@Rosemary et al

There is no need to suffer distractions about this matter.

We are all about sharing views and that is the point!

@David….it was my fault for having corrected a scholar. It will not happen again. And yes! we should not stray from the point…because the point is what the politicos would like us to stray from. I stand on the side of agriculture every time against concrete…have tasted same and never like it…a bit tough… and caused expensive visits to hospital and stitches to keep my insides where they belong, inside!

I have always felt that Barbados with the proper planning of a well-thought out model for agriculture could feed itself. Nevis is the perfect example of a well-thought out agricultural model. Dr. Brathwaithe, I am sure, is well acquainted with this for it was IICA that invited me to talk about the importance of tourism and local food back in 2009 in St. Kitts, and it was Nevis we visited to experience for ourselves that perfect model. It did not take a rocket scientist to put such a model together…their Ministry of Agriculture just did it. Simply. And it has worked successfully since inception with the people of Nevis benefiting in more ways than one. If Nevis could do it, why not Barbados? Why not any Caribbean country?

For me the question of taking arable land and placing a housing scheme on it is nothing less than insulting to the intelligence of the people of this island. But worse than that in my mind is any group that is ready to make a stand but that does not, within its vociferation, proudly shout loud and clear that food must be clean and devoid of harmful pesticides and GMOs with edible animals fed clean feed and devoid of harmful chemicals for growth ‘and so-called health’!

Otherwise all we will be growing is food that will inevitably harm us.

I am hoping that such a ‘clean-food’ policy for the whole of Barbados will be the gist of the Future Centre Trust meeting on Sunday. Yes! we should be protective of arable land but should in the same vein be protective of what we will be growing on it. Have not read much about this important stance so far…but perhaps I am wrong and it will be shouted loud and clear right up to the implementation of same. We shall see.

As the blind man said.

Rosemary, the open mike session will allow for your input. I no longer buy grapes I grow mulberries on my lawn which are healthier and very rich in antioxidants.

Here is a picture of the land proposed for housing:

http://bajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/lowergreys.png

@Objectivity..please

You are entitled to your view of course BUT we have reached a point in this country when all decisions to convert arable land to other use MUST be scrutinized and justified. There has been wanton disregard for our most important resource through the years.

@Objectivity

The objective is to show arable land producing food. The optics is a secondary consideration.

@ David
LET US HAVE THE FULL PICTURE SO THAT THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN THE DISPUTE MAY HAVE FULL COVERAGE .

@Objectivity

Perhaps this link can assist. Feel free to describe the areas you want highlighted.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Haggatt+Hall,+Saint+Michael,+Barbados&daddr=Boarded+Hall,+Christ+Church,+Barbados&hl=en&ll=13.107442,-59.541049&spn=0.022278,0.027595&sll=13.108654,-59.554482&sspn=0.044556,0.055189&geocode=FSEQyAAd0fdy_CkjIgXgr_ZDjDGZW8h2RF2Dbg%3BFa37xwAdVpVz_CkjGqKocfRDjDEA9FHfPGZTog&oq=Hagg&t=h&mra=ls&z=15&source=gplus-ogsb

Thanks David ! We are referring to the area marked with the green B ..

Click on the link for a picture http://goo.gl/iOrW2

@ David

“The argument therefore is NOT about the land but about the incoherent policy of land use by successive governments.”

How so? Facts please.

“Food! Barbados fed its people during the war.”
if as i assume the’ food’ to which you are referring is ‘ground provision’ in nature, then i have news for you. The eating habits of the majority of Barbadians have changed since then because of the advent of and subsequent proliferation of supermarkets offering alternative tastes which provided a warped sense of upward social mobility and the perception ill-conceived or otherwise that ground provision was the poor man food.

Why should we use arable land in St Thomas and St George which represent the most fertile land in Barbados for housing. Do even posit the marginal land dogma as every where on this dot is marginal land

Just got a call from the Mount Wilton Ecotourism Inc who are bringing 300 persons to the meeting. Something is happening!

“some good starvation in Barbados” – is that it should be taken in the context of all she has said and represented over the years. Most people know that Senator Chandler is passionate about land use and food production. She was obviously using an extreme position to make a point, perhaps out of frustration.
call me pedantic as much as you like but it is interesting to notice your conciliatory approach to the insensitive if albeit well-intentioned “starve the people” outburst by the goodly Senator as opposed to your bitter condemnation of the distasteful but aside remarks made by Mr Hoyos and surreptiously obtained from the Brasstacks program and i quote
” Last Sunday during the airing of the Brass tacks programme, listeners heard Pat Hoyos [moderator] make an apology to Minister Denis Kellman and many wondered what it was that Mr Hoyos had said that caused him to make the apology. It has now been found out. During a break, and unknown to Hoyos and the others appearing on the programme, one of whom was Mr Clyde Mascoll [Barbados Labour Party chief spokesman on economic matters], that the line was still open to Mr Kellman, Hoyos remarked in relation to the Minister Kellman “I give he five minutes and he talking bare shite “. Kellman insisted on an immediate apology before continuing his contribution. The apology immediately came from Hoyos.
You were unforgiving in your treatment of Sir Roy’s May Day exuberance as welland rightlyso but unlike BU I view the unfortunate remarks by Mr Hoyos, Senator Chandler and Sir Leroy Trotman to be similar in nature and should all be painted with the same brush.

@de hood

Exactly!

Good evening BU.

The remarks made by Senator Chandler and as reported in the CBC’s evening news on Tuesday 19th June 2012, outraged and saddened me greatly.

Perhaps if I had not listened to the stories told by senior citizens of their experiences in rural Barbados in the first half of the 1900s, I would have accepted her remarks with more benevolence.

Perhaps if I had not heard the stories of the deprivation which resulted from wages which could never have served to sustain the wage-earner and their families, wages which could never have been described as a living wage, I would have felt differently.

Perhaps if I had not learned of the broken families, separated because the parents just could not afford to keep their children, I would have felt differently.

Maybe if I had never learned of the mal-nourished children of that era who were left in the “alms houses”, I would have felt differently.

Maybe if Senator Chandler had said “we” instead of “they” when she made her remarks about the cathartic impact that a good dose of starvation would have on my society, then maybe, just maybe, I would have felt differently.

But I had heard the stories. And I have had a glimpse, through others’ eyes, of a time of shortages, deprivation and depression. And I view it with no romanticism.

For many Barbadians, those were dark days. Difficult times. Hard times. Sad times. And the suffering of that era is nothing to be trivialised or brushed aside.

I respect Senator Chandler as a professional who is passionate about her work and what she believes. But I believe that one who sits in the Senate and is granted the priviledge to speak on behalf of all of the citizens of this society and to influence legislation and policies for our nation, has a duty to be sensitive to and considerate of the needs of the society which placed them in that powerful position.

I condemn the remarks which I heard reported by CBC that night as inappropriate and un-necessary.

The statements should be withdrawn.

By the way, which section of the population is it that is envisaged that would be starving? Is this section of the population who are to be condemned to this fate the persons that make the policies and pass the laws? Are these the persons who have large tracts of arable land lying idle, biding time until they can convert the land into golf courses, retirement villages and upscale million-dollar retreats?

Yet I am expected to accept that it is reasonable for a Senator to posit the view that the poor people, people like me, should suffer this fate.

I would wish that the real perpetrators of injustice would be the ones condemned to suffer. Unfortunately that seldom happens.

@Lest we forget
Stupse!!! Too many on BU too ‘bright’.

We know what Senator Chandler meant, but I understand why ‘Lest We Forget’ is not happy about the phraseology.

Starvation is not to be taken lightly, but I also think that th Senator did not mean it that way, more as a wake up call, that many here on BU have been preaching for years.

Reality is that the world is on an economic and by extension social, abyss.

We MUST be able to feed ourselves and those who argue that we dont have the land resources are talking bullcrap.

We have more than enough land, and further, with hydrophonics, even moreso.

The reality is that we have to make ‘concrete’ decisions about the amount of ‘concrete’ we put…and NOT.

But, we all know that there are those developers who seek only their bank accounts and not the future of Barbados.

Little do these so-called ‘ business leaders’ understand that with a depressed world, their bank accounts are worth nothing, even if they manage to spirit plenty out of Barbados,. the New Yorks etc of the world also have as difficult a future, the stock market is not assured.

Words to the wise.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.

@David, well said

For anyone who doubts that it can happen here, check out the situation in Greece. Economically we are not too far away from them, and they are npw finding it impossible to afford basic fruits and vegetables on the regular market. They are not happy, but they are doing something about it, and keeping their farmers going at the same time. They are teaming together to ensure a regular supply of vegetables, by “leasing” a small amount of the farmer’s land to grow their own. But instead of doing the growing themselves, they allow the farmer to do the growing, guaranteeing him an income, whilst they are guaranteed a supply of cheaper fresh vegetables. They can even specify to the farmer which vegetables they require. It’s the perfect win/win. When desperation strikes, these people come out and help each other. Could it happen here without the produce being stolen? Would Bajans get together to help each other? These are pertinent questions, the answers to which really do show the current state of our society.

@David

Maybe a minimum sentence would be more effective, otherwise we would have the customary slap on the wrist from the magistrate.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others.We are a product of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.The purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. It’s not about you.Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.
I don’t know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone.Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless.

This is the problem in our thinking and policymaking. It is ALL predicated on economics. It does not matter that we HAVE not food security policy. Growing some is better than nothing. The technology is there to carve out a niche but it requires leadership. And of course we are forgetting the forex savings.