Agrofest a safe environment

A safe, wholesome environment.

Parents and guardians of children attending the first day of Agrofest tomorrow have been given this reassurance.

This comes from Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, while disclosing to members of the media that a few schools indicated that they may not attend the 2018 event at Queen’s Park given the recent student on student violence.

“It is our understanding that there are people who maybe a bit concern because of the violence that is occurring in the schools… seeing that we would have a large number of school children in attendance.

“We are allowing isolated incidents of what I would call skirmishes among school children to basically colour our view of what happens when children come together in a situation such as this,” he pointed out.

“Over the years we have had only the best of behaviour from school children at Agrofest…What we have always done at Agrofest is maintain a wholesome environment in which children who are interested in seeing what we do in the agriculture sector can come and actually feel safe viewing exhibits.”

With a zero-tolerance to violence, the CEO said there will be a heavy presence of security ensuring that Agrofest remains safe for all of its patrons.

“We do have enhanced security presence at Agrofest. We try to make sure that between the private security forces and the police that basically we cover all possibilities that are likely to arise,” he stated.

“We have always exhibited zero-tolerance when it comes to certain behaviours at Agrofest. The school children who attend, we expect them to behave like school children. We have not had any fights, we do not tolerate the smoking of any substances …We are also encouraging students and members of the general public coming into Agrofest this weekend that we expect them to dress properly.”

Moreover, Paul still believes that parents should reiterate to their children the need to be on their best behaviour.

“Speak to your children; advise them,” he stressed.

“That is an issue we have in this country where parents do not understand that they have a responsibility for the behaviour of their children – not the authorities, not us. We cannot tell your children how to behave, you should have taught your children how to behave at home. So, when you send your child to Agrofest he or she should understand what good manners and good discipline is. Any child who is not displaying that and is disruptive we will ask at they immediately leave the park.”
(TL)