The operators of the Suarez Brothers Circus may not have been properly advised about the approvals required to operate at the Belle, a water resources expert has suggested, while backing the decision to relocate the attraction because of the potential public health risk posed by activities within the Zone A water protection area.
Former director of the UWI Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Dr Adrian Cashman, said the concern was not simply the physical location of the circus but the activities associated with its operation and the potential generation of wastewater and other pollutants near one of Barbados’ primary groundwater sources.
Cashman was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office for Economic Affairs and Planning Marsha Caddle, who explained at a press briefing on Tuesday why the circus was moved from the International Botanical Gardens at the Belle to the Garrison Savannah.
“It’s not so much the physical location; it’s the activities that would go on in that location, as the minister was pointing out. You not only have members of the public coming there, but you also have the performers who would be living in that area, and that is a Zone A water protection zone,” he said.
The location was particularly sensitive, Cashman said, because it is over one of the country’s primary water sources.
“It is right near the Belle abstraction zone, which is one of the primary sources of our water supply in the country and it is declared a Zone A in order to protect the public from the water becoming contaminated by pollutants. So if you have activities going on which would lead to the generation of wastewater, of pollutants being on the ground there, with the sort of weather that we’ve been having recently, these downpours, that would wash very quickly into the aquifer.”
Cashman noted that although the Zone A designation provides a 90-day contaminant transport protection period, current weather conditions could mean contamination reaches groundwater in less time.
“So although the Zone A is a 90-day contaminant transport sort of protection zone, it would probably take less than that to get into the groundwater.”
The specialist was unequivocal about the potential danger.
“It is a public health risk.”
Asked whether permission should have been granted for the circus to operate at the site in the first place, Cashman said different activities required different permissions. He suggested the operators may not have understood the full range of approvals needed.
“Maybe it wasn’t made clear to the circus operator, Suarez Brothers, when they were applying. Maybe it wasn’t made clear to them the range of permissions that they needed to obtain in order to go forward because, as was pointed out, there are a number of permissions that can come from multiple sources. It seems to me that they were ill advised.”
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Santia Bradshaw stressed the need for greater communication among government agencies while addressing participants in the 2026 Environmental Summer Internship Programme on Monday.
“I hope one of the important lessons which you have learnt is that we cannot operate in silos.
“We have seen what a circus can be made of when we do not communicate effectively.”
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the programme, Bradshaw told the interns that protecting Barbados’ limited natural resources required collaboration across agencies and disciplines.
Cashman was also asked about concerns raised over the new geriatric hospital, which is located in the same Zone A area. He said planning permission for the hospital would have involved consultation with relevant authorities, including the Barbados Water Authority.
“There’s a statutory requirement for the Barbados Water Authority to be consulted. So any concerns would have been raised by the Barbados Water Authority and would have been incorporated into the conditions under which the planning permission was granted.”
The hospital would have required strict wastewater management because it would not be connected to the Bridgetown or South Coast sewage systems, he said.
“Now, with something like the geriatric hospital being sited there, it would not be part of the Bridgetown or the South Coast sewage systems, so there would be a very, very strict requirement for there to be on-site wastewater collection and treatment from that and protocols for the disposal of the treated water there, so I would be extremely surprised if all of the relevant matters had not been taken into consideration.”
Although Cashman said he had not seen the hospital’s planning permission, he expected the level of wastewater treatment required to be high, resulting in a very low risk of contamination.
“So in other words, the risk of contamination would be extremely, extremely low.”
But the expert would not be drawn into comment on concerns raised about an incinerator reportedly located in the same Zone A area, saying that was outside his area of expertise.
He praised the Barbados Water Authority and other government agencies for their work protecting public health, saying their professionalism was often underrecognised.
“I’ve worked with the Barbados Water Authority and some other government agencies over many years now, and I think it is underrecognised the degree of professionalism that they exercise in these cases.”
But he said the agencies could communicate their work to the public more effectively.
“I would say, blow their own trumpet a little bit more.”
Circus ‘circus’: a timeline
- July 25: The Suarez Brothers Circus began advertising its return to Barbados, announcing plans to begin performances on August 7 at the International Botanical Gardens at the Belle.
- August 7: The circus opened at the Belle and began its scheduled performances.
- August 8: Authorities informed circus management that concerns had arisen over the site’s location in a Zone A water protection area and the lack of an authorised water supply for hygienic purposes. The circus was allowed restricted permission to sell packaged food for one day, August 9, but it was not permitted to prepare food.
- August 9: The circus was shut down at the Belle and its scheduled 5 pm show was cancelled.
- August 10: Circus personnel began dismantling the tents and clearing the Belle site while management met with government officials to discuss alternative locations. Five possible sites were identified.
- August 16: Circus management and government officials were seen at the Garrison Savannah, where the site was selected as the new location. The movement of containers to the Savannah subsequently began.
- August 17: Barbados TODAY spoke with Suarez Brothers Circus manager Ivan Suarez, who recounted the company’s efforts to obtain and pay for authorisations from various government ministries and agencies. He also described having to repeat the process to secure permission for the Garrison Savannah.
- 18 August: Minister with responsibility for Economics and Planning in the Prime Minister’s Office, Marsha Caddle, held a press conference explaining the decision to move the circus from the Belle. Concerns included the site’s Zone A water protection status; the lack of authorisation to access water from the Barbados Water Authority, which affected hygiene; inadequate authorised accommodation for workers; and the absence of all required permissions from the relevant authorities. Minister Caddle, however, admitted that the circus did receive permission from the Ministry of Environment to operate at the Belle, despite the area being well known as a Zone A water protection site.
(LG)
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