Readers to Barbados Underground would have observed that we have been encouraging the young minds of our country to share their views with wider Barbados. We are very pleased that our young friend from UWI has been making a very constructive contribution to BU in recent days. We continue to urge others to do the same. We are again pleased to highlight the view of another concerned young Barbadian – a 19 year old UWI student – who has started a blog called the Future of Barbados, we hope they can sustain the effort! We find the article to be relevant in light of the vexing issue of the open door immigration policy which appears to be in place in Barbados. It is important that our current policymakers understand how our future policymakers feel on the subject. We can’t promise that we will be able to highlight all the emails which we are receiving, but we do encourage all young Barbadians to participate in the several avenues which are available. There is no place for apathy or cynicism by citizens in our society; it is up to us to participate in our democracy or there is a good chance we could lose it.
We should not ignore the young minds because after all it is our hard earned dollars which is being used to educate them!
Here is the contribution by Young Bajan:
Owning piece of the rock?
With a population nearing 300 000, the people of Barbados, have to realise that their dream of owning a piece of this 166 square mile rock is simple not a reality. Over the years, people migrating to England to be nurses and bus drivers, to Panama, to work on the canal etc., has controlled the population size of Barbados somewhat, but with an increasing population, in an already over-populated country, one must prepare themselves for the evolution of the Barbadian home.
Limited land, with high density can only mean one thing, buildings must go up! Apartment complexes, condominiums and studios could become the new “home” of the average Bajan. Already, many hotels are being converted into condominiums. If the rent for these rooms are within the salary range of the average bajan, who simply has no access to land, then I guarantee you, desperate Bajans will take up this new option.
The point remains that all of us still want a piece of the rock, that valuable asset, that actually appreciates in value. But we must face the facts, with a high demand and a limited supply, land prices in Barbados are red hot and are well outside the reach of the working class bajan. If government doesn’t intervene but simply leaves the ownership of land subjective to the market, all Bajans should forget about securing a piece of the rock, and start securing themselves an apartment to live in!!!
It is too late.
All due respect to your efforts David, but if the lofty Professors and Doctors at Cave Hill have nothing worthwhile to contribute to national debate how do you figure that their young students would..?
The young students of today remind me so much of myself some decades ago when, having graduated from that place I came to quickly realize how little i knew and how useless (except in terms of getting a job) the degree was in helping me to understand the world around me.
The students are refreshingly intelligent and keen, but for lack of leadership and tutorship of quality they are most likely destined to be just like the rest of us…
clueless.. some progress!!
..by the way, anonymous is right.
That’s the spirit! I mentioned to someone that we have a ‘lie down and take it’ society. I see I have been proven right. So if we are so underschooled when it comes to the workings of the real world and us speaking out is foolhardy and idealist at best, why don’t the older more schooled members do something or contribute to the discourse? Whereas I may not necessarily agree with the stance taken for varying reasons, I think it’s better to say something than say nothing. Remember- If you stand for nothing, you will fall for everything.
This post refers not to the general post, but is a side note on one of my pet peeves on this board.
Unqualified criticism of UWI does nothing to contribute to the discussion. Clearly the University as an institution has a long way to go, but it is not a complete failure. Its relevance is not just practical but also symbolic, and it represents the start of the process of dismantling the effects of the colonial project. It is a huge achievement that we as a region have our own institution for tertiary education (admittedly with the help of the University of London). One cannot reasonably expect a University degree to give students a complete understanding of the world, and to expect this is foolhardy. It merely provides the intellectual basis on which to begin a reasoned negotiation of the world around us. That it develops professional competence is incidental to the process of education.
If there is criticism, it should be constructive and should by underpinned by a pride of ourselves as Barbadians and West Indians in general.
Bush Tea, this comment is by no means making you a target, but is rather a general comment by an observer of the other posts on this board. If I misinterpreted you, and you were in fact criticising the job market, or some other factor for the difficulty in procuring employment, I apologise and reiterate that this post is not directed towards you.
What happens when the rock collapses under you? We talk about how hard things are but who is willing to walk through the fire. Its not only land ownership, what about our environment? energy and waste management. Overpopulation? there are parts of this island still untouched, not many people want to live in those places because they’re too “far”, or good luck with a bus out there. This is an island, a place with finite resources, why are we not finding ways to use what we have more efficiently? if a 100 000 people want at least 5 acres to themselves a piece then yes we will run out of space fairly quick. Building “up” is fine if the area can support it, but even that notion can be improved upon. It requires a drastic change in perspective for this place and we as a people to survive in the future.
theNickster has a point, one I was not willing to make initially because I was once accused of being a ‘hater’ and did not want to come across as being one now in this forum. Anyway, it is physically impossible for EVERYONE in Barbados to own a piece of the rock. Why blame the government for that fact. True it appears as though many non-nationals and returning nationals get the land more quickly, the fact is that they have the money. Being devil’s advocate yet again, some of these people saved for EONS to be able to finance their purchase while it can be argued some not-so-underprivileged bajans were preoccupied dining out every night, partying every other night and going overseas every few months. It’s like holding an item for people who may not buy it when all is said and done. If you want it, show interest, put it on lay-away or what have you.
If you want to get vex, get vex at the fact that Barbados is small not that people are buying the land. I propose a solution:
Start reclaiming land all the way out to St. Lucia, and since we already get that far, might as well connect the two islands and form the Republic of Barlucia and call it wally. I am sure there’s lots of land to be had for the Bajans who can afford Lucian land more easily than the St. Lucians.
superative 1, just to play the devils advocate (while i agree with much of what u said) foreigners canh come and own land in the other west indian islands….. marry, or bring a business.
I agree with the Nickster. Yes, the island is small, yes the price of land is slipping away from the average Barbadian. But this is simply the result of us not being able think differently about the little resources we’ve been given.
This is not one isolated problem. Land shortage is one of the results of a network of issues that need to be resolved and had needed to be resolved for a long time. It’s like trying to uncoil a real nasty knot in a power cord. One unrelated tangle might end up solving the whole puzzle.
Let me demonstrate:
For instance, like was said before, there are areas of Barbados that have not been touched, areas that can sustain new housing. No one will live there because it is next to impossible get proper public transportation to work. The prolem here isn’t as much location as it is public transportation. Does anybody else find it odd that even through population, business and landscape changes, we still have basically the same system of public transportation we had since the 70’s. Just more buses going the same places almost. Why hasn’t it been overhauled? So buses go from A to B instead of point A to town and from point B to town. Or so we can tranfer from one bus to another easily? That way you spread out the routes, grant more access to otherwise “hard to reach” areas. You can now more sucessfully establish new centers of business, since you could now get to them as easily as you could get to Bridgetown. That would disperse that nasty “into town” traffic and we wouldn’t have to spend (sorry, I meant borrow) so much for “fly overs”.
See? How many problems did we just shoot down with one seemingly unrelated stone. And transportation is just one way to look at it. The bigger problem is that as a society we need to stop thinking about things staying as they always have been and start thinking outside the little island box. Maybe then we may not have to start sqeezing into high-rises so soon.
me.nuh~don’t forget that Barbados is one of the smallest islands to be found in the Caribbean but because of its love affair with the mother country it has always enjoyed great popularity and support. This has made Barbados one of the most attractive islands where foreigners have always wanted to visit. It remains true to this day. What we are saying is that is is not realistic to compare Barbados with many of the other islands for this reason.
Against this background our decision-makers must remain mindful of our unique position. Some time ago we wrote a piece on the need for an equitable land policy in Barbados.
Hi Palm Trees
Nice to read your point of view.
Don’t know why you feel reluctant to criticize my position, I welcome intelligent views that are different to my own.
Now tell me why criticism if UWI should be ‘constructive’. You sound just like my other favorite critic David.
My beef with UWI is basically this…
Education is the bedrock of any future we may have.
We live in a dangerous changing world
We NEED intelligent, radical, out-of-the -box thinking at a national strategic level.
– and from UWI…..nothing
..just Hilary attempting to build a legacy on cricket (the game of the 19th century) and mass education -(the opposite to state-of the art, ground breaking learning.)
WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO?!?
..Praise UWI for at least surviving and ‘looking pretty’?
…talk bout how sweet the cricket ground look?
…pray for dem?
Dem people want cussing real bad.
To whom much is given, MUCH IS EXPECTED.
I cuss them because I KNOW that they can do more for this country.
I was really hoping to draw some of them out with the challenges, but that Hill seems to be even more remote that even I thought…
Thanks for the different opinion but I feel that with UWI, the need at this point is for some hot lashes in their rear end .
Superlative1
It is so easy for me to identify with you that it is actually quite funny.
You are quite right that often ‘it’s better to say something than say nothing. Remember- If you stand for nothing, you will fall for everything.’
HOWEVER, you must also remember that it is often better to remain silent and let people think that you are a fool… than to speak out and confirm it (ask Minister Gline Clarke if you doubt me)
Now to these high rise concrete dwellings.
You now know that Barbados is largely a piece of coral full of caverns, caves and blow holes.
Have you ever visited any countries with ‘high rise’ type accommodations for other than Upper class people?
Can you picture this country with rich people living in sprawling 10 acre lots with swimming pools and tennis courts while the rest of us lived in high rise tenements?
I have been to many countries with such arrangements – trust me, you do NOT want that here.
I would MUCH prefer a model with 60% CHATTEL HOUSES on 6000 square feet lots WITH MULTIPLE central facilities like Swimming Pools, Tennis courts, playing fields and community shops – encouraged through RIDICULOUSLY HIGH taxes for all home property over 10000 sq feet or more that two stories tall or not kept in pristine condition.
Picture that (just a thought of the top of my head….)
I always seem to find myself caught in the middle as far as Bush Tea’s comments are concerned. However, today he hits the nail on the head. UWI albeit a wonderful institution to foster higher education for the Caribbean in theory, does not actually meet that challenge head on. When I first started UWI Cave Hill I said this place is like Secondary School on steroids, however, as time went on, I came to realise it was Secondary School on crack. It is a gross disappointment and has and will continue to fail thousands upon thousands of up and coming youths. No wonder those who can afford to send their children abroad to give them a fighting change at expanding their minds and broadening their outlooks.
Just this morning on one of the local radio station a female sports personality was giving her vew and lauded Hilary Beckles for his cricket pitch and what he has done for Education in Barbados- Now where I can see his contribution to the establishment of cricket, I yet again fail to see what new and exciting development he has made as far as education is concerned.
Is he older than I think? The reason I ask is because last time I checked, he was not a bastion for no free tertiary level institution. Furthermore was he not a private sector blue eyed boy? Rising to the top of the fast paced world of the Mutual/Sagicor (which it has been reported funded the cricket pitch.) So… it’s not even to say he was a policy maker or advocate for educating us poor underprivileged third worlders.
Getting back to the issue of land now, the problem with Barbadians, especially those with a couple cents to rub together is they want to have a suburban lifestyle while living in an urban environment. They want to be all city slickers with their corporate jobs and lunchtrips to Cafe Bean and Chamqua, yet expect to walk into an open lot and stick a flag in it declaring “I claim this land in the name of me!” It doesn’t work like that.
Super1
…you being a little bit rough with my man Hilary now!!!! Don’t get tied up..
Back in the late 80’s the man was a top class radical. He used to say all the right things and he had all the right people ruffled.
I for one was forced to take a new look at myself and my reality as a result of his public positions – one particular lecture i recall was outstandingly meaningful to me. THE MAN TIGHT!!!
The problem is that he get trick by the top boys from the same mutual, the Government etc – don’t feel no way – it will happen to you too – they will offer you a big job – all you have to do is take the money and keep your damn mouth shut…
I was real surprised when Hilary fell for that one though – and THAT is why I vex with he…not because he is a joker – BUT BECAUSE HE Is A GENIUS.
I don’t waste time cussing jokers… for what?!? and besides I would be cussing all day and night… you ever hear me say anything about Peter?
So see if you understand WHY i does cuss Hilary….and watch yourself!! (LOL)
On a next matter, you sound like a potential radical (not the usual typical female sap that currently populates UWI) Why don’t you take up an interesting research project – I would like to understand what it is that causes a person to aspire to leadership positions.
Look at the current candidates for the coming elections for example…
-Do they have a history of achievement?
-Are they known for new and intelligent ideas and positions?
-Is it that they feel that God ordained them to lead?
-Do they have ‘visions’ that lead them to offer themselves?
… or like a famous one, is it that they could not make a decent living in any other job?
When you get a clear answer I would like to hear it, and then you tell me what you think that a country (or company or any other type of organisation) that accepts leaders like these deserves?!?
…now go and do your school work…
Mr. Tea (lol), How you could say in good conscience that the man ‘fall’ for anything. If he such a genius he would KNOW the tactics such persons would pull (not saying that there WERE tactics being used) and being a historian he should be a foremost authority on the arsenal of the oppressors… Aaaaaanyway, if someone offered me a big job to hush my mouth I would get fired because 1)My mouth don’t shut just so and 2) it would be discovered that I may have taken the job and nothing really changed. Furthermore, I am a capitalist fundamentally so I all about the paper, however him and his former dashiki wearing back to Africa campaigning educational improvement ranting and raving and VOILA nothing. I truly have no respect for how EASILY he can be ‘led astray’. It suggests one of two things, neither of which are good- either he is impressionable and can be easily manipulated OR he has no conviction and unlike what the impression you would get suggests, he really doesn’t care about what he is saying as long as he is heard.
Hmmm…
“Owning a piece of the rock”
This was a good post and the young person responsible for it is to be commended. But let me point out a couple of things to the young writer that concerns me also and it indirectly has to to do with the increasing population of Barbados.
First and foremost even though condos and studios are the way to go and I think this will be dictated more because of having to utilize every inch of Barbados land to satisfy residency needs and this is the best way to do it “high density resideny structures” think about this.
With current land values where they are and increasing along with labour and material costs though condos would come in cheaper they are still going to be well out of the reach of the average Bajan. But here is what worries me the most!
With all of the education being made available to the young people of Barbados when they finish school and in some cases school and University where will they work? Where will the jobs be? I see little resources or marketing advantages that could sustain industry/s that are capable of serious sustainable employment in great numbers. Therefore where are the people to get the money to own a piece of the rock, condo, studio, apartment etc? That is my major concern! What do you think about this?
Here is a totally unrelated matter that concerns me too and I had no other Post to put it.
Davids “poll” asks Barbadians all over the world to comment on if they are proud of the progress Barbados has made since Independence.
I am shocked that after this poll was on this site for hours only 5 have offered an opinion.
Globalization what do that means to you.
Its election in Barbados and every one is going way out to be the ruling government.
So many of us are taking in by what have been said in and out of parliament.
And things that have been fling at opposing candidates on the campaigns floors.
But do any of us see the real big picture, do we really see what’s happening right in front our very eyes.
I once read that the flapping of a butterfly wings can affect the climate on the other side of the world how true I don’t know.
But on the very same hand I know that every single thing that happens around the world effect us directly here in Barbados and the Caribbean.
I say we chose to complicate things because we chose not to do the simple things that make life so easy.
As the time moves on well for Barbados and not so many of our sister islands, because we have advance so fast, our leaders are now set on having a developed first world Barbados. Some may say the cost of progress is very high.
But don’t we see our world is getting smaller by the day, we may love to cry and say Barbados is ours no one have the rights to come here and buy land no one have the rights to do this or that, but realistically as the world becomes smaller and technology advance, all we had once believe in and stand for will be no more.
The churches some of the oldest institutions on earth are rising up to take the place they once help when back then what they call the new world was now beginning. The Catholic Church lead by the pope and the uniting of the European states the pushing of Germany to be the head of Europe, the destabilizing of the African, Asian and Middle East countires even in our back yard the continuing conflicts between Cuba and the USA. The ongoing aim of the powers to be, to destabilize Venezuela all these things are the steeping stone for a new world order where the weakest will fall and the strongest will stand,
we have long giving up the life of the bible and the teachings of the bible, man is no longer man, we are no longer civilize we are like the beast of this world, like the giant cats of the African savannahs we go where we can survive, or adapt to living conditions that’s meets us.
It’s not many of us that can leave Barbados and go foreign to seek a better life or so you may call it,
Our leaders or the so-call ones that we chose by or X to rule and handle the affair of this country are single grains of sand in this new global arena.
Clothing, shelter and food, the needs of every man,
This is the time for a man to be a man, stop with the batty style stop being weak we have no feminine sides, rise up and be the kings of your castle of your home, be the provider for your family and for you own welfare, be your brother keeper, don’t depend on no government for your survival, till the soil for your bread, treat you woman like queens and the mothers of the universe teach your sons and daughters the right ways of life, reject all the negative and evil, by doing all these things you will acquired the skills to survive in this new world,
I say in the end it should be like the beginning, because all we know of would be no more, and all we thought we have accomplish would be no more, we be back to the days when man was man and man obeys the Gods of the universe and we live in perfect harmony with all that dwell and make this world we live in the great creation it is.
THIS is the end, they is no Jesus Christ to come save you, you waited 2000 years for,
The end is here by our own making for we have neglect and reject the basic natural laws of the universe, man sleeping with man……. And as the end comes a new world awakes us , one where man try to fix the wrongs and destruction he have subject this world we live in to. Can we stop the ice caps from melt? Can we prevent the hurrican from being more destructive than we ever know and the sea reclaiming the land………………….can we?
So it doesn’t matter the out come of this general elections life is the greatest gift and with life comes survival, the fight is ours the choices are ours.
We have heard of it but have we really live it, well it going be a truly dog eat dog world, so if yah not
A Chinese sorry for yah lol.
I had posted that on another place on this site, but after reading here, I realize its stand valid here, as the person said above many of us have leff and go out to find work, and so it would be and we best pray for that nd get them to send back money here to there families, on the issue of land, lol there is a hand full of persons that’s don’t have a home I mean sleep on de road or in a box,
I know every one else have to be living some where rather it be a 8 by 8 house, they living some where, we have to stop with this big wall house of great heart house thinking, what so wrong with the extended family, back in de days whole generations have grown up in one house with no big problems or all this family feud we have these days,
what I am sayin land for building house should be our less worry, we should den limit the size of a house and the amount of land that one can own for residential purpose, and try make sure really make sure every piece of land we plant food on it yeah that’s what we should do plant food, forget about owning piece of de rock just so u can build a big wall house or green heart house, den to park 10 cars in front it tap yah back and say one yah successful that yah achieve sain in life, when what you really did was deprive some one
I came to the USA when I was 11 years old and now I am 33. Yes the non-bajan rich or people who otherwise have the money and resources come to Barbados and buy up land/property and they make a killing off of the tourism while Bajans struggle. Bajans should do what the Indians do: their kids come to USA and study and then many of them go back to their countries and work to build their own economy. While many bajans are busy buying into the American materialism, the Americans, British, and other Europeans are busy buying up Barbados. If something is not done, B’dos will become like New York City– the people who make the city a great place to live are the ones who cannot afford to live there. New York City (and Boston is following) has the highest cost of living. Here in Boston the majority of new housing being built are condos, lofts, townhouses–things the average working person cannot afford. Many people here to to the homeless shelters and scam the system and get subsidized housing where it is based on your income. I know of people who only pay 80/mth rent. Some pay $1. Some people have a Section 8 where if they move to another state the same benefits apply. As the Bible says: “The ruin of the poor is their poverty.” It is up to Bajans to be dutifully educated, wise, financially competent, active in the government (where domestic esp. immigration policy is made) & business world both at home and globally in order to KEEP THEIR PIECE OF THE ROCK and KEEP IT BAJAN!!
I came to the USA when I was 11 years old and now I am 33. Yes the non-bajan rich or people who otherwise have the money and resources come to Barbados and buy up land/property and they make a killing off of the tourism while Bajans struggle. Bajans should do what the Indians do: their kids come to USA and study and then many of them go back to their countries and work to build their own economy. While many bajans are busy buying into the American materialism, the Americans, British, and other Europeans are busy buying up Barbados. If something is not done, B’dos will become like New York City– the people who make the city a great place to live are the ones who cannot afford to live there. New York City (and Boston is following) has the highest cost of living. Here in Boston the majority of new housing being built are condos, lofts, townhouses–things the average working person cannot afford. Many people here to to the homeless shelters and scam the system and get subsidized housing where it is based on your income. I know of people who only pay 80/mth rent. Some pay $1. Some people have a Section 8 where if they move to another state the same benefits apply. As the Bible says: “The ruin of the poor is their poverty.” It is up to Bajans to be dutifully educated, wise, financially competent, active in the government (where domestic esp. immigration policy is made) & business world both at home and globally in order to KEEP THEIR PIECE OF THE ROCK and KEEP IT BAJAN!!