“Walter
It is fair to warn you the political class has you on their radar, no doubt to do with your contributions to BU. You have been courageous tagging your name to submissions be guided.”
David, Blogmaster of Barbados Underground
David,
Please forgive me for taking so long to reply to your “warning”, but I had to focus all of my attention on the pension administration and actuarial needs of my clients.
As you know, life is very short and fleeting. It seems like only yesterday that thousands of us were wearing “school clothes” and constantly hearing adults tell us that Errol Barrow gave us an opportunity that was not available to them, so we should study hard and pass the “screaming” test. We were the future leaders of Barbados, they told us.
I ended up spending 6 years at Wesley Hall Infants & Junior Schools, 8 years at Combermere, 4 years at the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill Campus, 2 ½ years at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Campus, and about 6 years of solid studying related to my professional actuarial exams. I have therefore invested at least 26 ½ years of my life sitting at the feet of elders who were much wiser than me, and listening, analyzing, and silently reasoning as they passed specialized contents of their brains into mine.
Although being young at the time, I became acutely aware of the fact that it cost the taxpayers of Barbados about $50,000 (in the early 1980’s) for me to pursue a Masters degree in actuarial science at the University of Nebraska. Being an idealist, I promised myself that, one day, I will find a meaningful way to repay taxpayers for the sacrifice which they made on my behalf. I am sure that there are thousands of Barbadians, at home and abroad, who are also similarly grateful for the “free” educational opportunities they received, and who are also keen to make a contribution to the development of their beloved country.
However, as an individual, and as the owner of an actuarial company (100% Barbadian owned) incorporated in Barbados, I have never received one “blind” cent in professional fees or business contracts from any Permanent Secretary, Minister of Government, or any Prime Minister of Barbados.
I served on the National Insurance Board of Barbados from 1986-1994 under the chairmanship of Sir Frank Alleyne, and he would readily confirm to you that during that time, the only money I ever received from the NIS was the $100 per month cheque for attending the monthly NIS meeting.
Given the information above, do you honestly think that I should give a rat’s rear part about the political class, their radar, or their threats?
That question begs for a follow-up query: “Why would successive governments systematically discriminate against, and by-pass thousands and thousands of qualified, competent, law-abiding Barbadian citizens, and proceed to actively seek out and hand pick foreign individual reprobates and corporate “magicians” to do business with, whilst squandering millions of precious foreign exchange dollars in the non-productive process?” Whatever the reason, you can bet your last dollar that it has very little to do with the development of our country and its people.
The astute and vigilant observer can easily detect how desperate attempts are now being made to keep Barbadians deeply mired in a state of self-destructive ignorance and apathy, whilst financial vampires and their cronies continue to suck the fruits of national labour. Right before our eyes, an effort is being made to create a society of the privileged few, the working poor, the chronically unemployed, and the discarded sick and aged.
Mr. Erskine Griffith, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and a current BLP operative, was ranting in the newspapers a few days ago about the fact that government’s pension bill is now about 266 million dollars and no funds have been set aside to pay retired civil servants. Presumably, Mr. Griffith wants Barbadians to blame only the Freundel Stuart Administration for this disastrous and embarrassing state of affairs.
During the period of Owen Arthur’s economic “bubble”, the so-called good times, did Mr. Griffith at anytime ever appear in the newspapers advising Prime Minister Arthur to set aside any funds to help pay the pensions of retired civil servants down the road? Did all of the 266 million dollars in unfunded pension liabilities appear only after 2007?
I have said it before, and I am saying it again, retired civil servants and teachers in Barbados face a serious possibility of not receiving their full monthly pension cheques from government during their retirement. Will they become victims of a government default a few years from now? Sadly, that’s only half of their concern. Their endangered NIS cheque is the other half.
Mr. William Layne, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, appeared in the newspapers a few weeks ago insisting that, in order for the Barbadian economy to grow, we have to create jobs for foreigners. That’s the only way, he asserted. Really?
If an individual does not understand the workings of a decimal point, is it fair to expect that individual to understand the financial workings of a national economy? I don’t think so.
Just a few years ago, didn’t the Hon. Chris Sinckler, Minister of Finance, announce that the Government of Barbados was going to embark on a $600 million stimulus plan to rescue the Barbadian economy from its downward, deteriorating trajectory? The $600 million dollar stimulus package never materialized, but yet, quite recently, the same Minister of Finance admitted that the government of Barbados was now practically broke. How can investors and businesses function effectively in an environment in which the government, dominating and controlling the economy, is conveying the impression it has money to embark on an economic rescue mission one minute, and then says that it is broke the next?
The international rating agencies have been constantly vilified by financial novices and “uneducated” politicians for warning all and sundry that the Government of Barbados is seeking to borrow money that it will have serious difficulty repaying.
Barbadian taxpayers, who had unwittingly provided government with an interest-free loan by overpaying their taxes for the 2013 tax year, have a genuine and legal right to receive the repayment of their “loans” in cash. Unfortunately, instead of receiving their money, they have been transformed into victims of the government’s short-term cash flow problems.Victims of a ‘tax refund’ default. We are now beginning to appreciate the lesson, through forced suffering, which Standard & Poors, and Moodys have been trying to teach us.
In the aftermath of a botched political manoeuvre conceptualized by the media-dubbed “Eager Eleven”, the Prime Minister of Barbados hinted that it is customary for heads to roll when a coup fails. As far as some Barbadians are concerned, the “credibility” head of the Minister of Finance has already rolled. Other Ministers, beside the Ministers of Health, Education, Housing, and Agriculture are now destined to feel the catastrophic effects of financial uncertainty. Even though money might be approved in the Estimates, any Minister of Government would be publicly humiliated if he commits himself to a course of action and when crunch time comes, the Minister of Finance tells him that there is no money available. That’s the political risk that is born out of financial insecurity. From the standpoint of the magnitude of its financial difficulties, the Government of Barbados has now entered unfamiliar territory.
Recently, Mr. Rodney Wilkinson, an accountant, was charged with diverting millions of dollars away from legitimate Barbadian businesses and channelling them towards a company offering services provided by executive-type “invisible” cars. Immoral ingenuity at its very best. If he is found guilty of the charges laid against him, should all of Mr. Wilkinson’s financial dealings at CLICO and Gems be investigated?
Sir Frank Alleyne, current economic advisor to the Government of Barbados, in giving an unsolicited assessment of the role and effectiveness of policymakers, politicians and advisors in Barbados over the years, recently admitted that the sum total of all the energy spent by these actors merely amounted to shooting the Barbadian economy in the foot since 1992. I disagree with Sir Frank’s assessment. It amounted to stabbing the country of Barbados repeatedly in the heart since 1980.
Our society is reeling from the trickle down effects spawned by the unsavoury actions and unethical practices of some persons in lofty positions. With some actions being mimicked at the individual level, we have reached a point where, generally speaking, anything of value that is not tied-down and secured in Barbados is now in danger of being stolen or misappropriated.
Examples range from the laughable to the tragic. Charitable donations secured in a tin container at a gas station are stolen by a man whose gambling urges had to be assuaged. The justice system was triggered, it worked, and the “uncharitable gambler” will spend the next 6 months at Dodds. An assailant (should we call him Thor?) slams his hammer into the skull of his robbery victim who was on his way to the bank to make a deposit, and dashes off to join the “moneyed” class with his ill-begotten gains.
Miscalculation of financial and economic problems at the political level is beginning to turn the Barbadian into a completely different social animal.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.