est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

, , , ,

Prime Minister Owen Arthur Parachutes And Leaves Lynette Eastmond And Clyde Mascoll To Fly Solo

LOPSIDED Published on: 7/2/07. by TREVOR YEARWOOD THE UNFAIR DISTRIBUTION of benefits in favour of Trinidad and Tobago is of concern to Prime Minister Owen Arthur and will come up for serious discussion when Caribbean Community heads of government begin talks today. This imbalance under the Single Market and Economy (CSME) was raised by Arthur…

, , , , , , , ,

LOPSIDED

Published on: 7/2/07.

by TREVOR YEARWOOD

THE UNFAIR DISTRIBUTION of benefits in favour of Trinidad and Tobago is of concern to Prime Minister Owen Arthur and will come up for serious discussion when Caribbean Community heads of government begin talks today. This imbalance under the Single Market and Economy (CSME) was raised by Arthur yesterday as he addressed the official opening of the 28th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in the courtyard of the Parliament Buildings, before more than 350 people and a regional radio and television audience.

He said while Trinidad and Tobago was the main beneficiary of the expansion in intra-regional export, apparently only “a few countries” were carrying the weight of the community’s free movement of skills programme. “Already, issues regarding the fair distribution of benefits from the CSME are surfacing,” Arthur said as he took over the chairmanship of CARICOM from St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

He pointed out that while intra-regional exports between 1995 and 2005 had grown from 13 per cent to over 20 per cent of the total exports of the region, “this growth has largely been to the benefit of one country – Trinidad and Tobago”. He told the gathering of regional government chiefs, other ministers and members of the diplomatic community that this situation “is untenable”.

Source: Nation Newspaper

Did BU read this article correctly? Is Owen “CSME”Arthur making anti-CSME statements? Wow…Prime Minister Arthur you better be careful, your statement could be construed as protectionist in some quarters! The posture now emanating from Arthur is confusing to us. One minute Arthur is welcoming all investment that is non-Barbadian, with emphasis on Trinidadian investment, yet in the Nation article he is expressing concern at the lopsidedness of the investment between Trinidad and the rest of CARICOM. One does not have to have a Masters in Economics to know that the cash rich Trinidad, which has a rich venture capital infrastructure to boot, has prepared its companies to be the “economic tigers” of the Caribbean. It follows that the scenario playing out should not have come as a surprise to the directorate of Barbados. Our great surprise on the BS&T, Neal & Massy merger comes from the opposite positions which Barbadians are hearing from our government ministers of late.

MINISTER OF STATE in the Prime Minister’s office, Clyde Mascoll has indicated that Government will not stand in the way of mergers, but encourages Barbadians to invest in shares. He made the comment in response to the situation relating to this island’s largest private sector firm, Barbados Shipping & Trading (BS &T) now facing a number of takeover bids and a merger bid.
Source: Nation Newspaper

Seems to BU that Minister Mascoll is saying to Barbadians that government cannot stop the free for all happening with T&T companies gobbling-up the undervalued Barbados companies. To compensate however he advises Barbadians to invest in the merged entities.

According to Minister Eastmond, In the case of BS&T and the Neal and Massy merger, there never appeared from the outset as though there would be any consolidation to the extent that there would be a controlling interest of 40 per cent or more in the market. The FTC investigation revealed that the 40 per cent threshold has not been reached or breached. Therefore, it was not necessary for them to go on to an adjudicative process.
Source: Advocate Newspaper

Minister Eastmond who has ministerial responsibility for the Fair Trading Commission which is charged with ensuring that there is fair competition after any merger has given her blessing to the merger. In both cases the two ministers have gone public with a pro-merger stance on the issue of BS&T and Neal & Massy.

It was heartening to hear the Democratic Labour Party issuing some political rhetoric designed to piggyback on the emotions which are currently running hot. All sensible Barbadians are aware that a DLP government if driven to office before the “ink dries” to use Thompson’s statement can do absolutely nothing about the merger if it is the desire of the shareholders. However it is refreshing to hear David Thompson nailing an issue in public which coincides with the Barbadian public.

There was a time that the different statements being issued on the same subject from a Barbados Labour Party government would be in unison like the proverbial barber shop quartet. In recent times we have had Rawle “Diabolical Forces” Eastmond, Clyde “JAWS” Mascoll and Lynette “So Cold” Eastmond making statements which all combine to confuse Barbadians on the merger between BS&T and Neal & Massy and other matters.

We end by quoting an anonymous poster to BU:-

On another point however,I note Owen in today’s Nation newspaper is now saying that “there is an imbalance in the CSME in favour of Trinidad re the exports – while only a few country (he really means just Barbados but too shame to say so),are shouldering the burden of the ‘free movement of people’. Isn’t that what we were saying all along on these blogs and elsewhere? Of course the said Owen and some of those men in the Ivory Tower at Cave Hill said we were XENOPHOBIC. Reality now starting to hit Owen,but he ain’t see nothing yet.

Barbados Shipping & Trading MUST remain in local hands. A strategy of the Prime Minister over the years has been the use of symbols to create deep awareness in the Barbados public. It would be consistent if he were to accept that BS&T is a symbol of the tremendous sweat equity which Barbadians have invested over the years. It is paramount that Barbadians benefit first from what the sleeping conglomerate can still offer. The public of Barbados went to sleep on the Barbados National Bank deal, and Barbadians will have to life with the scare of that occurence.

Not This time!

Related BU Stories

Sir Allan Fields The Man Behind The Orchestration To Dump Barbados Shipping And Trading To The Trinidadians
Senator Lynette Eastmond Shut Up!
Prime Minister Arthur Prefers A Neal And Massy Deal~Barbados Underground Say So
BS&T Going, Going, Soon To Be Gone~ The Advocate Newspaper Should Go Too

12 responses to “Prime Minister Owen Arthur Parachutes And Leaves Lynette Eastmond And Clyde Mascoll To Fly Solo”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Do you remember in the 1980’s when all the Broad street establishments were being sold by the likes of BS&T and Goddards etc to the Indian businesses?

    Remember when our Dipper Barrow said -enough of that – and bought that part of Harrisons on Broad street – so that it would remain in the hands of Bajans?

    Look what happen now,Owen ‘de big tief’ Arthur now sell out the property which was owned by BNB and we bajans after all Mr Barrow’s effort ain’t got nutten now.

    Didn’t we the citizens under the DLP Sandiford administration sell off Heywoods Hotel to BS&T thinking at least it will stay in bajan hands?

    Look wha happen now.

    Look these white business people,like the trini syrians and indians are like sharks or piranhas – dey ain’t easy at all.

    They don’t know nothing about ‘love of country’ – rather it is about ‘love of self’.

    Barbaduss in for a rough ride people.

  2. Thistle Avatar
    Thistle

    Anonymous:

    You hit the nail on the head!

  3. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    It would seem to me that if Mr ESAF see thru Owing Arthur where honest (now that is a big ask) with himself he would set an election date and let the people decide and get a move on in this country, right now all that is happening is that the island is on auto pilot while we drift along, there needs to be some soul searching and the only way that will take place is with the announcement of a date for elections to be held.

    Then once and for all we may get some responses to the questions we have been asking like are the Chinese here legally or illegally ?

    Who collected payments for the awarding of the prison contract and who did the sloppy work on the tender for the prison contract ?

    Who is the one working behind the scenes with the flyover project are the names Bannister and Nicholls involved here as well ?

    Who are the local partners of the company that was formed to deal with the importation of the 2,500 slot machines that Nicholls and Owing own ?

    Where did over $ 300 million go with Edutech was it to any of Mottleys good friends in the business ?
    Was there any action taken with regard to the over costing on that bath that was built by Liz Thompson’s husband ?

    How many more cheques have their been like the one that Owing deposited to his personal bank account to the tune of $750,000.00 ?

    Any other underhand land deals that are on the cards now that these same gang of crooks are involved with ?

    The Ministry of Health when will they finally decide to fire Jerome Walcott and get the health of this country back on track ?

    The Ministry of Tourism ??? do we have a few days to expound on this fiasco, or should we just wait and see that the figures after the CWC fiasco will become the worst arrival figures on record because with these unreasonable and high airfares the traditional summer tourist will not be flying but we must all remember this was our finest hour ?

    Or are we about to hear what really is the matter with regard to that Gov’t building at Newton that has been building for at least 5 to 6 years now what is the real story there ?

    What did we the taxpayers pay for the construction of the storage facility built by VECO and how many others tendered on this project my guess is this was the only one allowed to quote ?

    Or what is the real story with Glyne Clarke collecting money for issuing Taxi permits this we know to be real but we are wondering how much is his pocket money and how much is Owings ?

    The same Glyne Clarke what is the staus of the land on which he resides ?
    We have more questions than we really need to have but then again that is life in a crooked country.

  4. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    Tell me Eastmond who built you office for you?

  5. Virago Avatar
    Virago

    Owen is not fooling anybody. Was this not the objective of CSME? It was clear that Trinidad had the economic advantage in this arrangement , now they are using it. Now Owen is grandstanding. I don’t think any of them care. I see no patriotism and even less concern for Barbadians. These people don’t govern in our interest. All their policies run counter to public opinion. Then they talk about democarcy. They don’t listen to the concerns and fears of their poeple. And we are not ignorant, We are just as qualified as them and can see the folly. Listen to Mia this week on a Caribbean national’s card to swipe and come in Barbados, like if Barbados is some bloody lunch room. I could understand a swipe for we Bajans. But if poeple coming in here illegally now, with a few still vigilant immigation officers, what is to say with a card, which the hackers will duplicate in a huury. These politicians like they living on Mars . Where are all these easy come people to live? Barbados already has a housing shortage. The fact is they are willing to live anywhere. Soon Bim will have something we never had before, yards and shanty towns.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    We have all read Bush Tea’s perspective provocative and true time will tell but what BU know is that there is no model for what Arthur is doing. We stand to lose a lot if we get it wrong. To do the best BU would have thought that a collaboration never seen before should be in position to make very sure that we have the very best design possible to get success. What we have now is a one man show using models from the developed world. In this regard we agree with Bush Tea. Unfortunately this is where our indigenous educational institutions are failing, UWI …. Products from the “hill” and elsewhere should have well organized think tanks where pools of voluminous knowledge of our diverse and exacting region can be brought to bare on the CSME question.

  7. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    I saw this posted on BFP and liked it lots-:

    When will they stop making excuses and putting on plasters and set about doing the peoples work and fixing the ills at the QEH and the health system in general.
    When we can spend $ 180 Mill on Cricket world cup and cannot or just do not care to address the welfare of the nation we are in a sorry state.
    I hope the new stadium can provide the facilities to heal the sick and provide facilities for carrying out surgeries and baby deliveries, see after the needs of asthma and heart attack victims.
    To you Mr Walcott you are a disaster waiting to happen, never has someone promised so much and delivered so little, if running your mouth was getting the job done then you would have scored full marks but unfortunately the real test is actually WORKING and I am afraid to say in your case you have failed miserably, have you considered doing the nation a favour and throw in the towel and resigning give it to Mia as she has plenty time on her hands to get involved after all she must have an in depth and intimate knowledge of the workings of the hospital.
    The only one close to you in this department must be our C J when he was in politics remember him promising to hang all of them on death row once he was elected and the people of St.Thomas foolishly elected him and to this date how many have actually been hung ZERO NOT A SINGLE ONE.
    Politicians day talk and their night talk are never the same.
    ps another amazing point on this CWC issue can you believe that in that figure of $ 180 Mill that as much as $ 50 mill has been spent on security wonder who is connected where and who is doing well out of this allocation

  8. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    With regard to Trotman his judgement has been damaged by the politics of inclusion.
    Where did his SIRdom come from ?
    People will do anything for power and a reward of money hence his stance of doing nothing to ruffle the feathers of Owing and company sadly he has become a mute on most things.
    We are presently going through a sick stage of questions needing replies but the gov’t opts not to respond and these questions are dying a slow death such as the VECO issue of who were the locals that collected and what did they collect ?
    The Chinese workers issue are they legal or illegally employed at Parardise?
    The Edutech issue who were the receivers of these funds and what did they supply and were these people know or friends of Mottley ?
    The Gems issue when will we ever see accounts for this company now that even more money is being thrown into it, ?
    The purpose of the US $ 5 million payment to Carnival to achieve what?
    The question as to the owenership of the 2,500 slot machines ?
    The scam of Nicholls and the local contractors on the commission for the west coast sewage treatment plant his 5 % commission is sadly blocking the awarding of this contract ?
    The flyovers who are the background players here are the the same Nicholls,Bannister and Owing?The real position of Owing and his cabinet with regard to Liz Thompson’s husbands erection for vastly more than the building sjhould have costed ?
    The question of where did MM Lynch gain his wealth from overnignt ?
    The question of when will that building at Newton ever get completed ?
    The question of will people like Mottley ever be censored for her morally corrupt stance and her moraless actions ask Jenny Arm strong her feelings on this issue she will have a lot to say on the subject ?
    The question of where did Owing get that cheque from that he deposited to his account ?
    Te question of barriers obstructing our accesses to our lovely beaches such is the case at Colony Club and the obstruction at Lonestar restaurant and the Sixt property and Owing selling out of Barbados from under our noses because he is up for sale to the highest bidder.
    All of the above need replies but sadly we are not getting them and maybe the only way to get them is to arrange a marching for freedom a march for the return of freedom of the press.

  9. Concerned K.O.S Avatar
    Concerned K.O.S

    Wishing In Vain, another excellent post on BU. These are issues that needed to be highlighted.
    I genuinely hope that integrity legislation comes into play so that this gang of ALI Baba thieves (Owing and crew) can actually face the same scrutiny Panday faced.
    I know integrity legislation will not come about if the BLP is reelected, they need to cover their slip ups.
    I just hope when elections are called the majority don’t believe the empty rhetoric and handouts and vote with conscience.
    The misery this country has endured over the last 12 years needs to change just like the BLP administration.

    On another note are there any legal minds on the blog that can explain the selection process for the Chief Justice and how long this tenure is for?

  10. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    What we need is for the DPP to take action against Owing with regard to depositing that cheque he deposited for $ 750,000.00.

  11. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    There certainly seems to be suddenly confusion within the BLP camp at the moment when we hear Mr See Thru Owing talking about the opposition as much as he is doing and begging and moaning at people not to neglect them for a “bunch of wild boys in” we know that he is worried when he begs not to throw them out because of the duration of their rule but give them another 5 years.
    I must tell Mr See Thru Owing that this not the only reason they are getting throw out, it is not because of the duration of their stay but more importantly it is because of the extent of their corruption and dishonesty while in office.
    Sadly you have continued to rape the taxpayers of this nation like if there is no tomorrow, sadly you lack any heart in your wilful attack on us the taxpayers and the time is near at hand to eliminate you and your band of criminals from idling in the corridors of the House of Assembly, some of you will need to start to work again, others of you that have raped well will never need to work again ( Nicholls you know you said so) and others of you will remain unemployable as you were during your time in office.

  12. Bajantease Avatar
    Bajantease

    Keep up the good work on the reports, i’ve learnt a hell of a lot here first.

    Sadly most bajans are concerned with the next flat screen tv will arrive at courts, car sale or $300 pair of shoes so they can go and spend. How many can’t wait till TGI Fridays open to spend even more.

    Shares, Gov’t Bond, etc are of little interest to most.. they keep alot of noise but don’t invest. How many ran and sold their BS&T shares at $7.00 and below? Big fight over a company and I running to sell? short sighted. blind.

    but of course people cry Gov’t should step in and stop it. More nonsense. Gov’t should create the environment through policy and not meddle, its up to us to decide where & with whom to spend our money and invest, in our best interest. I think gov’t, credit unions hell cbc, should invest in some more investment education for general public. We have the opportunities, T&T has the know how and thats their advantage. We sit back, they act, thus we lose.

    We cannot & should not depend on any gov’t to do these types of things its dangerous, its lazy we set ourselves up. But as the call in programmes and too often in comments on this blog prove we like to complain, not act, just complain.

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading