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the Blog above is from Just Only Asking and should also be addressed to at thoughts.
With regard to affordability, if you go to the Internet and pull up a mortgage calculator, a 100,000 mortgage, assume 5% equity i.e. a bank loan of $95,000, the repayment is about $600.00 per month assuming a rate of 6.5%.
A look at the Central Bank reports from 2010 to April 2011 shows an increase in mortgages for private dwellings from 1.51 billion to 1.65 a net increase of about 145 million between January and April 2011.
So,mr.asking,
If it is the mature voter who constantly goes out to vote, obviously along party lines, who do you think makes the difference? What was the change in voter turnout in ’08? Waste of time arguing with you…If you were so highly trained in deciphering English try to make sense of this: first time I ever voted in my life was 2008 for the Democratic Labour Party. NEVER EVER voted for the BLP. My MP is a cool guy and communicates well!! I say again to you be careful how you marginalise people. So I am not writing like 25 huh, you think all of us are dumb?? You have a good day.
Thoughts
You tell me, i have not seen the statistics, and by the way tell me whatt percentage of young people voted in the last election, you research it and tell me. Futher, it is the floating voter wo decides the election and that can inlude mature and young people. When you disaggregate the data you should be able to tell me the % of young people who voted, Further, you can go back a few elctions and see if there is a pattern of high turnout among the youth.
What I can assure you, is that every member of my immediate family voted in the last elections and in prevoius elections. We have socialised them it is their civic responsibility and the only time anyone dont vote is if he or she is out of the country
Cleary you have a problem with self esteem. No where did i refer to you as dumb. I only resort to such beviour if i am called names. I have a right to put my point of view and you yours. I dont really care who you voted for, remember these are my point of view so you have a choice to vote d or b or dont vote at all, although i would suggest that you vote .
I have voted in every election from 1981 and the reason why i did not vote in 76, my first time to vote, was i left the county to study August 30 and elections were called for i think september 07. I was real disappointed.
If you cant stand the heat stay out of the kitchen. Dont expect to be treated with kidsgloves on this site. You must be prepared to defend your position, This site has the rought and tumble and the mild. You should not be concerned with how i think about you prespective, but be man enough to respond to me in a way that will make me rereat if your argument is sound.
Have a wonderful day and harden up. David will tell you that there are people who have attacked one another like savages on this site. I only staarted blogging about three months ago. One thing David will tell you that I have attacked his postion and we eventaully agree to disagrre with no ill feelingsW
“There are times when the young person are mobilised on an issues, but in general they are the hardest category of persons to persusde to go out and vote.”
So true!
I had this conversation with a very seasoned political campaigner recently. He told me the very same thing. This is a man who was campaigning since the 1960’s.
weary baje
“How many persons working for $400 or less can qualify for a mortgage to buy one of those starter home that cost in excess of $100 000?”
I would risk a bet that you own a home.
However you and the other BLP supporters on this blog are doing your utmost to disuade other Bajans from taking hold of a first class opportunity to own their first home.
You Barbados Labour Party people are just plain SICK.
You reached the top of the ladder and now its your intention to kick it down.
I think what we are looking at here is classism at its worse!
TELL ME WHY
“Carson. How about purchasing one of those Coverley houses for your University daughter?”
I have already told my daughter about the Govt.housing programs.
PRETTY BLUE EYES
The old people had a saying:
” I rather your room than your company”, that applies nicely to you . Pick sense from that.
i dont know why some people are claiming to be the youth when they dont have ah clue how the so many young people voted last election,well let me tell some of u why some of de young voted, and i speak only for the ones living down by me in what some of u would called de gettho, or would not even drink 2 beers down here or tek ah short cut down this side to get to de main road ,first de youtes did like de HON David Thompson when we go to we shows and fetes he was always there and would blend in nice even if we were smoking we thing in de back could not say de same thing fa Owen ya would never see he round nutting so plus we were told he sells off to de rich and got cost of living high ,and round election time de D’s give we 2 FREE and nice reggae shows first time that ever happen so they said we fa he ,he like wha we like! so some of de youth remember i only speaking for de ones down by me had this thing in mind that when de D’s come to power they gine really look out for getto people and so said de ones on de block that knows nothing about voting or politics and dont real care; and after getting some 100’s and 50’s and long necks to drink give up ah right that black people fought hard and died for, fa lil change and de impression that them gine get to smoke cause de new PM is ah irie man dem even say “man he driver is ah dread” so de preasure gine ease up lil bit cause he understand we way of life ,so they got up and voted ah lot of them for the very first time,remember i only speaking for de ones i know and what i have written is ah fact ask de block boys ,REAL THING .
Sometime i am amazed at what come from some of the fingers on this blog. Barbadians have a penchant for house ownership. The govt is trying is darnest to provide more barbadians with an opportunity to own their homes, and this action is being citicized such as; the houses are too small and they dont worth what is being charged.
If people think that they can get the same size house on the open market cheaper they have a choice. Sorry opp0rtunities like that were not around when i built my house. The problem with some of us, we have acqired a taste for expensive things even thugh we have money in our pockets that can only acquree a bottle of maughby. Whats wrong with having a small house and expanding as your economic means improve. In my mother days she used to add on a romm to the little old house as she accumalated a little money from selling the stocks(not the one in companies) that is the animlas, or from selling in fairchild stree market, or walking through bellville and town selling the cooked the sea eggs. Now we want every thing instantly, We dont want to make the sacrifice.
Another thing houses will appear small when you have overpwering equipment, and furniture to squeeze into them.
@Island Gal
You know me and you like the fowl pen, but dont mind carson go ahaead and doante the roofing to whoever you can. We need more people to be our brother’s keeper and help the less fortunate when they can. I do from time to time.
@Bonny Peppa
Wait you like you gone dead, i aaint hear from you yah fah a while now. Yah betta come back to life.
.
This post started on the poor quality of housing.
The DLP seems to have made an effort to deliver on their election pledge to produce housing. Looking at the prices given by “Not Fooled” above, the costs they are building the developments for are not unreasonable. Greens, St George works out at around $175/square foot (excluding land), which looks about right for a development like this.
There are certainly questions you could ask about the delivery of these developments. For instance, what is happening at Constant? It has seemingly come to pretty much of a halt on site, perhaps because the contractor is from memory, CLICO builders. Not the best known contractor in Barbados. In fact, I don’t know of anything else they have ever built. You have to ask how they were selected and why they didn’t give the job to someone who could deliver.
You could also question the allocation of units. Ester Byer-Suckoo’s statement the other day, in response to the accusation by Mia Mottley that several of the few units occupied at Greens were housing DLP supporters, failed to clear the air. Ms Byer-Suckoo was quoted as saying that she “has pulled no strings nor has given any “special favours””. That, in the humble opinion of this non-politician, is not good enough. Ms Byer-Suckoo has not answered the main substance of the allegation, which is that that amongst the residents are the constituency assistant to the MP and the former DLP branch secretary for St George South.
The two may be the most appropriately qualified to get units, but it strains credibility that just by coincidence, they were the best qualified and both got units without pressure being applied somewhere. It would be entirely possible to tell us who applied for these units, when, and how they were allocated, but I guess that we will never be told this information. We are left instead with a nasty smell.
The point of this rather long post, though, is this. The majority of the new housing programme seems to be aimed at middle class Bajans who will buy the units at a subsidised price, $5/square foot being far less than the market price of the land.
I have no problem with Government helping people get a foot on the housing ladder but I question whether the allocation of funding is correct between the Government middle class new build housing like Greens and the spend on renovation of poor quality old housing (like in the film clip).
If one Greens house costs $160,000 to build, how many poorly maintained old houses could you get back into a decent condition for the same cost? 10? 15?
Is it better to get 1 middle class Bajan on the housing ladder, or to put 15 poor people in decent housing?
I don’t know the answer but I think it needs to be debated as I am not sure we have it right at the moment.
@ just only asking.
The average Bajan aspires to ownership of a mansion. Some have chosen to rent a 2500 sq.ft house rather than buy a 1200 sq. ft house.
Even now at my advanced age of 59 I would rather live in the chattel house I grew up in.
That house was a home.
under wear at it again i see
Kudos to the BLP to get BU which is arguably the most popular blog in the island to run a campaign ad for them which targets the Minister who is seen as one of the most able Ministers in Gov’t. If the BLP wants to criticize the Housing policies per se then it is grist for the mill but to focus on St. Philip North and some poor residents who live in dilapidated houses is taking dishonesty to a new low..
I can go to every constituency in Barbados and find houses in similar condition, should the MP who represents the area be responsible for ensuring that all of these homes be upgraded to an acceptable level? If it is expected that a Gov’t Minister provide adequate housing for every resident in his constituency what is his responsibility for other citizens who live in constituencies whose representative is a Member of the Opposition Party?
The campaign ad mentions flooding which has occurred in the district and concludes that the Minister hasn’t rectified the problem. If they are busy looking for people to blame for not doing anything about flooding how come Owen Arthur’s constituency is not immune from flooding? Arthur was PM for 14 years why didn’t he summon all the experts at his disposal to ensure that his constituents did not suffer from any flood related problems? Does anyone remember what happened in St. Peter as recently as March and April?
The campaign ad confirms my opinion that the BLP takes the voters of this island to be unintelligent and not far removed from “corn beef and biscuit” politics.
@Sarge
Our position is consistent, place whatever under the microscope and let the chips fall wherever.
In this case it is evident the video by Weir has backfired somewhat.
Yes we have some needy folks in St. Philip North but comparatively speaking Minister doesn’t have a real case to answer.
Consistent with what? I wouldn’t mind if the ad was inserted into a story about Housing as a comment, but you provided it with a heading of its own and invited feed back. You commented that it was a disgrace for such housing to exist in St. Philip North in 2011. The substandard housing in St. Philip North does not exist in a vacuum, it exists all over the island.
You provided Weir and the BLP with the veneer of compassion, a most lamentable effort on your part.
@DAVID
SO you have agreed with me that the Minister has no case to answer. i said so very early and as you would recalled i said the word disgrace was, in a nutshell not appropately used.
@Sargeant
I agree with you. Sometimes David will pull one hoping to get away with it.
As usual everybody has a political axe to grind.The compassion shouldbe for the people living under those horrendous cicumstances and not for anyone party or political person..The condition of those houses did not happen overnight and both political paries ar equally guity for not doing something about it.The message in the video is clear. Those who have eyes to see “Let them see” Those who have ears to hear”Let them hear”
@ac
You are correct, we always want to frame our arguments along the political lines. If the video caused Lashley and Urban to tweak policy we are satisfied. caused Lashley and Urban to tweak policy we are satisfied.
I would have thought that the churches all over Barbados that start off with a tent and end with one huge building could have used part thereof of their takings from all the humble and poor who give them their last cent to go around and ensure that their parishioners have a proper roof over their heads. I understand about politicians, but I do not understand about so-called men of God turning a blind eye, living the life of Riley, driving around in big car and collecting monies every week seemingly to keep their lifestyle going…..Church for thought???
Inda Wear
Waittttttt, you now learn how ta use a camcorda? stupseeeeeee. ya shood be shameeeeeee. Den again , ya in got nun. Shame on you.
Michael Lashley
Ya doin a grate job. doan mind de detracktors. Keep up de fight.
(I would like ta meet ya one a dese daze. Name de place)
Bonny, we haven’t spoken for a long time. There is something over at Barbados Free Press that would definitely interest you. As a matter of fact, it would please your heart.
Go there and check out that “Boston Crab” position that dey put you boy Donville Inniss in, with that website called “ORGASM.COM”.
Truthman
Tanks, but I doan ‘visit’ dem places. If um in pun BU, sorry.
@Bonny Peppa
Wait you like went to sleep for age. You really repond to truthman. He cant cause Donville any discomfort so rebuke he in the name of Jesus amen.
I tell you stop druling over them politicians and tall men. Try and dont disappear fuh so long next time.
Truthman
I rebuke you in Jesus name, Amen.
Just only asking
LOL
I rebuke he in Jesus name, Amen. AAighttttttttt?
Listen, I luv Donville n Estwick bad, bad, baddddddddd. ya cud add Freundel ta de list tu.De day or de hour I evva get close ta Donville, he gun be rale sorry he din meet me soona ya kno. I jus luv dem sexy, dreamy eyez dat he got man. I cud jus imagin he ‘gettin it on’ man. Evrybody dat kn me does call he ‘my’ man. I knowz good stuff when i see um. LOLL
But serious doe, dat pissy rat Indra Ware not get access ta a camcorda? Wah gawwww bleahhhhhhhhhh, he is a rale puss-cee fa tru. stupseeeeeee.
I gun disappear bout de nex tree weeks from now. N.Y bong. Me n de lil picknee.
Jus only Asking
You does folla de Crop-Ova chunes?
Rite now my fav’rit chune is:
‘Ben-ova n doan look back, ben ova n doan look back’.
Dah chune rale swoiteeeeeee. I try doing um de udda day. Ah mean de ben ova n doan look back. When I try ta straiten up my back, um creaks like a ol door. My lil whuns had ta rub me dong wid musterole n candle-greese.
So na mo ‘bennin ova n doan look back” fa me bosey. I gun jess lissen n tap ma foot.
Hola Bonny, yuh ole wutless ting yuh, I taut yuh did over an away ahreddy. Well yuh aint gine hear but yuh gine feel wukking up tah dem calypsos. Yuh betta request a wheel chair at de airport. Hav a gud vacciones.
Well Bonny
I gun soo be on a plane going real far far a msut gun reach day in a day and a half, so when you get back i gun now be coming back. i glad that you at yah witty self agiin.
so mek sure yah anjoy yah self, i prepaaring fah jump in a crop over band ah aint jump fah ion, and come september ah gine fah labour day. ah anjoying mah self cause yah aint no how long yah ot to live. next time ah see donville ah gun put in a word fah yah, but wait though. I though you only like tallie, donville is a shortie,
Enjoy yah vacation and carry long yah musterrol and yah bejies and little epson salt bosie.,
As for indar weir, he should try something different. I think it backfired on him.
i am shocked and saddened that our people still live like this, when it does NOT have to be. the minister of housing has but won’t explain why st ph.N is the way it is. i spoke to an officer at NHC last week and he was lamenting the travesty of what happened to Coverley, he said 500 hundred persons who really needed housing, in one swoop were disadvantaged. there was no way that NHC should have handed that project over to Jada…no way…sad indeed. i sincerely hope that those people in St Ph N could get all the help they need..shameful
@islandgal246 | June 26, 2011 at 9:34 AM |
“What has happened to the poverty alleviation fund? Is there one?”
there is no longer a poverty alleviation bureau. all its officers were mainstreamed into the ministry of social care. if people such as those in the video need help, it is thru social care, who would then utilized the other agencies which would have been rural development but now,. rural is no longer under social care so i don’t guess the people would have to apply thru that new ministry (kellman’s ministry). when Sinckler was Minister of Social Care many persons got there houses repaired or new houses. some costing as much as or about $60,000. i don’t know what kind of help the housing minister was doing then, but Sinckler took care of his end. i think those people too should see Todd who I am told does little talk but alot of action, at least he is one of the good ones along with Sinckler
@just only asking | June 26, 2011 at 10:25 AM |
“Are you aware that there is a grant of ten thousand dollars that home owners can get to repair their homes…”
u were making good progress until u mentioned the grant. u can check for urself and see the numerous stipulations that are attached to the grant. i will mentioned just one. “u must show proof that u have been approved for a loan for renovations to the house”.
for heaven’s sake how can an unemployed individual be approved for a loan when they have no income to repay it? that stipulation alone has knocked out many, many poor people and even if some were working, do u think the bank will give them a loan knowing that their income cannot cover it?
it is all well and good to throw out those things but check and tell me how much of those unemployed persons that need their house repaired and cannot afford a loan, got the $10,000 grant?
@smooth chocolate: “it is all well and good to throw out those things but check and tell me how much of those unemployed persons that need their house repaired and cannot afford a loan, got the $10,000 grant?
Please help me understand this…
A grant (by definition, a gift) will only be given to those who are able to be underwritten for a loan?
That sounds a little fscked up to me….
i don’t know why people are making out as if the michael lashley did such and such. and jack donkey knows that what has come to fruition in terms of housing projects, had their genesis during the BLP’s reign. there was an election, they lost but the DLP took up the mantle as it was something the bajan public needed. i cannot believe that u mature adults still think that when a party brings something to the table, that it was they who planted the seed. man grow up, why not ask someone u think u trust at the NHC, what year those projects began? even with the Drug service, patient paying for meds. issue, that started with Jerome Walcott but changed of government put a halt to it and the same BLP had the public believing the DLP started something to the detriment of the public. i have no political pundits, i care for none but open ur eyes people, Lashley came and took credit for something that was an embryo from the BLP. but as i see it now, he messed it up.. it seems to me that the very people who should be getting assistance are as usual being left behind. We should be our brother’s keeper, we should want to see the poor man relieved of his suffering. all i am seeing are those who have, seeking any which way to get more at the expense of the poor.
do u think that people should be living under those conditions in the video? yes the BLP had 14 years and had things on paper only. while the grass was growing, the horses were starving. the DLP are doing the very same thing now.
every damn thing in barbados has to be BLP, DLP, i am sick to my stomach of that crap. which ever party is in power, comes and robs this people and no one helps. they look to grab as much as possible, knowing their time could be short. look at the homes gline clarke has, the apartments by mia, liz etc, muscle mary and i could go on. now look are the ones the some in the DLP have that they did not acquire before 2008. all at the expense of we the people
Smooth Chocolate
You are so right, I’ve been trying to say for a long time both parties are playing a relay race with usa the public, one party run a few legs then pass the baton on to the other. At the end they all get in the back room and boost about how much each of them get out of the voters. Imagine the road in Duncans where the Transport Board bus traverse after dark at night, that road has pockets of PAVED road in the POTHOLES. Some of these potholes are sooooo deep that an average car driving slowly can damage the undercarriage of the vehicle, pedestrians have to walk off road at some areas to avoid the LAKES that are formed when the rain falls, I’m sure Mr Lashley don’t pass through there.
Christopher Halsall | July 31, 2011 at 6:45 PM |
” tell me how much of those unemployed persons that need their house repaired and cannot afford a loan, got the $10,000 grant?”
That’s the point i was trying to make, the money is there as a grant but those stipulations would hinder those who really need it. to answer ur question, NONE can qualify for the grant. i think that it was a wicked and malicious clause to put in there… the ones who that money was approved for will be the ones who cannot get it because some jack fool at the NHC decided that they should not get free money and if he had to work for his, then they should too
the Scout | July 31, 2011 at 8:39 PM |
no michael lashley will not pass thru there. it’s no profit to him now but he certainly will if he had too in 2013
sorry, correction “,,,he certainly will if he had to in 2013”
Wouldn’t it make more sense to build apartment buildings ? Would not more people be accomodated on less land (thereby freeing up land for the production of food and other ventures)?Wouldn’t it be cheaper per unit both in terms of materials and time taken ? Wouldn’t it be better in terms of upkeep especially for the elderly,disabled and even the lazy who never make proper use of the land upon which these starter/smaller homes are built ? Would it not make it more difficult for greedy surviving relatives to come forward making claims on property because the newly repaired house, repaired at tax-payers expense,now has a few of the old boards from the previously dilapidated old house etc. etc.Isn’t it time to save time and money by building “up” and not “out”? Think about it !
@ Pieter Pieper,
Apartment buildings higher than 3 stories require elevators, laundry rooms garbage disposal, sprinklers and fire hoses etc.
This type of housing should be built for the “upwardly mobile” who can afford to pay 2 or 3 thousand a month for housing.
IMHO It would also be better to have built luxury (5000 sq.ft.) high rise condos at Apes Hill and Royal Westmoreland instead of houses on 1 acre lots.
Your idea is a good one even for low income people but good maintenance and security is paramount.
Pieter Piper
I agree with you, we need more buildings like the London Bourne Towers, or the Country Road Towers. It would have made more sense to build a number of these at Coverley and some of the other areas where a large number of ” fowl coups” have been built. More land would have been freed up for other projects, like agriculture while giving a more open air atmosphere.
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