ROK said….

In doing some recent research in low income communities, it was found that the unemployment rate in these communities range from 33% – 47%. You know what that makes those declared central bank figures?”

ok then ROK tell us what does that make the declared central bank figures?

I NEVER said that there weren’t pockets of unemployment, you seem to be implying that because there are, the Central Bank figures are wrong and not just wrong but deliberately so.

Or perhaps I’ve misinterpreted you….

Brafit now win Babados firs’ World Championship eva’
AAAAAAAAAAghhhhhhhhhhhh

@Donald Duck Esq.

“Wake up and realise that we do live in paradise but not a fool’s paradise.”

I don’t know where you are insulated but we cannot be said to be living in no paradise. Paradise for you; hell for a lot of others.

I wonder how much you know about what Government departs delivering social services do? If you have constituency councils delivering programmes, it lessens the work of departments like community development.

If these councils organise Crop-Over events, this lessens the burden on the NCF. For the Welfare Department it may mean an increase in efficiency because the CCs could identify and assist applicants with the procedures.

In terms of Training, this would greatly assist the Skills Training programme who have waiting lists that stretch to as much as 1500 persons for one course.

Any Government Department that requires information on a community could save lots of time by having access to data from the CCs.

Of course, there are other ways that the CCs could save many Government Departments. Offhand, The Ministry of Education, Ministry of the environment, Ministry of Health, ministry of Family, Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Youth and the list goes on.

Not to mention how much assistance they will be to NGOs that want to do outreach programmes in the community or disseminate information and literature about critical issues.

@ROK
“In doing some recent research in low income communities, it was found that the unemployment rate in these communities range from 33% – 47%. You know what that makes those declared central bank figures?” AND
“The difference lies in the analysis. Note that I am not disputing the statistics. What I am saying is that the demographics matter. To dismiss a national percentage on unemployment as not a problem depends on how the unemployed are distributed in a country. If every community had only say 10% unemployed, the net effect on crime would be rather different”[First, you let a pregnant question anc could have helped by answering. Of course, demographic matter. But who has said that 10% unemployment is not a problem? Can you offer a statement to that effect or are you deducing that from other things?

Unemployment at any level is a problem at the very least for those without a job.

I do not accept that there is a notion that high unemployment-taking the 10%-has been seen as NOT a problem.

The issue is what can be done to mitigate or overcome that situation. There we can argue as many options as there are participants. For each umeployed person we may want to believe that he/she will say give me a job and I will be happy, but it will not be that simple. Much flows from being unemployed (income, status, self perception, and more). Much comes from employment (not necessarily the opposites as when unemployed; low income work may leave people worse off than before, depending on welfare systems.)

We could have a very long discussion.

Where does former PM Arthur real talent lie? Is it in Economics or in Politics?

There is no evidence to support the belief that Owen is a great economist.

A great politician and speech writer, but certainly not a great economist , not even by Caribbean standards.

Anonymous,
Haw, haw, you lie. I thought so too. Wah I always hear dat he is a good economist. Stupseeeeee, I doan believe you. You pullin my legs.

Anon / Cadres,
Take the President’s foolish advice, hear?
The operative word here is ‘foolish’.

I know ya gun ‘buse me stink now, but I doan k.
Bring it on, Croakey. Croak, croakkkkk.

I think Inkwell hit the nail on the head in the 9.16 am blog.

My opinion is that Mr. Owen Arthur was a Prime Minister. Respect is due.

Sometimes I think we get to wrapped up in whose B or whose D. Take the politics out of it for a moment. Let’s face it if someone at your work place told you you was a disaster, can’t do your job, you’re incompetent and laughed at you. In the next breath their in trouble and ask you for help are you really going to turn round and help them. I suspect very few people would……

That aside my opinion is that the Prime Minister should have invited Mr. Arthur properly to attend the breakfast meeting.

To be honest I miss Mr. Arthur from the political scene. It was so much more entertaining and interesting in his day. When he spoke he captured your attention, you listened, he was convincing and left you with the feeling of confidence. He also gave the impression of being down to earth and using opportunites like shopping at Warrens to be among the people.

The DLP are in power, they are no longer the opposition. The people put them there to do a job They should be confident and stop wasting time criticizing the BLP for their time in charge. That is what you do when your in opposition and they don’t have time for that. There’s more important things to do.

The country is in recession it’s time to step up to the plate, roll up your sleeves and start working. It is not a game, peoples lives are at stake.

Donald Duck Esq. asked some good questions, that need answering. The fact that these questions need to be asked on a blog is worrying and means that all those controlled television interviews with the PM etc. are not working.

At the end of the day, bajans can pryde themselves of stable governance, irrespective of whichever party is in power. The changing of the guard is as smooth as a well oiled marathon team, the takeover is flawless, I hope we can keep it that way.I respect ALL leaders of Barbados> As I said before, no matter what they do, at the end of the day too many partisan bajans only see a half empty glass, because they dwell on the negative. Barbados is respected internationally because of our many years of continued government stability. Unless it is a holiday, a tourist coming to this country the day after general elections would not know that a new government has taken over the running of Barbados.

Owen Arthur sent the bauxite industry into Jamaica crashing down with the bad advice he gave them in the late 70s and 80s.

No one in in authority in jamaica considers owen arthur a brilliant economist.

The man is a drunken fool,who took the good economic platform left by Sandiford after the sacrifices made by civil servants,and he arthur wasted it away with nuff tiefin for he and his friends like Niccols,shorey and the rest.

Then he catered to the white crowd by selling out the family silver for his piece of cut.
What respect what.

Every single one of the BLP ministers went in there as average middle income people and at the end of the BLP term they were all millionaires.

We are waiting to see what the DLP will do about that.

Remember your platform pledges DLP.

Has happened to the government’s philanthropic intiatives which would enable persons to contribute to charities and get a tax deduction without having to enter into a covenant?

On how the government has done since taking office, it was reported in the Advocate yesterday that Prime Minister David Thompson and his Cabinet had a retreat this week to review their performance during the first 18 months in office. The PM described it as “reasonably good”, but they acknowledge that some areas need more work. It was not reported whether the PM/Cabinet would follow up with a ‘tally sheet’ of pledges/promises made and outcomes. See http://www.caribdaily.com/article/194552/cabinet-takes-retreat-to-examine-first-18-months/

Your comment reference economists and how they think must be tied to when they double as politicians.

I apologize if this seems like a lot of info from one source. One irony of Barbados having done well is that it is no longer eligible for money/assistance that goes to ‘poor/low income countries’. Just food for thought. Look at http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/conflict.htm. Note “Emergency assistance loans are usually quick-disbursing and do not involve adherence to performance criteria.”

So, if Dominica gets whacked by hurricane it can use the facility mentioned. If Barbados gets whacked it cannot.

The expectation of ‘graduating’ is that a country can make its way. If that’s not the case is the world unfair?

WIV

What has the dlp done for the economy since Jan 15, 2008?

For those who are running existing constituency councils tell us what your plans are for running the constituencies you have been given responsibility for. Are all of the constituency councils controlled by dlp members or their associates? Isn’t this a brilliant political ploy for the government?

In the last budget the minister of finance indicated he was very concerned about the deficit. Well what is he doing about it, increasing it even more…!!!

When will he be cutting expenditure and raising taxes?

HELP

Remember of the DLP’s promise of HELP in their manifesto: Remember what they said
“We commit to Housing Every Last Person (HELP). Under such a programme the Democratic Labour Party Government will:

 In the first 100 days of the new DLP administration remove VAT from building materials on houses valued up to $400,000.
 Establish a Home Ownership Revolving Fund for public sector workers, providing interest free loans to appointed public servants with 5 years service who are first time homeowners. This fund will be capitalized with an initial injection of $40 million.
 Provide 500 lots of land in five (5) months at $5 per sq foot for first time homeowners. These lots have been identified and land will be acquired by private treaty where necessary to speed up the process.
 Provide 2,500 house spots for sale to low and middle income wage earners in the first term of a DLP government.
 Commit to building 2,000 housing solutions per year in the first term of a DLP government. These will include rental units, terrace units and starter homes.
 Increase the tax deduction for mortgages to $20,000.00 per year.
 Commit to building and maintaining a pool of rent-to-purchase units for low-income earners, pensioners, and the disabled who may not qualify for mortgages and loans.”

How many of these initiatives have or can be implemented???

Energy policy

Remember the DLP promised to:

 Provide significant incentives to encourage ownership of fuel-efficient vehicles, particularly motor cars.

 Provide incentives for greater use of solar energy in providing the electricity needs of consumers and businesses. The goal is to implement a package of incentives to cover up to 50% of the cost of installing solar electric systems. Barbados is already a leader on solar hot water systems and we are well placed to become a leader in solar electricity as well.

 Create a SMART ENERGY FUND of $10 million to provide low interest loans to households seeking to purchase solar panels to power their homes.

 Introduce a tax rebate for the cost of installing a solar electric system.

 Ensure all new government or government related facilities will be fully fitted with solar electric systems.

 Phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs from all government buildings by 2010 and private households by 2012.

What has happened to these proposals

Part of the DLP’s promise to improve governance was to carry out the following

 Have regular press briefings following meetings of the Cabinet of Barbados
 Hold press briefings by Ministries/Departments to inform Barbadians of major developments and changes
 Publish details of agreements and contracts involving the government and its agencies
 Issue Formal Ministerial statements at regular intervals on the progress of ongoing programmes and projects
 Revise and adhere to the rules regarding Parliamentary questions
 Introduce a policy of formal reporting by parliamentarians to constituents on stewardship and issues affecting the constituencies.

What has become of these plans? As to publishing details of agreements involving the government and its agencies what has become of the details of the terms of reference for the oversight committee appointed y government to oversee the affairs of clico?.

As to parliamentary questions how come none have been answered in this session of parliament?

I sit back and smile at the emptiness of diehard party people. When the DLP lost government in 1994, the worst thing that happened to Barbados was Erskine Saniford, Owen Arthur was THE MAN. This happened for 14 years, then parties changed in the election, now Owen Arthur is the worst thing that happened to Barbados. Lord have mercy Mr David Thompson, PLEASE do your best and forget about the criticism when you’re no longer the P.M.If you resign you will be criticised, if you lose you will be criticised, that’s what I meant when I said earlier that ALL these patriotic P’M’s that Barbados haave had ended up being to the party diehards, a failure, yet Barbados international status continues to rise; I wonder how. Time we grow up and call a spade a spade.

Donald Duck Esq.
Suppose I like de way dah screwing me?
Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Now answer me day Donald, suppose I like de way da screwing me, especially Donville Inniss, Min. of Health?
Doan answer dah now Donald. I gettin hottttttttttttt.

ROK,
I had to mention the good Minister to get your attention and a smoochhhhhhhh.
Dr.Ben’s advice worked for you now it’s working for me. Talk ’bout sweet revenge. Ga long.
mwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, softly in dah right ear.

President,
You memory short too. So now you know dat it is two tings bout you dat short. You memory and you d*^gy.

I cud just hear ya breaving real hard and ‘busing me stink but I-N-K.
Croakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Mr. Frank Da Silva, in his so called guest column in the Weekend Nation, Friday, August 21, 2009, was reported to have said: ” Recognizing the enormous responsibility that rests on the shoulders of ministers, I will be strongly recommending that they consider withdrawing from any party position for which they have been nominated ( notwithstanding what some regard as culture of our party which normally sees ministers being nominated for major posts).”

And he continued: ” This will allow them to focus on their official responsibilities. There is an abundance of talent in the party, today and other members must be allowed to come to the fore.”

” I will NOT be supporting anyone running for party office who has more important ministerial duties to perform”. Taken from the Weekend Nation, Friday, August 21, 2009.

As many people in Barbados would know, Mr. Frank Da Silva is one of the few top figures within the DLP who publicly speaks his mind on many internal DLP issues and many national and sub-national issues. And, we do know that one of the major issues he has been advocating for a fairly long time is for greater integrity and transparency in government.

But, having said so we do NOT know if he has any integrity or credibility on the matter we will now raise given what he is reported to have said in his so-called guest column and which we have so cited above.

While we in the PDC do NOT know who will be running in these internal DLP elections, and by the way it is NOT really our business as to who is running or NOT, we would still like to ask Da Silva if he did NOT know that the Prime Minister has been returned unopposed for the office of President and if he did or did NOT know that he was returned unopposed? And given that the Prime Minister is a Minister with very greater responsibilities if he himself has been preparing to ask him to withdraw from that particular party position? Mr. Da Silva, some of those who read the content of your last column and who would have been reading in the said Weekend Nation newspaper about the fact that the Prime Minister has been returned unopposed might well be wondering about whether you will NOT be prepared to support the Prime Minister given what was published in your column.

We wonder if Mr Da Silva knew that they are DLP ministers who have been seeking to hold party office and based on some of the reasons ( other talents that should be allowed to come to the fore, as many hands must be on deck for elections that are not so far away, blah blah blah) he has put forward in his column as to why they should NOT hold senior administrative office in the party.

Given that Mr. Da Silva raised the issue in his column or elsewhere, we in PDC take it for granted that he has some idea or knowledge of some Minister or Ministers seeking DLP office? Why the heck Mr. Da Silva NOT say in his column who these Ministers are or might be are whyy