The Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) has defended the new route for this year’s Grand Kadooment parade, citing persistent security and safety problems along the traditional masquerade route.The new route will start at the Bridgetown Helipad, proceed past Pelican Village, through President Kennedy Drive, onto Black Rock, and along the Mighty Grynner Highway, finishing near Kensington Oval.There were several issues with the old route, said BAM President Jason Thompson. These included the narrow roads lacking sidewalks that forced spectators to stand in the streets, creating challenges for bands and security. He also noted that smaller connecting roads provided escape routes for criminals.“Our primary focus was security [and] ensuring that we have a route that is secure,” he said. “We are selling an international product to persons coming in to visit Barbados, so we need to ensure that it is safe not only for locals but for those international revellers as well. For many years, we have had challenges operating along the small roads. Station Hill and going through the cut rock especially, was always a challenging area. There by Combermere and going all the way down by Bush Hall, Bank Hall, many of those roads do not even carry sidewalks. So because there is no sidewalk, spectators are actually standing in the road.”
