Submitted by Phil Collins

Chris Sinckler, Minister of Finance and Senator Darcy Boyce at the centre of the Pierhead dispute

The controversy over the Pierhead Marina and the award of the contract to non-bidder, SMI Infrastructure Solutions (SMI) is well known. For the sake of completeness it should be noted that the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SMI since February 2011 when the Minister of Finance, with much fan fare announced shortly thereafter that construction work on the Marina would commence within 12 months.

Under section 5.0 of the MOU it was agreed that: “SMI will arrange financing through a third party for the work to be done under this MOU”. In other words SMI would be responsible for funding the new Marina design which was being undertaken by its prime marine engineering consultant, W F Baird and Associates.

On Monday 31st October 2011Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited advised the Government of Barbados that it was unable to raise the Bds$40.0 million on behalf of SMI. On the 1st November 2011 the CEO and Chairman of BTI were invited to meet with the Permanent Secretary of Investment in the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Finance, Mr. Chris Sinckler to discuss the situation.

At that meeting the Minister of Finance instructed that the BTI should seek permission from the Government for BTI to borrow Bds$5.0 million dollars from Urban Rehabilitation Programme (URP) despite the fact that SMI was in breach of the MOU in not being able to arrange the funding for the new design work for the Pierhead Marina. This is shocking given that at the date of this directive by the Minister of Finance, SMI had not asked to be loaned any money and everyone knew SMI was in breach of the MOU.

On the 3rd November 2011, not believing it’s luck, SMI made a formal request that the BTI loan it Bds$5.0 million dollars to assist SMI in the immediate funding needs of the Pierhead Marina. This is a new one even for politics in Barbados, money being approved to be loaned to an entity that has not even applied to borrow. It would be laughable if the situation was not so serious.

On the 7th November 2011 the Minister of Finance without the approval of the board of directors of BTI or the Cabinet of Barbados authorized the disbursement of Bds$5.0 million dollars from the URP to SMI on the basis that BTI would identify a source of funding to replace the URP funds used to pay SMI for design work being completed by W F Baird and Associates.

By the 25th day of January, 2012 it had become apparent that SMI had not paid for wave modeling and testing carried out in Ottawa on the new design of the Pierhead Marina and notwithstanding the Bds$5.0 million paid to SMI, the BTI also had to foot this expense.

Around this same time, the board of directors of BTI became aware that despite being loaned Bds$5.0 million dollars, SMI still had not paid money to W F Baird and Associates for the work that company had preformed.
Questions:

  1. Why would the Minister of Finance instruct a loan of money to be made from URP funds to SMI when SMI had not even made a formal request for any money?
  2. When, if ever, was the Cabinet of Barbados asked to approve the use of URP funds as a loan to SMI?
  3. What is the Bds$5 Million for or how was that sum arrived at? Also, why was the Board of Directors of the BTI being asked to approve the loan of Bds$5 Million to SMI in December 2011 when the Minister of Finance had already approved both the loan and the disbursement of the loan from the URP funds and SMI was already in possession of the money.
  4. When the Minister of Finance authorized the disbursement of Bds$5.0 million dollars to SMI had the Cabinet of Barbados agreed that URP funds should be taken up and loaned to SMI, a thinly capitalized company registered in St. Lucia?
  5. Has the BTI or SMI been able to raise the funding for the Pierhead Marina project since SMI has been loaned the money from URP funds?
  6. If the answer to question 4 above is no, then when will the BTI terminate the MOU with SMI or are we to assume that the MOU is just the straw which allows SMI to drain the BTI trough?
  7. Where is the Bds$5.0 million dollars loaned to SMI now, especially given that W F Baird and Associates have not been paid? Also, how was the money paid to SMI, check or wire transfer?
  8. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid by BTI to have the wave modeling and testing done in Ottawa? What else has the BTI paid for that should have, under the terms of the MOU, been paid for by SMI?
  9. When will the Pierhead Marina project commence 2012, 2013 or never?
  10. What is the role of Mia Mottley in the SMI Pierhead Marina project and who is she working for, if anyone?
  11. Whatever did become of that Letter of Comfort issued to SMI by Minister of Finance for the Pierhead Marina project? Which financial institution, if any, is on the letter of comfort?
  12. Who at the Ministry of Finance signed the letter of comfort, was it the Permanent Secretary or was it the Minister of Finance himself?
  13. Why award a half billion dollar contract for a marina project to a company which had not bid, did not have the experience or financial capability and whose principal is a less than reputable character and then turn around give that company Bds$5.0 million dollars for breaching the MOU?
  14. We know Senator Darcy Boyce going on a stand for sure when Owen Arthur regains the Government however the bigger question is will Chris Sinckler be there as well?

See related Link: BTII BOARD PAPER # 11-042 and Apendicies


  1. Intrigue! Intrigue! Intrigue!
    First it was the IMF info that the dead king was supposed to release before an earlier election. Now, could it be the Pegasus Hotel tape?

    Bring it. Pass it to David. Let him publish it. There will be no better time if Sinckler is on the ropes now and you need something to counter the SMI story and where it seems to be heading. Waiting a possible few months until the elections are called will not help matters for Chris and the DLP. Bring it now.

    Those of us who are interested in truth for the country’s sake would like to know so that we would be in the best of positions to cast an X for the best side, or perhaps the one that stinks the less and is more likely to progress Barbados.

    Publish it on BU. I’m sure David would like to have it.


  2. @fractured BLP party
    Let’s say you are right. and owen was the lead culprit on this. He lost office in 2008. This is 2012. We’ve had 2 prime ministers and 2 ministers of finance since, who have collectively continued the “culprit’s” actions and decisions with a comprehensible cohesiveness AND a resolute determination to take errant and ill advised actions all things considered.

    They also now happen to be the government of the day.

    If Chris does have the file and SAT ON IT for how much ever years and then proceeded to be pulled into the web of culpability, I say yes, go ahead, crucify and get rid of Arthur, but at the same time, do the same to the entire Cabinet.

    Which one will it be?

  3. David (not BU) Avatar

    i’m observing that no one may want to deal with this


  4. @ Fractured BLP Party

    Is BTI Inc a lending agency?
    Was this $5m taken from the $6.5m allocated for Cap Ex?
    Would such an act constitute vraiment in breach of the Financial rules? Caswell?


  5. @Fractured BLP Party-
    You hit the nail on the head and the BLP yardfowls should read between the lines of your statement:

    “May I remind that person that Owen did threatened to convene a PAC meeting on the project – THE REAL PROBLEM FOR OWEN, arose when Chris Sinckler told him to BRING ALONG THE FILE ON THE PROJECT !”

    Relax folks and be careful how you spit in the air on this one, your spit will land right in Owen Arthur’s face.


  6. @!

    That BS will not work because as taxpayers and voters we can only react based on info in the public domain.


  7. @!
    Can you guarantee that it will be only his face ???

    Also, the timeline re. solid decision making brings us up to 2009, and in the words of the AG, the “bill validity period expired” in 2007.

    Are you saying that this government was duty bound to follow the “alleged corrupt” decisions and dealings of the past government????


  8. @! | June 13, 2012 at 11:50 AM

    You claim:- . . . .”Relax folks and be careful how you spit in the air on this one, your spit will land right in Owen Arthur’s face.”
    ***************************************************
    So where is the logic in that statement? Is it true or not that the “spit landed right in Owen’s face” quite a few years back? Jan. 16, 2008 to be exact? And is it not a fact that your “BOYS’ Club” has been in charge ever since? So why did they not do something about all the allegations that was bandied about then? Where are the “files that should have been turned over to the DPP to back up all these so called “allegations” about Owen and the BLP government. Man, if we were not in such dire straits I would really have a good laugh but it seems you are a good writer of fiction for the “silver screen” (movies). You seem to be operating on your vivid imagination like “Alice In Wonderland” instead of good old deductions with the use of the BRAIN and being able to come to logical conclusions. BTW, have you decided who will play the “Mad Hatter” in your piece of fiction!

  9. Observing (and disbelieving) Avatar
    Observing (and disbelieving)

    and by the way, God help the great DLP party if they are hinging their electoral victory hopes on charges of “alleged yet unproven corruption” and a “Pegasus tape.”

    I’m almost ashamed.


  10. The stench of corruption follows OSA wherever he goes if it corruptt one can believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that OSA had his paws on it no wonder he is so quiet this man is UNBELIEVABLE! you BLP yardflows better do like OSA and be silent when it comes to corruption


  11. @ac

    At some point you have to rephrase your argument. After fours years nothing except wind from the DLP side. Like observing’s view this argument will not register with the voters come next general election.

    You may recall that the CADRES poll did not register this as an issue. It will be about leadership and the economy.


  12. @ac
    So what do we say when a stench of similar qualities follows some in government?

    or when the constant scent of “broken promises and bold faced lies” follows the man that controls our purse strings?

    and if Owen is quiet what would you say to some of our MINISTERS OF GOVERNMENT who are DUTY BOUND to inform the public???


  13. @ac
    Hon, I must say you have all my sympathies. Why? Because it seems that you are really brain dead. All left to do now is to pull the plug and put you out of your miseries. And, that will happen a few months from now if not before. Froons seems to be a clone of the “Great” Sandi so he may very well act true to form and pull the rug from under DEMS feet sooner than DEMS think, similar to the Sandi caper back in 1994. LOL!


  14. ac

    go from here


  15. @Eric Jerome D
    So why you leff out de res’ o de last name? I thought it was Dickey? 🙂


  16. Richard Sealy’s comment about Liat and having other airlines in Barbados and the Caribbean condemns Freundel Suart and the DLP
    Has anyone heard Sealy’s comment ?
    Very Interesting
    Seems like an attack on his own Government by the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Sealy


  17. “Having to deal with Permanent Secs on a number of occasions it is pointless blaming them for anything. They always act under instruction and NEVER EVER show initiative on policy matters (… unless of course it is to frustrate the effectiveness of a Minister). They are procedural to a flaw. In other words they can stall, but they do not act under their own guidance on matters of public policy. So leff Juanita outa this one … please!”

    i half support your view because the majority of senior public servants must have the blessings of the political establishment to obtain their positions thanks to the iniquitous 1974 constitutional amendments and rather than frustrate the politicians try not to offend them by doing their bidding much to both their detriment.


  18. david (notBU) make me shut my crap! when the drum starts beating one must first look to see who is the drumer

  19. David (not BU) Avatar
    David (not BU)

    ac, you are a joke now. i’m not going to tell you that Owen did not do things that were questionable but how in God’s good world could you try to pin this crap on the man? you are really losing your mind.

    on another note, did anyone hear Colin Jordon’s comments today? the walls are coming down all around Freundel Suart.

  20. Fractured BLP Party Avatar
    Fractured BLP Party

    David of BU,

    Just like you have been pursuing youR other headlines pursue this one until you get to the bottom of it .

    And to those BLPites on this site we in the DLP know the Owen Arthur we are dealing with.

    It took over 2 years for him to tell Barbadians about his whopper of a CHEQUE when David Thompson exposed him on the floor of Parliament.

    He REFUSED TO ATTEND PARLIAMENT CONSISTENTLY….
    He even refused to face Thompson in a public debate during the 2008 General Election campaign.

    There is no rush to produce anything yet……just to say who wish to lead must come with CLEAN HANDS.

    From what I know on this issue and much more……Owen is not your candidate AT ALL.


  21. @Fractured BLP
    Is Sinckler our candidate??


  22. @ Fractured,
    Your threats are like the great liar’s……follow me to Queens’ Park to hear the secret deal. Nothing but lies and hot air. You think somebody frighten for you threats. This just a ruse on your part to shut down debate. You really think you can come like the dead king did at Haggatt Hall again. The people are sick of you Dems and cant wait to get rid of wunnah!


  23. What ever came out of the scandal with Dr Sparman taking a rich patient out of the Stat room at A@E and transferring him to his clinic upon instructions from Minister Donville Inniss?

    Whatever came out of the lawsuits (1) Dr Sparman and Minister Inniss suing Dr Ishmael and (2) Dr Ishmael suing Dr Sparman and Minister Inniss?

    Whatever came out of the suspensions of Dr Ishmael and Dr Emtage?

    Is there any truth to the talk that someone in a high position was involved with a certain incident recently?

    Is there any truth the talk that a cabinet member is soon going to be implicated as part of a scandal brewing from overseas?

    Just asking!

  24. Observing (and watching) Avatar
    Observing (and watching)

    It is a sad day in the life of our politics and country when the debate an argument comes down to who’s the least “dirty” rather than who’s the cleanest. As Bushie always says, this current crop sucks big time. Both new and old. I’ll wait to see how we salvage ourselves as a proud nation after this election has passed.

  25. David (not BU) Avatar
    David (not BU)

    i will say this and i know a good few people who feel the same way, give me the old crooks than this bunch. from the outside looking in, it appears that the DLP gangs has done just about the same amount of thief the they say the BLP did in 14 years, in their 4 years.

    it is sad like Observing pointed out but i want them gone from office, they are only about themselves and their pockets and base on what we are seeing now, they have no creditability.

    how does the head of one of the top Tourism units not get a meeting with the PM? is tourism not or business anymore?

  26. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    I really don’t understand the reasoning of those DEMs who are trying to turn this post around and blame Arthur. How is this about Arthur? They seem to be in denial. They have been presented with evidence of malfeasance and other misconduct in public office and are so purblind that they refuse to see what is right before their eyes. They need to say that the allegation contained in this post are untrue; nothing else would suffice. If these allegations are proven to be true, their actions would amount to be CORRUPTION. Somebody needs to see the inside of a jail cell for this plain and simple. This is not party politics: it is criminal.


  27. Unamused | June 13, 2012 at 10:29 AM |

    It sickens me when I see these law suits holding up national development. The sickest part is the size of the suits multi million in nature guaranteed to be bogged down in the ridiculous court system for decades. The big name lawyers like Johhnny Cheltenham should be ashamed of themselves for taking on such cases blocking national development resulting in big loss of jobs, revenue, foreign exchnge etc. The whole greedy laywer syndrome, and we know many of the lawyers are dishonest, destroys a lot of projects that would’ve taken Barbados forward. The Pierhead Marina is a prime example. So much wastage of time,of scarce government money and resources for what? Its deplorable and sickening.


  28. @ Unamused

    if it sicken you so much why don’t you write to the members parliament and ministers of government. its is usually one of them who has trampled over someone or some company’s rights resulting in legal redress.


  29. D old people say de higher de monkey climb…. Jesus said: He that is without sin….
    Well I never hear such shiite yet!!! We know politicians go tief, it comes with the territory, lying stealing, tiefing, miappropiation, lying etc. Don’t care how much law, commission of inquiry, oversight committee, public accounts committee – call it what u wish POLITICIANS DOES TIEF FOR DEM FRENS all ova d World!. However,dis pack of DEMS don’t onnerstan that when tiefing going on d poor ppl must feel dem get some too. But these strange tings going on and poor pple feeling d pinch! Wait! Wunnah wait! I GINE LICK U WID MY X!


  30. shed no tears for osa what goes around comes around he put nuff blame on people for things they never done.


  31. Onions

    You post a videa yesterday and on the utube page that your video come from was this videa … Enjoy …!


  32. Onions

    Check this one out too. Man David could start a thread on this one … HA HA HA . In front ah tourists and all … HA HA HA the RBPF is somet’ng else …!

  33. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    BPFBF
    “Jamaican woman cussing video”….seems like you find yet another Parliamentary debating partner …..honor roll n gutter rolled …for wanting Chrisy Sinckla…..the two would be a great match off wid OD as moderator (with the sargeant in arms there just in case)….by the way there is a part 2 …youtube..lol


  34. Good one David”leadership amd the economy”what would not resonate is leadership that thinks that the public is foolish and believes that approach for quick economic recovery is magical!also thatthere moral and unethical behaviour would be given a free pass!


  35. @ac
    you keep struggling. Glad to hear from you so consistently though.

    Observing.


  36. @ David

    “the Minister of Finance, with much fan fare announced shortly thereafter that construction work on the Marina would commence within 12 months.”

    the statement above is a factual inaccuracy. on the april 12 2012 the minister of finance by way of a ministerial statement said ” Construction is expected to commence in about nine months.”

    JANUARY 12 2012


  37. @obserrving and youkeep swiping in hopes that any creditabilty issues relating to OSA and leadership would disappear this is just the beginning of exposing the “real OSA” most of what the BLP would rather forget but would prefer to go on a long winded and overhyped vitrol about the high expectations which OSA can delivered to save the economy none of which he has explained so far.

  38. old onion bags Avatar
    old onion bags

    And another thing Mr. Minister…..
    I am no economist but these medium term fiscal policies…..amassing Govt
    revenue…as the expense of economic activity, makes no sense as there can be no real growth….What’s the use Mr.Sinckler boasting of excess collections on VAT $120 million…$100 million by BNOC…while the economy crawls to a stand still..? Cutting the deficit by 13 at the expense of vibrant economic trade defeats the purpose….and is what I pen as ” dead man economics.” An economy needs to be stimulated by Govt monetary and fiscal policies to increase business activity…not just meet preset IMF requirements .Is this the “society and not an economy” ….some were quick to impute ?..More like the opposite to me.
    .


  39. @David et al,

    Talking about financial issues and production issues, the story of the Hoad Dairy Farm in today’s Nation should be given full exposure.

    This is a serious issue, we ask people to be entrepreneurs, to develop PRODUCTIVE industry and not just import, wholesale, retail. This approach is critical to our survival.

    Here we have a couple who have done just that, now a government body is destroying their business by cometing directly/

    Is that right? Remember my words from the other blog thread on heritage…Lotta Long Talk, about tnrepreneurship etc. Yet, a couple who have done it successfully and should be an example to others on how to do it, are put to the task, but the same government that is advocating entrepreneurship?!

    What I would want from the Minister of Finance is a cost anyalsys and revneue statements for the Greenland milk producing farm, audited by the Auditor General.

    That would show if Government is actually making money (asid from the moral vew), or losing money to compete with a private manufacturer.

    What is the betting that after the Hoad’s are out of business, the Government business would be ‘sold’ to a ‘private entity’. Maybe even a Trini one!!!

    And some argue this country is just and fair?

    This is the same issue that the CBC, whichever Government is in, has the current administrations best buddy as the head i.e. Government s interference in public information and in competing with private entities.


  40. Re the Hoad Dairy Farm issue, there is one further irony, a doozer.

    With all the talk of Common Entrance and Scholarships etc,, how important ‘acadaemics’is, I believe that one or both of the Hoads are former Barbados Exhibition winners.

    They have used brains and hard work to develop an industry. Now this!

    Then further, they also (pretty sure about Mr., think Mrs. studied at UWI!

    They are the proverbial EXAMPLE of home grown success. Now this!

    Irony in yuh face!

    And PROOF of my claim, that we have become a country of form over substance.

    In three or four years, we will see a picture of a skin teet Minister, handing over the keys of the Government Greenland Goat Milk farm, to some private entity, maybe Trini, claiming how well Barbados and Government has done in developing a goat milk industry and had managed to sell it for a tidy sum.

    At which point the price of the no competition XYZ milk from XYZ milk farm, former Government farm, will double. Peuk!

    This is just how things are here now.

    Whereto Barbados?

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