It is becoming very painful to watch the Stuart Administration govern this country. As a proud and loyal Barbadian who put country first, it hurts when my Government continually foul up and blunder. It is obvious to me if no one else that they had a plan to capture the Government in 2008, but thereafter they had no plan to govern and their every action is showing it. Consequently, they lunge from one ill-conceived policy decision to the next.
I was on time to hear Senator Darcy Boyce announce some initiatives in the Senate that were designed to attract high net worth persons to relocate to Barbados. I could not believe my ears when he detailed the specifics, so I waited for media reports to verify. On the back page of the Wednesday, June 20, 2012 edition of the Nation, under the headline, OK TO INVEST, my disappointment and embarrassment for this Government were confirmed.
From what I heard and read, it would appear that Government was merely repackaging some aspects of the existing Immigration Act and proudly trumpeting them as new. Whoever advised the Government should have read the Immigration Act. According to the Minister’s announcement, persons would now be entitled to stay in Barbados on special entry permits if they satisfy certain criteria and they are either: parents of citizens of Barbados; retirees with means to support themselves; or investors. These new measures have already formed part of the laws of Barbados and have been so since the 1970s, specifically, they can be found at section 6 of the Immigration Act which states, in part:
6. (1) Subject to this Act and the regulations, a permitted entrant who,
(a) by reason of his education, occupational qualifications, personal history, employment record, training, skills or other special qualification
(i) is in employment on a full time basis in the public service, the service of a statutory board or a government agency,
(ii) has established himself successfully in Barbados in a profession, trade, business or agricultural enterprise, or
(iii) is likely to establish himself successfully in Barbados in a profession , trade, business or agricultural enterprise and has sufficient means to support and maintain himself and his dependants in Barbados until he has so established himself;
(c) not being a citizen, is the parent or grandparent of a citizen who resides in Barbados and is willing and able to provide for the care and maintenance of that parent or grandparent; or
(d) desires to reside in retirement in Barbados and has sufficient means of support to maintain himself and his dependants ,
may, on application to the Minister in the prescribed form, be granted by the Minister permission to become an immigrant.
I specifically chose paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) because they effectively capture the categories of the persons that the Government is targeting in this “new” initiative. Why would a person apply for a special entry permit under this new scheme and pay significantly more when they meet the requirements for immigrant status. As an immigrant, a person would have all the rights and privileges of a citizen except that of holding a passport, and free medical care as a result of yet another ill-advised policy change. It is absolutely amazing that in the year 2012 Government would spend time coming up with initiatives that were put in place by the Rt. Excellent Errol Barrow in 1975, with amendments by Tom Adams in 1984.
Who advises this Government?
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