Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight, is assuring that 120 workers are currently working at an off-site satellite location, which has been given a 4.5 out of 5 rating for fire safety.
She made the disclosure recently during a press conference to update the public on the fire at the Department of Archives, at the Barbados Water Authority Headquarters, The Pine, St. Michael.
Senator Munro-Knight stressed that workers were currently digitising records off-site and shared that several records had already been moved from the Department of Archives to the off-site location.
“That satellite location that I speak to is one that has been given a 4.5 out of five rating by the Barbados Fire Service (BFS). That location, therefore, has all of the elements for fire suppression, and it was approved.
“Before the building was stood up, we had consultations with the Barbados Fire Service. They walked through [the facility], providing us with advice on how to make it even more secure. There are specialty tiles specially configured to be fire retardant and there are a number of other measures. So, we are sure that our satellite location is as secure as it can be,” she insisted.
The Minister further disclosed that another meeting was held with the BFS and other officials and additional measures were agreed to, as suggested by the Fire Service.
Senator Munro-Knight pointed out that the Department of Archives had been at the present location since 1964 and had weathered storms, hurricanes, and other events and maintained that the Chief Archivist, Ingrid Thompson, had already put measures in place to fortify the existing Black Rock, St. Michael location.
She further stated that plans were already in train to move the records to a facility at Newton, Christ Church, in November, as part of the Reclaiming our Atlantic Destiny (ROAD) Project. This move would fast-track digital access to the records by the Department of Archives.
“We have the assurance that that building will be fully fire retardant and can withstand a Category five cyclone and hurricane. So, I really want to assure Barbadians that we have been and will continue to do everything that is necessary in order to protect these assets. The fact that we had a lightning strike, … a one in a thousand event in the midst of when we were doing this, is unfortunate,” the Minister underlined.
Also addressing the press briefing were Chief Fire Officer, Errol Maynard; Chief Archivist, Ingrid Thompson; Manager of the ROAD Project at the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc (BTI), Chereda Grannum; and Head of Conservation and Collection Care at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Ann Bancroft.