BU hope that its viewpoints on the vexing issue of immigration and the attendant issues are enlightening to all. It is an important issue and only through dispassionate discussion the fears of Barbadians can be addressed, We hope that our policymakers will take heed.
(David-BU)
As the news on the radio was played in the BU household this morning (21 June 2007) the report of a senior policeman in one of the Dutch islands being arrested triggered me to think the unthinkable. Do we imagine that such can ever occur in Barbados? It interest us that Barbados for all the frailties that we know mankind possesses; politicians and the upper crust of our society never seem to break the law. Although a few may become ensnared in the court system from time to time, it appears that manipulation can occur with such ease so as to allow their cases to quietly fade away.
A read of the newspaper today reports that the Auditor General in Bermuda was detained on a matter to do with leaking information. Frederick, a minister in the St. Lucian government was detained for questioning this week, something about tax evasion. We all know of the many senior politicians and judicial figures who are currently battling to avoid prison in the Trinidad courts. Five Bahamian ministers were brought before the court and had to defend their honor recently. Again we are curious why in Barbados our public officials appear to be so pristine in behavior that none of them ever have to appear before the law courts. Barbados is such a small place yet the “big boys” continue to be ignored__why the silence?. How many of us have heard about the mini-buses owned by Ministers and big-ups in Barbados which are not harassed like others on our roads by the men in blue__accident or design? I think we know the answer.
Do we really believe our Barbadian politicians and upper crust citizens do no wrong?
We all know of the “pretty boy” whose family is from the North who is currently walking about Barbados scotts free, after scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from Sagicor. There is a top Barbadian businessman who owns a furniture company who is accused of scamming Inland Revenue, the case continues to languish in the court system. By the way, a BU source has confirmed that this case will fade away also. We can return to the bowels of our history and read about the Pele case which epitomizes how the Barbados system of justice was taken for a ride by the political elite in this country. By the way, does the Pele case classify as a cold case?
BU believes that if we could get a Police Commissioner with balls it could make a difference as far as the high profile cases go. The biggest shame is our Prime Minister Arthur who can admit in the august and venerable lower house that he
received a significant sum of money which was deposited to his personal account. It is our understanding that the funds were to be placed to the party account. Can a lawyer who visit BU tell us if there is not sufficient grounds to question Prime Minister Arthur on this matter?
The question BU wish to pose to Arthur is how long did he leave the cheque in his personal account before transfer to the BLP party account?
During the time it was on his personal account did the money receive interest from FCIB and if so was the interest received transferred to the party account as well?
Just asking.
The sad thing is that his other political colleagues currently engage in the same practice. They place donations to their personal accounts and transfer to the party account when they are good and ready. Does this fall under the ambit of the Auditor General? Again, can’t the Police question these people? I suppose it is no different to the lawyers in Barbados who many of them deposit the client’s monies to interest bearing accounts and pocket the interest. But then many of our politicians are lawyers…hmmmmm.
My Lord, what are we to do? It seems to me that Barbadians are locked in a den of inequity!
BU ask all Barbadians, as a sign of your patriotism, to email this story to at least two friends. The idea is to sensitize all Barbadians to be on the look-out for wrong doing and to forward any information to the authorities, blogs or any person of repute. A democracy is a very fragile thing and must be protected!
Related Story: Barbados Becoming A Society Of “Fat Cats” And Soft Corruption
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.