Many reasons exist why Barbadians today need to “VOTE BLP” in the next general election soon to come. The current DLP is “slowly killing Barbados” from top to bottom and we cannot survive another term of inaction on key national challenges. The DLP simply (1) lack innovative thinking and know-how in key leadership positions, (2) simply lack a fiscal and economic vision for Barbados at this critical time, (3) simply lack the inability to reduce spending and grow national revenues, (4) simply lack effective leadership and governance coming from the PM daily and other key government ministers, just to mention a few key shortcoming.
Our current PM remains “MISSING IN ACTION” on key issues facing Barbados and refuses to speak to the Bajan people, and when he does speak pure non-sense comes out, then he disappears again to read “PLATO” under a guava tree, while Bajan families are struggling “DAILY”.
So let’s BU take a walk back down history lane …. 2007 was the year … and let me tell you a few reasons why “THE BLP is BEST for Barbados at this CRITICAL time in our national history”. “ The BLP has RESCUED, REBUILT, and RESTORED Barbados before and WE CAN AND WILL DO IT AGAIN”
JOBS: In 1994 more than 32, 000 of the 132,000 work force could not find jobs. This included 17,000 of the 64,200 females in the labour force. The BLP back then changed the state of the game with innovative thinking and hard work that spurred investor confidence, leading to the creation of more than 30,500 jobs — as promised.
FOREIGN RESERVES: Foreign reserves were $2.2 billion, Enough to cover imports for 35 weeks. and our dollar is WAS secured.
GOVERNEMNT POLICIES: BLP’s policies led to sustained growth in the tourism and services sectors, which in turn generated significant foreign exchange.
ATTRACTING FOREIGN INVESTMENT: In 1993 the BLP attracted overall investment in Barbados was $419.8 million.
INCOME TAXES: Since 2003, 26,000 persons no longer pay Income.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION: Former UN Secretary General Dr. Kofi Annan described Barbados as a nation punching above its weight.
POVERTY: In 2007, the United Nations declared Barbados the number one developing country in eradicating Poverty.
TAX RATES: Small business tax rate reduced from 25% to 15%.
EXPORTS: Domestic exports from the manufacturing sector jumped 49.2 %: from $329.4 million in 2003 to $491.6 in 2006.
DEPOSITS: In 1993, total deposits $1.9 billion In 2003 total deposits $ 7.3 billion
LOCAL INVESTORS: Local investors, brimming with renewed confidence in the economy, injected millions in housing development; the upgrade of physical plant in the distributive and retail sectors.
NIS: Increased the NIS contribution rate by one per cent of insurable earnings each year for four years, shared equally by employee and employer. The NIS retirement age for unreduced pension was raised by six months every four years, starting in 2006 until age 67 is reached in the year 2018. Flexible NIS retirement ages were introduced so that in due course persons may retire on an NIS pension at any age from 60 to 70 years. These changes have resulted in an improved NIS scheme that will ensure that all Barbadians have access to its many benefits when they do retire.
LOANS: BLP provided 319 persons with $3 million in loans for projects ranging from retailing and food services to cosmetology and craft under the Urban Enterprise Loan Fund.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: BLP subsidized the purchase of house lots where the tenant paid $2.50 per square foot while the landlord was given free market price. It is expected that in total over 5000 households will benefit.
YOUTH TRAINING: 10,474 persons benefited from programmes to train youth in leadership, information technology, marketing and accounting.
TOURISM: The Tourism Development Act has facilitated more than $2 billion in actual new investment, with a further $4 billion pledged.
In closing:
Now I know the “KOOLAID” and “EVERYTHING IS OK” propaganda the DLP is serving Bajans is real sweet and blames everything on the global recession. However what the current DLP “CANNOT” blame on the global recession as I have said is the: (1) lack innovative thinking and know-how in key leadership positions, (2) lack a fiscal and economic vision for Barbados at this critical time, (3) lack the inability to reduce spending and grow national revenues, (4) lack effective leadership and governance coming from the PM daily and other key government ministers, just again to mention a few key shortcomings.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.