est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

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Is The Government Of Barbados Ready To Deliver?

It is no secret that BU disagrees with our friends over at Barbados Free Press concerning whether enough time has elapsed for the new David Thompson government to fulfill many of the promises made in the last election campaign. The challenge of managing a small open economy today in the prevailing global economic conditions must make being in government a stretch. When we factor the usual political rhetoric of making pie in the sky promises in a campaign, a heavy dose of realism for Barbadians must now take root.

An example of the challenge the government will encounter to deliver on one election promise to expose corruption manifested itself in the Stanton Alleyne Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) Affair. The government brought a case against Stanton Alleyne, General Manager of the SSA which has been stymied because the lawyers and legalese was able to trump the Human Resource  practitioners in Barbados any day of the week. As a result Stanton Alleyne remains on the job when there was an obvious breach in code of ethics.

Almost on a daily basis Barbadians hear about forensic audits being initiated to investigate alleged financial mis-management on the part of the former administration. Last week it was Minister Michael Lashley’s turn. BU looks forward to the outcome to the investigation into the sale of 20 acres of land located at Kent. It appears that the land which has a market value of 25 millions dollars was sold for 4 million dollars to Pinder and Cadogan for 4 million dollars.

Additionally we are hearing rumblings about a land scam where $280,000.00 was requested by a middle man on behalf of a former Minister from a Mr. P. This is some sensitive information and we will place a full stop on this sentence for the MOMENT!

Today we listened with some concern to the General Secretary of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) telling Barbadians that because of financial mismanagement of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), the treasury was in shambles. He went on to say that the DLP will now have to prioritize how they utilize government resources. Let the PR begin!

We end this blog on a positive note. We have learned that the government of Barbados inked a deal this week which will see the start of a mega-million project later in 2008. The investment will bring much need hard currency and create jobs. Unfortunately the deal was delayed because of a misplaced file which was fortunately recovered in time to save the deal. We refuse to believe that a Permanent Secretary in our government would harbour thoughts to sabotage a deal being pursued by the Crown.

95 responses to “Is The Government Of Barbados Ready To Deliver?”

  1. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    I’m beginning to have second thoughts about this administration. The DLP did not have to make the many 100 days and 500 days promises they made to win the government. The people were ready for a change. Now we’re left to wonder if they are as united as they proclaim they are. In true bajan parlance, it appears on too many occasions, the right hand don’t know what the left hand is doing. Take for instance the two Davids and the hospital saga; then recently Sealy and Blackette on emancipation. The one that most bajans are peeved about is the changing of the Independence Day Parade. It seems that when the P.M comes up with a plan, there is no change no matter what the people think. This is a subtle sign of dictatorship and that is beginning to worry me. I hope he takes his head out of the clouds and get to work doing the people’s business.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    @The Scout

    Forget the promises for a minute. If the people were ready for change does it matter about the pie in the sky promises ALL politicians make? We admit the QEH communications was a government malfunction but doesn’t it happen all the time?

    Give the people at least a year before we rush to judgement. In the prevailing conditions one year maybe to ambitious.

  3. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    If one considers that had this present Gov’t not beein over burdened with the massive amounts of obvious fraud and corruption how much further forward we would have been as a Nation and a people.

    The words of Mottley to make sure no investment comes to Barbados if she can help it is a disgraceful act of malice, for a person of its standing to make such a reckless statement speaks volumes about her lack of concerns for our country or its people.

    The new Gov’t has found corruption in every department of Gov’t, this corruption is not accidental it is the result of the actions of the blatant theft by the former leaders.

    Thankfully it has been arrested and halted as a small island like ours cannot afford to be abused by greedy blp politicians.

    We are seeing real positive uplifting development being generated by this new Gov’t and to them I say congrats and keep pressing ahead and moving forward.

    The days of Mottley, Owing corruption are over and we are now trying to make big strides forward.

  4. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    The Scout,

    Usually scouts are much more smart than you appear to be.

    Get used to where you are at in the political landscape of this island you are there because of your own dishonest actions not the actions of the DLP, you were thrown out because you and your leadership were found out to be stealing from us the ones paying your salaries.

    Do not now come here expounding you utter rubbish and having people believe that you and your lot are faultless.

  5. The Devil Avatar
    The Devil

    This administration is big on promises and wishful thinking but wobbly on the details of execution. For example, the cut in the price of diesel (but how to get it to the PSVs?), the handing over of NHC houses (but can they get clear title?), free bus rides for school children (but are there enough buses and what about adult passengers who may be displaced?), declaration of assets (not sure what the problem is here but how to do it so that it does not scare people away from public service?), lower the cost of living (but shouldn’t people pay the true cost of energy, food and water?), keep Crop Over a national festival (so privatise but don’t make it look like they following Arthur’s policy of privatising the festival), get more local food (but who’s going to grow it and where?; we don’t want to follow “you know who that said grow your own”), get a better hospital (renovate or build again we don’t want to remind voters that the last administration was criticised for considering the same options), fire all those parasites (consultants) getting money for what? (but what is Hartley Henry’s salary and job responsibilities?)

    On another note, did I hear right that the PM was in Denver for Obama’s acceptance speech? I thought he went to Cuba maybe he took a raft to Miami to make the connecting flight back to Barbados.

  6. annonymous Avatar
    annonymous

    We are also to hear what is the energy consultant’s salary as well as george Pilgrim’s.

  7. annonymous Avatar
    annonymous

    Can someone tell me how many consultants were hired since elections. I guess wiv should be able to answer that.

  8. Negroman Avatar
    Negroman

    As a member and supporter of the Democratic Labour Party I am very disappointed in the performance of the government in these first 6 months.
    This government top priority was dealing effectively with cost Living.Nothing has been done to handle that situation in an effective manner.The saga of the Prime Minister & his Minister of Health making contradictory statements on the expansion policy of the QEH.The badly handled SSA affair with Stanton Alleyne.The mix signals being sent on immigration issue.Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris Sinckler double talk on international affairs.Barbados apparent confusion with our role in CARICOM & CSME and also the confusion with EPA Partnership Agrement.The government callous attitude towards independence and the contempt it has for the opinion of the masses in this matter.The disregard for tradition by shifting the traditional independence ceremony from independence morning to some other time and not have the common courtesy to engage the public in a matter that is of importance to us.
    Prime Minister David Thompson said he found a treasury practically broke and in a mess.He vowed to clean it up and put the country’s finances back on firm footing.He started out fairly well with dismissal of some nonsensical posts created by the last administration in the area of consultants.However,he employed Hartley Henry and paid him enough money that could cover 3 consultants posts he abolished.In addition,he has travelled all around the world at the expense of the tax payers.In these first 6 months it appears he has spent more time outside of Barbados than at home.
    This government has not live up to expectations.It has failed miserably.

  9. JC Avatar
    JC

    Negroman you forgot to mention the Immigration problem; however, negroman I have to agree with David on this one. We MUST give this Government a chance.

    We gave owen Arthur 14 years and all we got was pure shite.

    Don’t get me wrong I am peeved at the way how they have handled the immigration problem although they know for a FACT what happens when these foreigners come into OUR country.

    Scout ignore WIV, you speak from your heart and you are old enough to say what you feel like saying no matter who it offends; you have paid your dues to you country!

  10. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    The scout, you need to relook at your past before you make any comment on any matter pertaining to Goverance as you and your group failed the country very badly in this department.

  11. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    JC
    I speak as a citizen of this country with no political bias. It appears that Wishing In Vain knows more about me than I know about myself since he keeps linking me to a political party. I thought I had cleared up that matter but if he insist and he wants me to join that party maybe he can go a register my name. As a proud bajan I have to right to critique any government and I try to do it objectively. I also accept anyone how has a different opinion.

  12. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    Wishing in VAIN
    YOU dumb idiot, I’m not a member of any political party and if you are so ignorant to allow a party to make a fool of you, GO AHEAD. This is my last comment to you. As far as I’m concern, you are off the blog. I only deal with sensible, rational people, not with idiots. Go live in Jamaica, they practise that type of politics and some are so dumb like you, they vote by a sign.

  13. Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ Scout

    Listen man, he embarrasses the DLP everytime he opens his stinking mout. He needs to go to a dentist and fix his halitosis.

  14. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    Anonymous
    It is people like him that the party can do without. He does more damage than good for the DLP. I’ve decided to ignore him, I would come down to that level.

  15. Equity Avatar
    Equity

    What is this talk about a clash between Sealy and Blackette on Emancipation? Are we chasing will ‘o de wisps?

  16. Q Avatar
    Q

    wanna did want change and wunna get change but wha’ kinda %$##@## * change

    ——————————-
    the Owen Arthur dat wunna like to cuss brought this country from the depths of despair in 1994

    I never thought the DLP could win back a government in under 30 years considering the MESS that they put the country through from 1986 to 1991-93 BUT WUNNA UNGRATEFUL, HAVE SHORT MEMORIES AND ARE RESTLESS wunna vote out the BLP who inspite of what you all are saying about corruption, had de country running good

    IT IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ME PUKE !!!!!

  17. Q Avatar
    Q

    We gave owen Arthur 14 years and all we got was pure shite.

    ———-
    so Arthur aint do nuttin good in 14 years
    ——MAN GO GET A LIFE
    YUH GOT ME VEX NOW !!

  18. Q Avatar
    Q

    WISHING IN VAIN

    YOU SOUND LIKE A TIRED OLD BROKEN RECORD WITH YOUR SILLY ACCUSATIONS
    THAT YOU CANNOT PROVED

  19. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    THE SCOUT, THE DEVIL, ANNONYMOUS, NEGROMAN, Q (a.k.a. BFPE)

    Rome was not built in a day.

  20. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Yea Carson, we know Rome was not built in a day. Owen took 14 years to construct Rome and Thompson destroying it in 7 months.

  21. JC Avatar
    JC

    Yeah rite Q!

    You know how vindictive the ENTIRE arthur administration was. Imagine wanna Owen Arthur give a man money coz he di sorry for he PLEASE!

    Why de ass he din sorry for me and all of Barbados an give them a thousand dollars; what shite u talking.

    I dont care what the ass you say Owen Arhtur and he cronies were a VINDICTIVE THEIFING LOT!

    People pay for houses and cant find them stupes Q know ya place; you come and find me leh me have my opinion yeah!

    Stupessssss

  22. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    q this record will sing in your ears for as many years as the lord gives it the ability to do so.

    You are without a defence when you speak about your party because it is clear to see where you and your lot managed to drag this lovely island in your last five gross years of wholesale corruption.

    Scout like so many others of your ilk, none of you supported the now in opposition blp left to the rumblings of ones like you the DLP should be holding about 50 seats in Parliament and not 20 as they do hold.

    Not one of your ilk are prepared to be shown as blp supporters and voters for that corrupt clan of crooks.

  23. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Yeah, I think Scout, Annonymous, negroman
    and dem so should tell us where to find the missing houses and then we can start talking about the present government.

  24. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    Not only missing houses Andrew but the missing millions, like the millions loss from the land deal at Kent, the money loss when Urban rents are collected by Joe Atherley’s wife and these monies never make it to the govt coffers.

  25. Straight talk Avatar
    Straight talk

    When are the arrests and court cases, WIV, I am getting tired of hearing your wholesale accusations, with so much obvious corruption being uncovered, where is the action?

  26. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    The action will not happen because you or I decides that it is to appear but trust me with each passing day the processes are being followed thru and it will be only after the correct processes have been followed and gone thru that you will see the results.

    Trust me they are many cases that will need to be addressed no lesser a case of Crown lands being given away to the former Minister Farley and so his friends for a pittance.

  27. The Devil Avatar
    The Devil

    Hold on a minute! WIV KNOWS that Atherley’s wife “collected” rent money to which she was not entitled, Furthermore, this money belonged to the UDC. The only questions I have is this: Has WIV made a report to the Police? Does the Gov’t “know” this “fact” too?

    All I know is that accusations were made (which I believed at the time). I assumed the accusations were based on hard evidence not speculation. So should I now not be disappointed when I am told that expensive audits now need to be done to prove that the accusations are actually valid? I expected to see somebody in handcuffs going before a magistrate. Give you time you say, fine.

    Whether the supporters of the DLP (or the BLP for that matter) like it or not, NO GOV’T IS ABOVE CRITICISM. It’s my right.

  28. JC Avatar
    JC

    Now Straight talk that is what I talking bout. We see in the newspapers the PROOF. Therefore, I WANT SOMEBODY GET LOCK UP!

    I will repeatedly say if it was someone on the block it wont have been no lotta long talk they woulda don get lock up!

    THAT IS A FACT!

    that is where my problems and I think many more citizens with the DLP!

    We tired of this talk bout Immigration, Housing, the Prison, Joe Atherley wife and the list goes on!

    WE THE CITIZENS OF BARBADOS DEMAND ACTION!

  29. Q Avatar
    Q

    JC

    you are talking bare bovine excretement -according to a well known commenter

    bare stupid , stinking , liared accusations
    I have seen this crap before by people FROM the DLP
    you are going to shout corruption corruption arrogance arrogance-
    BARE CRAP–NOT BELIEVABLE

    A survey of views on the blogs and elsewhere indicate that
    THIS DLP GOVERNMENT IS A FAILURE

    DEAL WITH THE FOOLISHNESS THAT THE DLP DOING and stop telling foolishness about Owen and 14 years—harping on that is not going to blind people to the fact that the DLP HAS FAILED !!!!!!!!! FAILED——–FAILED !!!!!!!FAILED

  30. Avatar
    Anonymous

    It will be 1992 all over again partner. Serious job losses, stikes, inflation, crime. It goin be cat piss and pepper bout hey.

  31. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    JC
    All I’m saying is this, if there was so much stealing within the last government and this one only give a loota long talk and no-one is brought to justice, then this government is just as corrupt. Stop the talk stop canvassing and start bringing some cases against these people. One game will show you are serious. Right now it seem this government making sport at we.

  32. JC Avatar
    JC

    Scout I will answer you and not Q. (That is cause I have respet you) Any how, that is my point exactly!

    I myself am tired of all the long talk as well;

    However, I saw Mr. Arthur in action and he wasnt easy and that was a FACT! Noone aint had to tell me I SAW him in action!

    V I N D I C T I V EEEEEE!

  33. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    JC
    That “short man” was a vindictive SOB and openly so, but the new man is subtlely vindictive very much a clone of Tom Adams. He would smile in your face and order your execution.

  34. Q Avatar
    Q

    Errol Barrow was said to be vindictive
    Tom Adams was said to be vindictive
    Bree St,John was said to be a gentleman
    Erskine Sandiford was said to be stubborn, adamant and vindictive
    David Thompson is said to be vindictive

    NOW you say that Owen was vindictive. So I have to conclude that you oppose the BLP because Owen was vindictive. How many of you know what it is to be a Prime Minister of Barbados

    J C your argument is flimsy

  35. JC Avatar
    JC

    YOU CAN CALL IT WHAT EVER YOU WANT

    I call it how I see it!

    Thank god you cant cut my ass for having an opinion.

    Even if you are in charge of a million people and you dont show no respect you will never be a good boss!

  36. cherry2enpowered Avatar
    cherry2enpowered

    The Devil says
    # This administration is big on promises and wishful thinking but wobbly on the details of execution. For example, the cut in the price of diesel (but how to get it to the PSVs?),

    Getting diesel to the PSV’s was never a problem for the government. It was the public of Barbados who were inquiring & questioning the delivery process.

    # the handing over of NHC houses (but can they get clear title?),

    They were persons who brought NHC houses under Owen government and they haven’t received the title deeds under Owen government. With any government, paperwork takes time.

    # free bus rides for school children (but are there enough buses and what about adult passengers who may be displaced?)

    I remember some comment some time ago from the Transport Board regarding repairing some buses to accomodate the increase from the children. It looks like we spend more time and money buying buses overseas instead of having an efficient maintenace program. Are adult passengers really being displaced? In the past when minbuses started concertrating on schoolchildren, the adults shifted to the buses. At least who could of done so. This time around we may see a reverse of that shift.

    #declaration of assets (not sure what the problem is here but how to do it so that it does not scare people away from public service?

    We could rush a piece of legislation through parliament and every year amend it or have a concise piece of legislation properly thought out adapted to our environment. I am sure Trinidad’s declarationof assets law didn’t came into effect in six months.

    #lower the cost of living (but shouldn’t people pay the true cost of energy, food and water?),

    I’m all for government subsidizing residental electricity only.

    #keep Crop Over a national festival (so privatise but don’t make it look like they following Arthur’s policy of privatising the festival),

    Owen’s policy was to privatise the festival. Nothing about government retaining any part of it. The difference? DLP privatising some and retaining some. What you should be asking is which part is government holding on too.

    #get more local food (but who’s going to grow it and where?; we don’t want to follow “you know who that said grow your own”)

    When Owen told Barbadians to grow their own food in their backyards, it upset people simply because it came over in a condescending way at a time when the country was crying out for relieve of high food prices which the then government said it could not do anything about but rush forward afterwards when the pressure from the population became overbearing announcing nine basket of items due to a fear of lossing a snap election to upstage the DLP.

    Benn on the hand spoke genuinely on the topic.

    #get a better hospital (renovate or build again we don’t want to remind voters that the last administration was criticised for considering the same options),

    Does that make them less human?

    # fire all those parasites (consultants) getting money for what? (but what is Hartley Henry’s salary and job responsibilities?)

    I’m eager to know as well. Has he officially taken up his position? Or doesn’t the man deserve to be paid if his services are requested?

  37. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Anonymous // August 29, 2008 at 6:52 pm

    It will be 1992 all over again partner. Serious job losses, stikes, inflation, crime. It goin be cat piss and pepper bout hey.
    ————————-

    Integrity Bank Becomes 10th U.S. Failure This Year (Update2)

    By Alison Vekshin and Ari Levy

    Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia, was closed by U.S. regulators today, the 10th bank to collapse this year amid a surge in soured real-estate loans stemming from the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.

    Integrity Bank, with $1.1 billion in assets and $974 million in deposits, was shuttered by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regions Financial Corp., Alabama’s biggest bank, will assume all deposits from Integrity, which was run by Integrity Bancshares Inc. The failed bank’s five offices will open on Sept. 2 as branches of Regions, the FDIC said.

    “Depositors will continue to be insured with Regions Bank so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance,” the FDIC said.

    Banks are being closed at the fastest pace in 14 years as financial companies report more than $505 billion in writedowns and credit losses since 2007. California lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc., which had $32 billion in assets, was closed July 11 in the third-largest bank seizure, contributing to a 14 percent drop in the U.S. deposit insurance fund that had $45.2 billion at the end of the in the second quarter.

    Regions will buy about $34.4 million in assets and will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.01 percent to assume the failed bank’s deposits, the FDIC said. The FDIC estimates the cost of the Integrity failure to its deposit-insurance fund will be $250 million to $300 million.

    Told to Raise Capital

    Integrity was ordered by federal and state regulators in May to present a capital-raising plan within 60 days. At the time, the company had been trying without success for at least eight months to raise $40 million after loans to residential and commercial developers were hurt by the collapse of the real estate market.

    Bloomberg.com

    Why are making making an international problem a localized one? What help would you bring to the table if things get worse other an glory in people’s failures?

  38. cherry2enpowered Avatar
    cherry2enpowered

    Bloomberg.com quote is from me.

  39. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    This administration is showing up their lack of experience. the case in focus, free bus service for school children was not well thought out. Imagine, UCAL was only giving the go ahead to repair a large number of buses just a week ago. The company has now been working almost 24 hrs per day trying to get buses ready for monday. This government has to realise that execution of policies is not a “fast food ” business.

  40. The scout Avatar
    The scout

    Some-one seems to have come up with the idea and they decided to go for it withing examining the possibilities. At the end of the day and a problem arises on monday, they would blame UCAL.

  41. bajejun Avatar
    bajejun

    Any one on this blog seriously thinks that a corrupt government will leave evidence just lying around, or as a matter of fact make it easy to find common sense must inform that an investigation is needed and will take time, after all reputations and livelihoods are at stake.

  42. The Devil Avatar
    The Devil

    @Cherry2enpowered

    appreciate the response. I may not fully agree with your viewpoints but your presentation was a fair and reasoned rebuttal minus any vitriol.

  43. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    @Scout
    Dont let old Windbag in Pain discourage you.
    You speak plenty sense.

  44. NUH LINGA-(The Jamaican Dance) Avatar
    NUH LINGA-(The Jamaican Dance)

    It would be appreciated if we did not return to the dark days of lay offs and high unemployment

    1992 and those years were very hard and difficult and everybody were harpooned

    Please Mr.PM dont put the country through the same perils as in those dark days. Please ! Please Please!!!——Barbados will be vex

  45. The People's Democratic Congress Avatar
    The People’s Democratic Congress

    Throngs of people in Barbados are about to witness a very horrible affliction to befall this social and political landscape of Barbados. Indeed, this affliction is this reckless and unconscionable Democratic Labour Party Government, which – so immediately upon being elected to the government of this country on January 15, 2008 – is about to unleash its fury and vengeance on the backs of the masses and middle classes of people of Barbados – for, et al, NOT giving Mr. David Thompson and his DLP much political support in the early 2000s.

    The tremendous and callous increases in domestic fuel costs by the Prime Minister back in April, the further henious and vulgar TAXATION assualts by the Prime Minister about two months ago, and his dismissal of some consultants like the Mighty Gabby, Mr. Trevor Marshall and Mr. Hamilton Lashley, do bear serious testimony and hallmarks to the vengeful, spiteful and brutal nature and character of this Thompson led Administration. Well, those first two sets of very sordid acts are meant to make the masses and middle classes of people in Barbados poorer and closer to the brink of poverty and more dependent on some politicians – like Mr. Thompson – for their survival!! And the second was meant essentially to embarrass and ridicule those particular individuals for their support of the former BLP Government. How vengeful!!!

    What is even more appalling and revolting is that in the lead up to the last election many members of this same Democratic Labour Party went about this country making many false promises and blatantly lying to thousands upon thousands of people in Barbados concerning what they would do or not do when they become the government of this country. Well, the truth is that since winning the government many members of the Democratic Labour Party continue to lie and deceive many people in Barbados concerning those same false promises and lies it had told to them. For instance, they are saying that the Treasury is in a mess and that the material and financial conditions in the country and across the world are precarious – to make believe that HAD NOT FOR such they would truly be able to carry out many of their promises – like the 500 homes they said would be created in this country in 500 days, as well as the VAT that they said that within 100 days would be removed from off electricity bills of Barbados Light and Power customers. Nothing could be so rotten as those deceptions and lies!! And there are other statements that were made during the election campaign that could be cited to support the fact that this wretched DLP made false statements and lied to thousands upon thousands of voters with intent to deceive them into VOTING for them and in order to help them win this government. Surely, this DLP Government must be repaid, politically, for lying to and deceiving so many people in Barbados, at the next election!!

    Also, to make matters worse, what is so very outrageous about this Democratic Labour Party Government is the latest bewildering nonsense to be reported as emanating from out of the mouth of the Prime Minister at the Barbados Workers Union 67 th Annual Delegates Conference, Saturday August 30 th, at the BWU Headquarters, that HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC WORKERS WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING IN SICK BUILDINGS COULD SOON BE RELOCATED TO COMFORTABLE SURROUNDINGS AT SHERBOURNE CONFERENCE CENTRE ( Sunday Sun, August 31, 2008)

    While we would wholeheartedly support any governmental efforts at finding better working conditions for public workers any where at any time in Barbados, it is entirely crude and absurd that this joker for a Prime Minister could – in just wanting to say something excited or stirring and something central to the industrial and labour relations climate in Barbados at this BWU Conference – be seen by so many country men and women to be taking upon himself to be so incongruous in choosing Sherbourne Conference Centre as the place to house governmental offices and the attendant workers.

    Was NOT it a short while ago that we – the public – were being told that this same Sherbourne Conference Centre was to be renamed – the LLoyd Erskine Sandiford Conference and Cultural Centre? Was this objective NOT extolled on the basis of an announcement that was made by the Minister of Housing and Lands, Mr. Michael Lashley, in the House of Assembly on April 22, 2008? Why the present confusion surrounding this Centre, which is a premier strategic asset to the people of Barbados? Why should Sherbourne Centre be now reduced from primarily an artistic, cultural and conference centre to some greatly devalued, drab, exploitative work station?

    Finally, Mr. Thompson should have been thinking about a serious and overall maintenance and rehabilitation program for government buildings and facilities and equipment, and about ways of financing and supporting it – NOT thinking about desecrating and bastardizing Sherbourne Conference Centre, and at the same time disrespecting the vision of the former Prime Minister, Sir Lloyd Sandiford .

    Whereas, we say to this DLP Government that instead of seeking to degrade the prestigious Sherbourne Conference Centre into some paper-pushing workpen, that use could be made of that multi-storey car park in Cheapside by converting it into Government offices, and that they could temporarily rent space from NSR Limited at Julie N on Bridge Street, the City, and some other buildings, we in PDC say that were we the government today we would long have started the mission of drastically reducing the excessive size of the government in this country. In that way – drastically reducing the big size of the government – would be seen to be one way in which the government is NOT to have too many buildings and facilities and equipment and people under its wings – so that at the end of the day it is able to properly manage and maintain them – and NOT seriously unable to do so. Certainly, this situation of the government being too big has helped given rise to this sick building syndrome.

    PDC

  46. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    Barbados: The best of the West Indies?
    Its beaches aren’t the greatest in the Caribbean, and it has no rainforest or virgin coral reef. So what’s the draw in Barbados? Adriaane Pielou has the answer.

    By Adriaane Pielou
    Last Updated: 4:23PM BST 29 Aug 2008

    Previous1 of 5 ImagesNext Barbados has one of the lowest rates of crime in the Caribbean Photo: Getty
    Autumn offers the lowest prices for a stay in Barbados Photo: Getty
    Barbados offers much more to do than elsewhere in the Caribbean
    The island’s wild east coast has the best beaches – but there are also frightening currents Photo: Getty
    The Sandy Lane resort, opened in 1961, still offers glamour and fun
    “Police here in Barbados are very, very strict. Wrongdoers get no mercy!” chortles the minibus driver as we cross the island from airport to hotel. “Prison here is kill or cure. Usually kills you, ha ha! But if you do get out you won’t want to go back in again! And that’s the way we like it!”

    Holidaying probably isn’t quite as risk-free in Barbados as it is at Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos, the private resort where Bruce Willis and Donna Karan have houses and which the billionaire owner, Christina Ong, guards with 150 Gurkhas. Barbados is a lot less expensive, though. It also has one of the lowest rates of crime in the Caribbean. Even though most crime in the region is among local drug dealers, that’s a reassuring consideration after the lethal shooting of the newly-weds in Antigua last month.

    “What keeps Barbados law-abiding? Education, education, education,” says Claire Jordan, an earnest young hotel sales manager over breakfast by the beach. “The first thing our government did after independence in 1966 was to introduce free schooling. Anyone who gets straight As at A-level can go to university anywhere in the world and have the government pay for everything.”

    She herself went to Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh, then to an école supérieure in France, while her brother went to Harvard. “So everyone’s educated, employment rates are high — and in general that means very little poverty and very low crime. What crime does exist is often committed by other islanders coming here under the new policy in the Caribbean that lets anyone move anywhere, as in the EU.”

    Whatever its effect on crime, the high standard of education certainly seems to have endowed Bajans across the social spectrum with a marked level of self-confidence and self-expression. My stay was punctuated with one friendly exchange after another. “Madam, I see you prefer silver to gold, too,” comments an almost toothless road-sweeper in Holetown, putting down her brush to shake a skinny wrist bearing a bracelet, then pointing to my bangles.

    “We both like pearls, too,” I say, indicating her earrings.

    “Oh, yes, so flatterin’ for the skin, dark or light,” she smiles, resuming her sweeping.

    Getting into a taxi outside Mullins Beach Club, on the west coast, I watch as the two uniformed beach attendants who have called the cab suddenly scream with laughter, recognising the driver. “You’ve got a celebrity at the wheel! Mr Bodyguard to the Stars!” one calls out. Modestly, the muscular young Bajan at the wheel admits he mixes taxi-driving with working as a bodyguard for visiting celebrities.

    “I looked after Tiger Woods when he got married here, the Versace family, lots of em,” he says, shifting his bulk behind the wheel. “Good work and nice. Sunglasses on day an’ night!” And in hotel spas the therapists are enjoyably forthcoming about everything from spoilt rich clients — “I had one woman on her phone yelling at someone in New York while I massaged her!” — to the problem of yob monkeys: “If you throw something at them for taking fruit from your garden they’ll shake every piece of fruit from the tree, leave it on the ground and just give you this bad look. It’s as if to say, don’t mess with us, OK?”

    Barbados has its drawbacks, of course. The island is just 21 miles long by 14, and although green fields of sugarcane and cotton still run for miles inland, it has become very built-up along the south and south-west coasts. There are some ugly new buildings going up, such as the ludicrous The Sands condominiums, which look like a high-rise White House, utterly out of place. And, with a few exceptions, the beaches are nothing special.

    The loveliest are the great deserted stretches on the Atlantic side of the island, the wild east coast, but there’s a reason this stretch remains undeveloped: the currents are frightening. The best beach is on the south coast, below the Crane Beach Hotel, where a lift takes you down the cliffside to the most glorious bay of pale, firm, surf-slapped sand. On the west coast, though, where most of the hotels are located, the beaches are mostly little more than a narrow strip of sand.

    Although the dollar exchange rate works well in our favour, local prices have risen markedly since I last came, six years ago. In restaurants, the catch of the day is routinely about £15 a head now, for instance. “Even coconut water sold at the side of the road is $16 now [about £4]. It was half that five years ago,” sighs another taxi-driver. “I don’t know what the world’s comin’ to.”

    But the pluses far outweigh the minuses. The people are a joy. There are excellent places to stay. Food can be sensational (hugely improved, recently). There is much more to do than elsewhere in the Caribbean. Really good supermarkets make it easy to self-cater. Everything works. And if you’re looking for somewhere to go for an autumn holiday, the coming months are also when you find the lowest prices of the year.

    The reason is that it’s hurricane season, when prices fall throughout the islands. Being so southerly and on the very eastern edge of the Caribbean, however, Barbados is rarely affected by anything more than the odd storm and rain at this time of year. The last hurricane hit it in 1955.

  47. Avatar
    Anonymous

    There’s nothing in the article to be proud about. It sounds stupid to me. The sweet little natives cliche all over again.

  48. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    HOLD STRAIN! ‘FEAR NOT!’

    That was the plea from Prime Minister David Thompson yesterday to the impatient faithful of his seven-month-old Democratic Labour Party Government.

    Eschewing traditional policy pronouncements at party conventions – which he said would come from a more politically neutral setting over the next few weeks and months – Thompson, in his near hour-long presentation, recalled his controversial “fatted calf” comments at the DLP’s 45th conference in 2000.

    “The fatted calf under David Thompson’s watch will be slaughtered and shared among those of you who have stood this course,” he had said then. “The fatted calf will be slaughtered and shared among those of you who have fought the battles and who will have won for us a glorious victory at the polls.”

    Yesterday, on the final day of the 53rd annual conference – the first since the DLP’s victory in the January 15 election ending 14 years of Barbados Labour Party rule, the packed George Street Auditorium was in a celebratory and self-congratulatory mood, and Thompson said both he and they knew what he meant in 2000.

    “I meant it then and I mean it today when I say to you, the architects of this victory, fear not!” he told the clamant, cheering and clapping throng.

    Thompson, insisting that he would not be rushed, acknowledged, however, that many Barbadians had been disenfranchised over the years for their association with, or known support for, the DLP.

    “Today, I lay open the doors of opportunity and say to you, ‘Come in from the cold. All will be well’,” he declared.

    The DLP boss said he took very seriously the mandate given by the people, and while he knew of supporters’ expectations and desires “I also know there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things”.

    “I do not want to perpetuate the same wrongs that I criticised the former Government of committing,” he said. “There must be structures and procedures. There must be transparency and accountability. I am very concerned about the issue of governance in this country.”

    Thompson said his record would suggest he was first and foremost a politician, who understood what it took to survive in politics.

    “I am living testimony of that,” he added. “But I will not turn Barbados into a banana republic. I will not tear down or undermine the structures and systems that we hold dear.

    “Either there is good governance or there is no governance at all. I do not pretend to know everything, but what I do know is that one can achieve political objectives without undermining administrative systems and structures that have evolved for over 300 years.

    “My simple message to you, therefore, is hold strain!” Thompson declared.

  49. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON has defended the appointment of Barbadian-born regional political strategist Hartley Henry as his principal political advisor.

    Against the backdrop of persistent Opposition questions about Henry’s role and remuneration, Thompson said he could have sought to get around the system but chose to go to the public.

    “The former administration had about 30 – and I am still counting – so-called ‘consultants’ who did from nothing right down to next-to-nothing,” he told the packed George Street Auditorium on the final day of the DLP’s 53rd annual conference yesterday.

    “Owen Arthur had his every political friend and crony on the payroll of the Government in some imaginative way or the other. I made one open, above-board, appointment and that has the Leader of the Opposition [Mia Mottley] asking me questions every time I go to Parliament.”

    Thompson said the problem in the DLP was that while some members failed to analyse events and Government’s policies, “the other side sees clearly the ramifications of such an appointment and is doing everything in its power to frustrate that individual”.

    “As Prime Minister, appointed on the basis of having led a political party to victory in an election,” he added, “I am as entitled to bureaucratic support as I am to political support.

    “Given the mess that was left for us by the previous administration, I anticipated that the job of administering the affairs of Government would be demanding and would be all-consuming.

    “That is why I created a balance by introducing a political component the remit of which is to ensure the political correctness of the Government at most times, if not at all times,” he said.

    At the start of his near hour-long presentation, Thompson paused to present Henry with the President’s Award for his outstanding contribution to the party, especially in securing the January 15 general election.

  50. Wishing In Vain Avatar
    Wishing In Vain

    Barbados in good hands

    BARBADIANS have voted for change and can expect the best from their new Government.

    This from Prime Minister David Thompson, who was addressing a large crowd of delegates at the Democratic Labour Partys 53rd Annual Conference yesterday at DLP Headquarters.

    The signals were there that the time for change, the Prime Minister insisted, was approaching. “The people of this country, soon after the 2003 general election, grew tired of the talk. They stopped listening. They stopped hoping. They lost their confidence in the system. They know that what former Ministers said on television, night after night, was not the agenda that they would follow the next morning. Barbadians came to the point over the last five years when they did not want to hear of any new housing ventures, because they knew that none that would benefit them would be forthcoming.”

    The indication was given that the Government would be moving ahead with the articulation of its policies. “The policies we are pursuing and which we shall amend from time to time will be shared with all Barbadians from a more politically neutral setting over the course of the next few weeks and months. What I want to say to Comrades attending this Conference today is that I am looking to you for your support, your understanding and your inspiration.”

    It was also stressed that there was a right and wrong way to handle situations and this was why Government was intent on taking the right track and would do so carefully with thought. “There must be structures and procedures. There must be transparency and accountability. I am very concerned about the issue of governance in this country. I am mortified each day to learn of the manner in which decisions were taken by the former administration … I understand what it takes to survive in politics. I am living testimony of that. But I will not turn Barbados into a Banana Republic. I will not tear down or undermine the structures and systems that we hold dear. There is either good governance or there is no governance at all.”

    Those who serve on Boards were charged to ensure that they follow the right path. “I want you to follow the manifesto promises of this party. I want you to implement the policies of this Government. I want you to take time and learn the rules and regulations that govern your operations. If you take the time to learn how, you will discover that what is easier to implement and administer than you think. Determine what you want to do and take time out to learn and understand how it can and ought to be done. But do not allow anyone, and I mean anyone, to pressure you into acting in a manner that is not consistent with the rule of law or accepted administrative procedure”

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