It is the eighth day since we broke the story about the Jonathan Danos, 3s Barbados SRL, Barbados government affair and still not a murmur from the media houses in Barbados. We have heard reports of news from countries around the region and the world but the one story which is pertinent to Barbados, the media have taken a collective decision to refuse to carry the story. History, we believe will record this moment as one of the darkest periods of news coverage in Barbados. Our sources at a leading radio station tell us that most of the moderators on the call-in programs are aware of this story; they too remain silent.
Here are some of the facts of the story in case you have forgotten.
- BU broke the story on September 4, 2007 concerning the law suit which has been brought against Jonathan Danos, President of 3s Barbados SRL. the company contracted to build the flyovers in Barbados.
- Danos is a former Director of Sales at the world re-known bridge builders, Mabey & Johnson.
- Mabey and 3s Structural Solutions are two companies which we know tendered for the original contract to widen the ABC Highway, the subsequent flyover project was not put to tender
- 3s Structual Solutions was incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2005 the same year 3s Barbados SRL was incorporated in Barbados
- The government of Barbados signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 3s Structural Solutions in 2005 to widen the ABC highway.
- The original cost of the Operation Free Flow aka Flyovers were estimated to cost BDS120 million to be financed through a BOLT arrangement funded by the Barbados National Bank. Two weeks ago Barbadians were informed that the contractor is now estimating the cost of Operation Free Flow to move to BDS360 million dollars
- The engineering company contracted to do foundation testing, Hills-Carnes specializes in Karst topography
- Bizzy Williams of William’s Industries admitted on national radio it was his idea to build flyovers and he tabled the suggestion to government
- The Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) have been critical of the final design of the project
The final part to this story which we have not covered so far is the alleged fraud practices of Mabey & Johnson, the company where Jonathan Danos previously worked. We carried a previous story which cited Mabey has a company over qualified to tender for the Operations Free Flow project. Reports in the UK press show that the Serious Fraud Office in the UK has investigated Mabey & Johnson on more than one occasion. The relevance of all this to the case at hand must have been factored by the Barbados government at the pre-qualification stage of the tender process.
The question which we continue to pose is why did the government of Barbados not disqualify 3s Structual Solutions from the Operations Free Flow project given its flimsy track record of bridge building? The decision is all the more startling when we consider that the government of Barbados has guaranteed the loan, disbursed by the Barbados National Bank to finance the flyovers under a Bolt Operate, Lease and Transfer arrangement (BOLT).
Barbadian taxpayers deserve to have their questions answered!
See links to previous stories:
Operations Free Flow Should Be Stopped NOW Pending A Further Geo-technical Study Media Houses In Barbados In Collusion With Government To Suppress News, Press Freedom Under Threat ~ The Voices Of The People Must Be Heard
Gline Clarke And Rihanna Tell Their Supporters To “Shut Up And Drive”
OPERATION Free Flow, Barbados Road Network Infrastructure Improvement Project (Flyover Project) To Triple In Cost From USD60 Million To USD180 Million~Gline Clarke And The Government Of Barbados Owe Barbadians A Big Explanation
ABC Highway Cost Triples Or More
jeez they r being sued in jamacia not barbados do yall really think bajans care bout this
Of course Bajans care!
It is our US$60 million that turned into US$120 million overnight.
You bet we care.
One for me
One for the foreign partner
…..and one little third for Barbados
In a word 60M = 180 M US dollars (road)
90M = 270 M dollars (prison)
Isn’t this the Bajan taxpayer’s money? Are we not on the brink of destruction while the money grows wings as incumbents panic and rush for the cash, our cash? Can we vote for someone to bring back integrity?
Good morning David. Many agree with you. We have a say in this.
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Comm/2003/1523.html
I think we better study carefully these flyovers as they seem to have some structral flaws.
Maybe this story will be handled like a suspicious death – after the body is laid to rest, it is exhumed.
Who knows? The Press and the Politicos could be laying low for the time being waiting for the dust to settle. Then when they think it has, the story is dug up.
The Government, other Politicos and the Local Media Network are ALL six of one and half dozen of the other.
Just a quick suggestion, Can you Make Story titles Bold, and a different color than blue, so that there is a good division between stories. Other than that the layout looks quite professional.
The print is too small. Are you in league with eye doctors?
All you need to do is Hold down the CTRL Key and tap the + key and the font will grow right before your eyes 🙂
David
David
Are you going to reespond to our suggestions?
For example,the comments section is not centered,and every time you click on a comment you have to go back and adjust the page to see the comments section.
Also,the blue print doesnot allow us to determine which posts we have clicked on ,like it did before.
I don’t know it’s up to you to decide if you will accomodate our requests or not,they have not been too many.
Anonymous said: “Also, the blue print does not allow us to determine which posts we have clicked on, like it did before.” That’s what I said before as well, and it is quite annoying. Please, BU, try and fix that before it drives me up the wall!
David my suggestion still stands please move the recent comments to the top right of the page so it there first up.
Anonymous & Thistle~Each theme which we select has its advantage and disadvantages. Unfortunately we don’t have the option to make those changes requested but we have submitted requests to support.
Bear with us please!
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If others are surprise regarding the latest news pertaining to Operation Free Flow? I am not.. I was concern with various aspect of the highway and decisions made “after-the-fact”. This whole comedy of errors manifest the contractor’s track record and Barbadians having to pay for these mistakes. Why was the contract for the road widening not given to C.O. Williams who have a colourful track record and the Flyovers given to a known contractor?. Should it not be prudent for a representative of Government address Barbadians of any eminent increase in the cost of the highway? Although we might have encountered an increase…Should it be a magnitude of two or three times the amount of the original cost? Could anyone associated with the highway state to the Barbadian public if the extension to the existing bridge in Warrens were constructed with reinforced concrete? Why is it taking so long to produce an Impact Study on such an important capital project ? Is a track record now a thing of a past?
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