There are some things the BU household has surrendered to by saying, we just do not understand.
Sights and Scenes From DLP Party Headquarters on Election Night
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David you ever heard of innocent until proven guilty in a court of law?lol
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David you sure you didn’t used to work for the National Enquirer. Seems you have very good roaming paparrazi.
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@hants
Who said anybody was guilty?
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We are also watching them also,
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Let we understand this Clico issue. Fruendel says that not all products sold by CLICO are at issue. He says he still has auto insurance and some other type of policy with CLICO. He name a particular type of product that is at the core of the issue, and he said at most there are only 600 person with this product. What is he saying David? Is this something you wish to dispute?
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CLICO no longer sells auto insurance – CLICO General was sold and is now Sun General.
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Dems won by the hair off of a Bald Pooch Cat!
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@Adrian
Let us stay with the optics for the moment. Perhaps there is even room to discuss morality in behaviour as well?
It looks and feel wrong for the moment. Hell maybe some of us are just too antiquated in our way of thinking.
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Dear PM Stuart, it is time for some serious debt reduction. If you do not wish to privatize GOB-owned enterprises, I suggest that you enter into sale and repurchase agreements with Barbadians in relation to the better performing of such enterprises. For example, the GOB will sell shares in Barbados Port Authority, with an agreement where the GOB may (not shall) repurchase such shares at any time within an agreed period (say 20 years), provided that the repurchase price, added to the dividends, provides the investors with an agreed minimum return. This way, the GOB can use the proceeds from the sale of the shares to reduce current debt and retain an opportunity to repurchase the shares when the economy allows.
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@Alvin Hinds
.David seems unwilling to answer your question so I will try to explain to the best of my ability. I believe there are many many people who are like you but are afraid to ask.the pertinent questions.
CLICO stands for Colonial Life Insurance Company. It started out as a life insurance company; started by One of the Duprey family, and based in Trinidad. It set up branches in Barbados and other caribbean islands, selling life insurance policies, but Barbados became one of the biggest branches, which also set up agencies in other islands.The insurance company sold many types of policies; Life Insurance, Motor Insurance, General insurance (Fire etc),Annuities, and others Investment :instruments.” Mr. Duprey diversified and formed CL Financial which became the holding company for ALL the CLICO branches, as well as a number of other companies such as Angustora Bitters, companies involved in Methanol, real estate etc (over forty companies in all) Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO Barbados included) in addition to selling insurance policies, used the premiums (as all insurance companies do) to invest in things like real estate; eg Villa Nova, Sam Lord’s, Todds Farms, Clermont, and others, share holding in other companies (Rayside Construction) as long term investments.The problem is that CL financial used premiums from other CLICO branches to finance some of their investments.When those investents did not realise the provits anticipated, the branches were left short of the funds loaned to CL financial. In addition, as one of their means of increasing and enhancing their investment portfolio CLICO sold what are known as Flexible Premium Annuities (FPA) and also Executive Flexible Premium Annuities (EFPA) that promised high interest rates. The failure of the parent company ;CL Financial to repay the money loaned to them by the CLICO branches left the branches short of operating capital. The real estate investments do not provide the ready cash unless they are sold off and the proceeds put toward providing the company with the cash needed to service the matured or maturing FPA and EFPA. These however are not Life Policies so they are different from what the lIFE policies cover. So Mr. Stuart is right when he says that these policies are safe and have to be seperated from the annuities. The number of persons holding these annuities is small; certainly not 35,000, and their payments have to be seperated from what would be required to satisfy the life insurance policy holders. This is what should have been explained on the platform, but the desire to sensationalise and excite, and to be dishonest prevented the opposition party from telling people the truth.My advice to you is to read more of what is available. -
@Adrian Hinds…Got mixed up with your name/ Sorry about that
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Dear PM Stuart, I suggest that you facilitate an established stock broker (such as CIBC) to offer, if feasible, on-line trading in Barbados for securities traded on the NYSE and allow a foreign exchange limit to Barbadians for such trading. See this as an investment, where the foreign exchange limit caps the possible loss of foreign exchange, with endless upside potential. This will be a much better use of foreign exchange than shopping in Miami, New York, etc.
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@Alvin
The reason BU posted the picture has nothing to do with what you commented although you are free to do so.
People are watching how the government deals with this matter, young people are watching. Whether it is proven that inter-company transfers were the death of CLICO Barbados it does not absolve other indiscretions which were listed in the forensic report which occurred when Parris was President and Chairman of Clico Holdings.
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We are being led by the MOST UNPOPULAR Prime Minister ever in the history of Barbados. No wonder the people willing to sell their votes.
Barbados is a good country with good people afflicted with an unpopular government.
We could as well go back to the canefields and nurse on Freundel’s nipples!
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Dear PM Stuart, consider energizing agriculture by combining greenhouse technology with a welfare/work program and possibly NHC housing. In summary, rather than providing welfare support to people that are able to work, build greenhouses, assign Agricultural Extension Officers to the greenhouses and hire those seeking welfare to work in the greenhouses. You may also extend this by including NHC housing in some cases. The ultimate objective being to reduce the financial pressure on the GOB and get those that are able back to work.
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Thanks Alvin; when I couldn’t understand what was being said by the talking heads for and against, I knew that untruths powered by vested interest were at play. I listen to Fruendel and for the first time something click so I made a note of it and decide that I would ask David when the first opportunity arise. I certainly will read more. As usual people seems to be confusing their politics and personal interest with the truth.
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Last week (or was it the week before) the Nation posted an article indicating that BIPA has brought a motion against some directors of CLICO, AG et al. What is the status here? Has this motion actually been lodged with the Courts?
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@david
Given the direction the political winds have blown it seems that BIPA and Poochie are out to sea in a leaking raft without a paddle.
Just observing
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@AC
wasat the meeting when the PM explined the clico matter. it is clear that the blp had hoped to get traction from this matter with the help of poochie, but it backfired.
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TO BLOG MODERATOR/ BLOG MASTER
There are two many posts on this blog since the 21st. There could have been one (1) general post so that people could vent on just one single post. You do too many posts at a time . -
I am yet to hear anyone take issue with the PM’s comments and until they do I will continue to learn about this issue with his comments as a basis.
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@Adrian
What did the PM say except that the matter was under Oversight Committee where the government had flexibility to fashion a solution but others felt it would have been better to place CLICO under judicial management. Now that it is under the eye of the court all have to wait. Policyholders appear to be protected under the law not so the 600 EFA investors.
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There are some things the BU household has surrendered to by saying, we just do not understand
who the BLAD POOCHED CAT is the BU household ?
where is it to be found ?
who does it represents/identifies with ?? -
David, what little I gathered from the noise that was been made, is that 35K people are affected, that the company was allowed to sell “insurance” and not have the requisite amount of cash to back said policies, I never fully understood the issue to be with non insurance products and that 600 of these products have been sold. But I got some time to dig and I am going to look at this through untainted eyes to my satisfaction.
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@AH
i think u should do ur research on the role and function of formerly the supervisor of insurance, what is the statutory reserves for insurance companies. U must recognize that there is a Financail Services Authority.
I dont know the exact number of persons impacted in barbados, but the 30 000-35.000 cover the the coutries which clico barbados controls
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General confirm vote buying during 2013 election
Adriel Brathwaite Barbados
“Attorney General Adriel Dermont Brathwaite said it was distressing that some Barbadians were selling their votes.”
Two Political Parties have the money to buy votes
Newly-sworn-in Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite confirmed Friday to the news media that “some” Bajans sold their votes during the recent general election.
A different way of putting it would be that “some” political parties bribed voters with cash – for it is surely true that unless there were ready buyers, there wouldn’t be any sellers of votes.
So let’s cut the B.S. by our Attorney General and tell it like it is: members of the political class bought the votes of willing sellers during the February 21, 2013 election.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart also said he was concerned about reports (as in more than one) about people buying votes. The CBC said about PM Stuart: “…throughout the day he has heard stories of people exchanging money for votes. The Prime Minister said this is an ugly practice which digs at the roots of democratic structures.”
The first question of many is…
Who sold? Who bought? Who are the ‘Some’ mentioned by the Attorney General?
Missing in all the news and commentary about vote buying is the name of the person arrested Thursday for photographing their marked ballot in the voting booth. BFP covered the election day story as Cash for votes scandal in Barbados election: BLP, DLP… or both? but no details have appeared in the oldstream news media since then. Strange… or maybe not so strange.
What constituency did this arrest happen in? Did the arrested voter mark their ballot for a DLP or BLP candidate? How many other instances of vote buying/selling is Attorney General Brathwaite aware of? After all… he spoke in the plural.
DLP and BLP reject campaign financing laws, Integrity Legislation and FOI – No wonder!
The buying and selling of votes relies upon the political parties having large sums of cash available on election day. At $100 to $250 a vote it’s not cheap to buy an election, but neither is it impossible. BLP candidate Santia Bradshaw won the recent battle in St. Michael South East by only 10 votes, so only 11 bought votes would have changed everything.
Or maybe it was 11 bought votes that pushed Santia Bradshaw to the front? You see… that’s the problem when we allow this vote buying to go on. Now citizens suspect the entire process and become jaded about vote buying. Citizens also end up emulating their leaders’ actions. Don’t forget: this is Barbados where election to public office is supposed to dramatically improve one’s net worth over a number of years. Why do we say that? Simple: we’ve seen it happen with increasing regularity.
Will this story fade to nothing like most of the other stories that expose corruption? We will see…
Vote Shame! (from The Nation)
MINUTES after being sworn in for a second stint in Cabinet, Attorney General Adriel Dermont Brathwaite said it was distressing that some Barbadians were selling their votes.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Brathwaite were given their instruments of appointment by Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave during the swearing-in ceremony at Government House yesterday afternoon, the day after the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was swept back into office, winning 16 of the 30 seats.
Stuart, who was sworn in at 4:37 p.m. before an audience that included Clerk of Parliament Pedro Eastmond and Deputy Clerk Nigel Jones, did not meet with the Press, but Brathwaite flashed a huge smile for the media and expressed his concerns about the buying of votes during the election campaign.
“There are a few things that happened during the course of the campaign that concerned me and we need to look and ensure that we don’t go in the wrong direction as a people.
Cash for Votes
by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation
Thursday, 21 February 2013Heavy polling was reported some constituencies this morning as Barbados went out to start voting.
From as early as five this morning many lined up outside of their respective polling stations in an effort to cast an early ballot.
This was the situation across all 541 polling stations as the presiding officers made the boxes ready and declared today’s poll open.
Some 247,211 voters are eligible to cast ballots. Just fewer than twelve thousand new voters are among the eligible list.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart is concerned about reports he is receiving of people buying votes. He expressed this concern after casting his vote at Bayley’s Primary School this morning.
Prime Stuart arrived to cast his ballot at the Bayley’s Primary School just after eleven this morning without much fanfare as voting at the polling station was reduced to a trickle. But he did say from what he had seen and heard people were voting with what he called robust determination adding that he expected a respectable turnout.
The prime minister told reporters however he was concerned about a bad practice that was reportedly creeping into general elections.
The Prime minister says the right to vote is a process many people have fought very hard for and the idea of people disrespecting it makes him very uncomfortable.
He says throughout the day he has heard stories of people exchanging money for votes. The Prime Minister said this is an ugly practice which digs at the roots of democratic structures.
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how is it possible with this evidence that the vote not be re done????????/
any one get the idea? -
corruption at its best in corrupt barbados.,
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@Alvin Cummins | February 24, 2013 at 8:20 PM | Clear, concise and 100% correct. I believe that before anyone speaks about CLICO, they ought to read your comment.
@David. Re: BIPA. Your question on the status of this law suit against the directors of CLICO is apt. No such proceedings have either been filed or served. I know of no other proceedings filed and served by BIPA. I therefore fail completely to understand the statement by June Fowler in the papers yesterday.
While my sympathies lie completely with those damaged by the CLICO situation/failure, I also completely fail to understand the position BIPA has taken that it is in favour of a global solution brokered by the regional governments but that Barbados’ investors must have their claims 100% settled first. Anyone who thinks that the other regional government will agree to such a thing is a few sandwiches short of a banquet.
Because the comments attributed to June Fowler by the Nation about a law suit which appears (and I am happy to be proved to be in error here) not to exist, just threatened; and because of this comment on a global regional solution, while agreeing that BIPA is an excellent idea, I sincerely question the acumen of the leaders of BIPA.
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Re Clico.
One thing left out of the above re CLico and the annuities, is that at one specific point the annuities were offered seemingly in a rush and with ahighlight of 12% interest, when banks were offering 4% i.e. recession had already started to hit.
Commonsense or lack thereof in investing in such a ludicrous arrangement, what needs to be done is to compare timelines, with the availability or lack thereof of financial statements, with status of the company in respect of solvency AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE to assess whether the company, management and directors were acting responsibly, within the law and with due consideration for potential investors.
The other point is to determine if at the time of issuance of those investment products, whether the financial statements had been filed as is law, with the Office of the Supervisor of Insurance and whether those statements gave a clean bill from the auditors.
That point will shjow whether the company was properly and fairly allowed to continue in operation and issue insurance products, under the law and therefore whether the Office of the Supervisor of Insurance acted within and duly in respect of its powers as an oversight body, with consideration to those potential investors.
If financial statements had indeed been filed on a timely basis and within the law, whether those statements were clear of any qualification, then it would bring into questions the accuracy thereof.
However, if none were filed then questions have to be asked.
Those are the pertinent issues.
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Errata above ”Commonsense or lack thereof in investing in such a ludicrous arrangement notwithstanding’…
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@Amused
where u went? U aint sharing in this joy with me.
u r correct. that is an excellent article penned on clico. all should read it to understand the issues. June Fowler modus operandus was and is clearly political and one can tell the timing of such a statement was ot score cheap politcal points.. They dont understand the procees when something is under JM, but then again, do they want to?
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@Amused
Thanks! BU has put forward the view leading up to the general election that BIPA’s decision making was heavily influenced by the politics. Not good.
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BIPA will now need to elect a new ‘bald poouch cat’ cause that one June fire she bullets too soon.
As long as she is head, the DLP gine feed her with a very long spoon.
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What of Mohhamed ‘the political grasshopper’ Nassar?
That idiot should know that a smart grasshopper jumps on board after a win not on board before they lose.
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@Rendered Assistance
An unfortunate statement if it turns out to be the case because guess who are the “sufferees”.
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I from jessamy ave and i was offered $100 to mark my x for dlp last thrusday by someone transporting people to vote..told them they have to come better than that, they then said 200 i refused then they offered 300 said thats as high they can go…said no my vote will cost you a lot more..they then start cussing and carrying on but i stood my ground for cost of my x if they wanted to buy it
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Bay land
Did you enquire with the other side what price they were offering, you might have been able to do a deal with them at $500.
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David
June Fowler was playing politics with a matter that ought not have been politicized, you know that. Members of BIPA even took out paid adverts in the newspaper during elections encouraging fellow members to vote BLP.
Politics at that level and at that stage is for politicians. She ain’t hard not business juking her nose in that. Matter of fact BIPA should remove her.
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wow $500 that would have been good starting point
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but $2500 that they had to come up to for my x
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funny that you mention that 500 some friends up in pine and deacons did get that .half to before and the other half when they show the x mark for them
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CLICO policy holders need Mary Redman on their side pronto …!
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The CLICO products were offered at interest rates up to 16% if you invested over $100,000. I was offered it in maybe 2001 or 2002. The selling agent would then get I think 8% commission.
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What is troubling is that Clico policyholders do have a legitimate grievience concerning the loss of money, millions of dollars is unaccounted for, yet the PM sees nothing wrong with still being closely associated with Leroy Parris, he just seems unable or unwilling to shake of this guy and all the accompanying scandals. Is there more in the mortar than the pestle?? Just trying to put it into perspective and also wondering if there is not even more to the whole rotten, disgusting saga.
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@David
Thanks! BU has put forward the view leading up to the general election that BIPA’s decision making was heavily influenced by the politics. Not good
*********************So Fowler the politician got attacked on the political platform? Isn’t that in keeping with the times?
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It will be interesting to watch, it’s just a rumor and i can’t remember which candidate went to garrison school, but it is said that one who went to harrison college and considers himself superior (while being arrogant) claims he will not be led by someone who went to garrison school. If true, do you get more stupid than that??? On another note, people who live in depressed areas throughout the caribbean are well known for being staunch party supporters, even if their economic conditions never change for the better. Voters in the Bush Hall area are well known for their staunch and blind belief in the mottley clan, this has been handed down from generation to generation from the days of the corned beef, biscuit and rum vote buying, perpetrated and encourage by politicians for decades who like seeing people beg them, this makes them feel powerful to those who do not know any better and could care less.. The general belief is that votes are owed to particular candidates forever because of a letter written by the representative to obtain a little job, preferable government job, with a pension attached, candidates then see this as an entitlement and act accordingly each and every election. The stakes have now been raised, although voters still live in depressed areas and conditions have not improved significantly, the voters have all acquired fine tastes and expect to be paid accordingly for their votes.
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@ Crusoe | February 25, 2013 at 5:11 AM | Yes.
@ TO THE POINT | February 25, 2013 at 5:13 AM | But I am sharing the joy with you in my own quiet way – I don’t like to crow. I am also extremely concerned by the latest OSA tactic regarding a replacement for leader of the opposition. It is idiocy of the highest order and I have the feeling that we will hear from a Mighty Miller frothing at the mouth with fury and I shall back the Miller all the way. After all, we need a CREDIBLE leader of the opposition – and that is MAM! We do not need a temporary subsitute until OSA decides to emerge from retirement yet again to have a third bite at the apple. OSA’s tactics must certainly make us all glad that we don’t have that revenge-driven, boozed up little wannabe dictator back in office. Do you know that he vacated the office of the leader of the opposition when the election was called on the basis that he would be moving back to the PM’s office? Talk about counting your chickens. The arrogance is unbelieveable. BTW, is it true what I read on BU that he had ordered new curtains for Ilaro Court? If so, as there would be curtains going spare at good, knock-down prices, can anyone direct me to where they might be bought?
@ BAFBFP | February 25, 2013 at 8:05 AM | Are you serious? Don’t you think the CLICO people have enough problems already? Get rid of June Fowler (which is hopping out of the frying pan) and go with Redman (which is diving into the fire)? That is hardly a viable solution.
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It is official Mia is leader of the Opposition.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.