.
An auxiliary schooner and motor vessel exists between
Barbados, the Leeward and Windward Islands and Guyana. Vessels operate
from the Shallow Draught facility which is 156 metres long with an apron
of 15.2 metres and a maximum draught of 6.8 metres.
In its progressive approach to the environmental
problem facing the region and the world in general the Port has
installed a Hoskinson Pyrolytic Smokeless Incinerator for the handling
of all ships' garbage in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Additional Facilities
Additional facilities offered by the Barbados Port
Authority which manages the Harbour, include three main tanker berths at
the Esso Jetty, Oistins and Needham's Point.
Esso Jetty: maximum berth – 240 metres; draught –
11.6 metres.
Needham's Point – length 172 metres; draught –
11.6 metres.
Oistins (submarine discharge): length 172 metres:
draught – 11.6 metres.
Steamship Companies
A large number of steamship companies operate into
and out of the Bridgetown Deep Water Harbour. Among these are:
| Royal Olympic Cruises |
Seabourn Cruise Lines |
| Cunard Lines |
Silversea Cruises |
| Royal Caribbean International |
Princess Cruises |
| Holland America Line |
Windstar Sail Cruises |
| Costa Cruises |
Radisson Seven Seas Cruises |
| Celebrity Cruises |
Star Clippers |
| Renaissance Cruises |
Norwegian Cruise Lines |
| Carnival Cruise Lines |
Louis Cruise Lines |
INTERNAL TRANSPORT
Barbados has approximately 1,570 km of road. The Barbados Transport
Board, a quasi government institution operates an omnibus service on a
number of scheduled routes.
Additional transport is provided by hired cars, taxis, private cars
and minibuses.
Vehicles
| Private Cars |
76,
810 |
| Hired Cars |
2,
294 |
| Taxis |
1,
425 |
| Route Taxis |
285 |
| Minibuses |
248 |
| Omnibuses |
598 |
| Maxi-Taxis |
469 |
| Tour Coaches |
65 |
| Hired Mototcycles |
47
|
| Hired Limos |
41 |
Radio
There are seven radio stations in operation on the AM and FM bands.
These include the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Liberty,
Barbados Broadcasting Service (BBS), HOTT FM, Voice of Barbados (VOB),
Yess 104.1 FM and FAITH FM.
C.B.C. Radio was established in 1963 and is government-owned and
operated. It can be heard daily on the frequency 900 kHz, AM radio. In
addition, it operates Radio Liberty on the 98.1 MHz FM band daily.
Barbados Broadcasting Service began in 1983 and operates on the FM band
daily and also operates Faith FM which started in 1991.
Starcom Network Inc. (formerly Barbados Rediffusion Ltd.) is owned by
the Nation Corporation, a private group. It operates the following
stations: VOB 92.9 FM, HOTT 95.3 FM, LOVE 104.1 FM and GOSPEL 790 AM.
Television
The television station CBC-TV forms part of the Government-owned
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. It was opened in December 1964 and
in November 1971 became the first Caribbean station to transmit in
colour. The single channel station uses the NTSC system and is also
received in St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and The Grenadine Islands.
In addition, there is a Multi-Choice Television (MCTV) which offers 30
channels and Direct T.V. which has approximately 70 channels.
Newspapers
There are two daily newspapers, the Barbados Advocate, established in
1895 and the Nation, established in 1973. In addition, there is a weekly
business publication, The Broad Street Journal, which was established in
November 1993. Its average readership is 5,000.
The Nation has an average daily circulation of 25,098; 45,327 for the
Sunday Sun; 24,969 for the Sun On Saturday and 35,821 for the Weekend
Nation.
The Advocate has an average daily circulation of 15,000 and 20,000 on
Sundays.
Other regular publications are Caribbean Week, The Broad Street Journal,
The Visitor, and The Sunseeker. The Visitor, published by the Nation and
the Sunseeker published by the Advocate, are free to readers and are
aimed primarily at the tourist market.
Caribbean Week is a monthly published magazine. It is distributed
throughout the Caribbean, North and South America, Europe and as far as
Japan mainly through subscription.
Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC)
Based in Barbados, the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) was formed in
2000, amalgamating the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) and the Caribbean
Broadcasting Union (CBU).
The CBU’s television services and CANA’s radio, wire
and internet services now all fall under the CMC.
The CMC serves both the print and electronic media in
the Caribbean region as well as foreign embassies, and a number of
overseas subscribers.
The Agency’s daily news service is provided by a
network of correspondents in approximately 18 countries.
Its television coverage of events includes national
elections, disasters and important regional events. It also offers
Caribbean TV stations, a news exchange via satellite, a nightly news
package and a weekly magazine programme.
The CMC is also involved in organising training
programmes for regional management, programming and engineering
personnel and is host of the annual Song Festival which aims to promote
Caribbean musical talent.
The Barbados Government Information Service (GIS)
The Barbados Government Information Service was founded in 1958 and in
its early period was primarily an information service. The emphasis
later shifted to that of a public relations body responsible for
projecting the plans, proposals and projects of government.
The department has two main divisions: Press and Broadcasting. The
latter section includes radio and television. In addition, the
department is equipped with its own video and still photography units
and recording studios.
Dissemination of information is done via the print media and through
five and 15-minute radio television programmes.
Telecommunications
Barbados can be considered a major link in the world cable network. The
operation of Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Ltd., made possible the
handling of an array of telecommunications systems international
telegraph, telephone and telex services.
In addition, when Congo Bay Earth Station in St. John was opened in
1972, it gave the island direct access to the global space
communications system. The Earth Station was closed in 1996.
On April 1, 1984, Cable and Wireless became the Barbados External
Telecommunications Ltd. Since then, the services have expanded to
include international data base access service and telefax (a facsimile
service). On July 1, 1985, BET introduced the “international 800
Service” an incoming toll free call system from the United States. The
out-going system became operational from January 1, 1986. On August 6,
1998, BET became Cable and Wireless BET Limited.
The Telecommunications Unit
The Telecommunications Unit was established by the government more than
10 years ago to manage radio communications in the island.
The Unit has two main functions: It issues licences to CB'ers and
amateur radio operators, and controls and monitors the operations of
local radio communications systems.
National Library Service
The National Library Service, headed by the Director of Library
Services, came into effect on April 1, 1985.
The National Library Service is responsible for the co-ordination,
planning and development of the Public Library Service, including the
provision of lending services, reference services and service to special
categories of users. It embraces the provision of technical services,
data bank construction and maintenance. In addition, the service is
charged with the responsibility of ensuring that proper library
standards are maintained and the establishment of professional contact
with national, regional and international bodies in this field.
The National Library Service has a number of branch libraries at Eagle
Hall, St. Michael; Gall Hill, St. John; Holetown, St. James; Oistins,
Christ Church; Six Cross Roads, St. Philip; Speightstown, St. Peter;
Valley, St. George. The main library is in the City, at Coleridge
Street.
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