Barbadians should follow closely what Afra Raymond, the T&T blogger and social commentator, has to say on the issue of transparency in government in Trinidad. Barbados has been promised that an Integrity Commission will be installed soon and there is optimism in some quarters this represents the final piece of the puzzle. The fact that Trinidad is ahead of Barbados by enacting transparency legislation and Afra Raymond has to play the role he does is insightful.
Barbados Underground
Bringing News and Opinions to the People
This is what technology can produce….it is called truth….it is called accountability…it is called exposing any kind of corruption there is…it is called loving your country!
Here is another Raymond blog which keeps it real:
Pre-Action Protocol letter to Ministry of Finance pursuant to FoI Application of 11 May 2012
What is being pursued here is our right as citizens of a modern republic to the details of these huge expenditures of Public Money – the CL Financial bailout is costing some $24Bn, about $3.5Bn USD! – and the background to how critical legislative support is obtained. It is my view that S.34 was not the first time and that the spectre of ‘regulatory capture’, which underlines much of the discourse around the Great Depression 2, is in fact founded on a sinister degree of ‘legislative capture’.
Having had a series of ‘cat and mouse’ exchanges with the Ministry of Finance since my Freedom of Information Act application made on 11 May 2012, this is my pre-action protocol letter sent to them by my attorney on Thursday 7 March, seeking their proper reply in 7 days…that time expires at midnight today, Wednesday 13 March, so stay tuned, because we are going to the High Court after that…
Even with integrity legislation one has to keep politicians on their greedy little toes, as has been proven this legislation does not stamp out corruption, it only makes the culprit smarter and more elusive to detect. What Afra Raymond is doing is making sure they do not get too comfortable, constant exposure is the key. Problem in Barbados is they have not gotten to the starting gates yet in implementing legislation.
big deal who cares…i live in Barbados where the barbados government has allowed all and sundry especially Trinidad to take our assets, our family silver, precious memories… don’t give a rat’s ass….tell me how we barbadians can take back what is ours, then i will be interested
I am pretty sure forcing the legislation to be implemented and catching these political rats in their own traps would be a start, however, as things are in Bim and with most of the state and privately owned interests already sold to foreign entities, the locals are not likely to own anything in Bim again for centuries to come, if ever. Gotta be also mindful of the fact that the monopolies owned by the local minorities are sold to foreign interests as well, they are not too concerned about it being owned by bajans, only the profits to be made by selling to foreign buyers. It is a lose, lose situation since no one thought it necessary to pay attention and the politicians could care less about stopping it at the time it started to occur. Can anyone say, it’s too late now??
LeWeSee@ Agree , not in Barbados so far , We will see by next election all the dirt will be out
Pinkie@ when the right govt is in Place all the Fraud will be fixed and we will see who really sold what and who sold what they never owned.
No time limit on fixing fraud , First we must find it ,