Safety first

AS always, safety would be paramount at AgroFest.

This reassurance was given by the CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, who addressed participants at a Registration Meeting that was held at the Rural Development Commission (RDC) to inform them of some of the stipulations and new things that would be coming for AgroFest 2017.

He said that they have not had any safety issues with this festival, and in order to keep it that way, they would need the co-operation of the exhibitors.

“We to date have not had any major issues, and I want to say that actually it is probably the safest event that you can come to in Barbados. We intend to keep it that way. We therefore need the contribution of you, the exhibitors, in order to do that.

Constantly, we have to remind people that we have to stick to the rules. This year, we have a little challenge, but I think that from the discussions that we have had with the NCC plus the police, we are able to manage that challenge, but we need your co-operation in order to do it too.”

One of these issues relates to traffic movement.

“In that regard, we may be insisting on certain things that we may not have insisted on before, especially in relation to traffic movement.

“Now, very often when we advertise, what we try to do is for you, the exhibitor, you have to advertise at the same time, and we are trying to get people to come into the park to see what you are bringing, and one of the issues that we have sometimes[...] is that very often people underestimate what is likely to be the demand for the particular product that you are actually exhibiting.”

Another relates to the movement of the exhibitors.

“We want you to be able to do that properly, but what is important is that you stick to the times that we have arranged in terms of entry and exit, because we have unique challenges right here, in that the park, as I like to indicate, right now is under repairs, and therefore, there is a limitation in terms of movement, and there would be a limitation in terms of access once the movement begins.”

In this regard, he does not want to see a situation where exhibitors run out of stock. He said that they would be looking at ways to address that obstacle should it arise, but what he would rather see is for exhibitors to plan carefully so that they have enough stock.

The granting of passes to the event is another safety issue, as the BAS is very strict on the number of passes that they distribute and to whom.

“We want you the exhibitor to be aware that when we issue those passes, we want you to be able to ensure that they go to the persons to whom they should go to. We are actually constantly innovating, trying to deal with the situation that we have faced in previous years, and we have looked at some changes when it comes to security which we would hopefully be able to implement in AgroFest 2017, but we want your co-operation, and I think that that can be easily achieved.”

Barbados Advocate

Mailing Address:
Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados

Phone: (246) 467-2000
Fax: (246) 434-2020 / (246) 434-1000