THE AUDACITY OF LEROY PARRIS, claiming that since the freezing of $4.5 million of his $20 million assets, he can’t meet living and business expenses. The Prime Minister allegedly gave advice to the Speaker recently. I wonder if he offered any to his pal Mr Parris?
I certainly can’t advise him, but if I were in a similar position I would be hiding in the nearest hole, thanking my lucky stars that Bajans have traditionally been peaceful and hoping they remain so.
June Fowler’s fears that the resolution to the CLICO saga might be derailed by certain alleged and sometimes acknowledged friendships are well founded. And to those who don’t see why Government is becoming involved, have they forgotten that successive governments failed in their regulatory function?
Now to the sugar money: Another promise but until farmers have the cheques in hand, they continue to live in hope.
And, in response to questions asked of me in the Saturday Sun, I wasn’t aware I defended the “sugar planter class”, whoever they are, but I’ve defended and will continue to defend the sugar cane industry and agriculture in general, and those who are committed to its success. Success depends not only on the field aspect, mostly owned by private farmers, but also on the processing aspect owned by Government.
As far as I know, farmers plan to improve yields (of sugar rather than cane per acre) by using slow release fertilisers and improving soil biological characteristics, decrease costs and increase efficiency by testing various labour-saving machines and methods like strip tillage and monitor sugar output per acre from various variety/soil combinations, while seeking a fair price for their product.
I don’t understand what’s meant by “what has been done to keep production going year round”. Cane is planted around October and reaped 16 to 18 months later. Ratoons are harvested, grown for 12 months and harvested again. All this, of course, depending on when the powers that be allow harvest to start – which in fact has been another cause of the industry’s demise. Owners have diversified their farms by growing and processing vegetables, which keeps labour employed year round.
Reducing processing costs is Government’s responsibility. What I’ve never understood is why sugar costs $4 100 per tonne. Farmers supply the raw material (cane). If it takes say 11 tonnes of cane to make a tonne of sugar and farmers up to now have been paid $60 per tonne, that’s $660 in raw material. Can the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC) account for the remaining $3 440? Is it part of the $2 million per week needed to run BAMC?
The acreage sold by plantations for development over the past 40 years is considerable, but the Town & Country Planning Department is better able to give an accurate figure and say why it gave permission. I’ve often commented on greedy developers, masquerading as farmers, seemingly running land into bush to make a case for development. Interestingly, there’s a farmer on one side of a particular road claiming agriculture doesn’t pay, and on the other side of the same road one who is a role model in agriculture.
Should the Barbados Foundry and Plantations Ltd have been investigated? Maybe investigations are still going on, based on the speed at which CLICO’s investigation is happening.
While some money Government took from the industry went towards pensions for those not eligible for NIS pensions, the majority was used for reasons totally unrelated to the industry.
Regarding treatment of plantation workers over the past 50 years, these years coincide with independent Barbados. Are you saying that the “colonial masters” treated agricultural workers better? Interestingly, about 70 plantations were owned by descendants of slaves since the 1940s. I agree that agricultural workers don’t enjoy the comforts of many other workers, and I’ve always admired their resilience under trying weather conditions, but rural people are more resilient, and in fact part of the industry’s problem is that there’s an increase in “urbanised workers” with no tradition in agriculture.
I’ll conclude by paying tribute to Leslie, an outstanding worker who has recently emigrated to the US. If all workers in the industry possessed his talent and work ethic, agriculture in Barbados would be miles ahead.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/64021/worth-parris
Dr Frances Chandler is a former Independent senator. Email fchandler@caribsurf.com
128 responses to “Sugar Monies Paid on a Promise”
Inter-Sugar Partnership Limited signs agreement with Government of Barbados
for Cane Industry Restructuring Project ‘CIRP’
Inter-Sugar Partnership Limited (“ISP”), the Caribbean based advisor of international Private/Public Partnership (“PPP”) projects, is pleased to announce that it has signed a legal memorandum with the Government of Barbados to proceed with the Cane Industry Restructuring Project ‘CIRP’. The CIRP will result in the construction of a state of the art Multi-Purpose Facility (“MPF”) on the island of Barbados which will turn around the struggling fortunes of the island’s historic sugar cane industry and in turn contribute numerous economic, social, environmental and energy benefits to the island.
The proposal bought forward by ISP, which has received wide-spread support from the island’s government and sugar industry alike, will see:
• The construction of a state-of the art MPF, to be located at the site of one of the remaining – albeit non-operational factories at Andrews, in the parish of St Joseph
• Employment of over 300 workers at the MPF, with long-term employment opportunities for traditionally seasonal workers
• Generation of 25MW of green electricity annually and the further potential use of 60MW of waste heat from electricity generation, making the MPF self-sufficient and generating an additional 22 MW which will provide power to a large number of Barbados households and businesses, thereby reducing the island’s dependency on expensive foreign oil imports
• Introduction of new farm equipment, training of field staff and increased global marketing of Barbados’ sugar cane industry
The state-of the art Multi-Purpose Facility, which is being designed by Bosch Projects, the world leader in sugar engineering and technology, is due start construction in 2015 and is anticipated for completion in time for the 2017 crop. Once the MPF is complete, it will be leased to and operated by the Government of Barbados. This MPF will harness the latest technology to produce the following products and by-products, all of which will have a substantial contribution to the island’s overall economy:
• Raw Brown sugar for domestic consumption
• Production and refinement of premium speciality sugars for sale to niche markets
• Increased production of molasses for the Barbados rum industry
• Generation of 25 megawatts of green electricity fuelled by cane bagasse and sustainable locally produced biomass
The sugar industry in Barbados, which dates back to 1642 and is an integral part of the island’s cultural heritage, has regressed significantly in recent decades due to rising costs and falling prices. This has resulted in uneconomical and vastly reduced production which in turn has led to the import of expensive refined sugars to meet demand for domestic consumption and use within Barbados’ Rum industry. Despite the government’s best efforts to maintain domestic production, including a rising cost in annual subsidies which have weighed heavily on an already struggling economy, the combination of outdated farming techniques and machinery has forced the government and those involved in the industry to consider alternative proposals to bring the island’s industry into the 21st century and rebuild its reputation as a producer of premium sugar products.
The signing of the memorandum agreement will result in the Government moving forward with a public/private partnership (“PPP”) which will bring together the locally experienced skills of the Barbados Cane Industry Corporation (“BCIC”) – a company set up in 2007 by the Government to promote the project – and the international project and financing knowhow of ISP and its partners, whose management have substantial experience and expertise in the structuring and financing of international PPP projects. ISP, which brings project management, legal, financial and sugar industry skills, has been involved with CIRP for over three years during which time it has worked closely with BCIC to create a viable financing structure for the Project. The agreement represents the final hurdle to proceed with the project and ISP will now recommence advanced discussions with international financial institutions to secure the financing for the project.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr. David Estwick, the Barbados Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management and strong advocate for the CIRP said:
“This project will have a positive impact on the island in many ways. Not only will it create jobs and value through both the construction and operating of the factory, it will also result in welcomed cost savings for the government and the country as a whole. This project will enable the island to rebuild a proud and historic industry whilst also providing a multitude of financial benefits to our economy.”
Commenting on the agreement, Edward Marston, Director of Inter-Sugar Partnership, said:
“We are delighted to have signed this agreement and look forward to playing a vital and long-term role in the economic, environmental and social development of Barbados by enabling the island to reclaim its reputation as one of the leading producers of premium sugar products in the world. The CIRP will provide financial incentives to farmers to increase the quantity and quality of cane production, will create many new jobs and provide a boost to the nation’s economy.”
INSERT PICTURE OF SIGNING
For further information please contact:
Inter-Sugar Partnership Limited
Edward P Marston, Director
(T) (1-246) 417 2353
Buchanan (Media Enquiries)
Ben Romney / Jason Day
(T) +44 (0)207 466 5000
[…] By David […]
Why does Frances Chandler always come across a bitter white woman? She seems to think she is an expert on all matter agricultural because her family been in the slave/sugar business for 350+ years.
@Norst
Forget that she is better, are her perspectives cogent?
On 25 February 2015 at 21:04, Barbados Underground wrote:
>
In an island generally absent of reasoned public discourse she would come over as cogent.
@Norst
Please tell what she has stated that is not cogent in your opinion?
@ Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 5:04 PM
“Why does Frances Chandler always come across a bitter white woman? She seems to think she is an expert on all matter agricultural because her family been in the slave/sugar business for 350+ years.”
Why don’t you stop with the ad hominems and attack the argument in the message the woman is presenting?
Why not deal with the fact that the government owns and controls a large tracts of the sugar cane growing plantation lands and the entire sugar processing sector?
I am sure such black expertise that resides in the government can save White King Sugar’s sorry ass from total failure.
Miller
she is railing against the GOB plans to restructure the sugar industry but she is conveniently forgetting to mention that she was part and parcel of a/the committee that came to the same conclusion,………….restructure it or close it down.
Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 5:04 PM #
Why does Frances Chandler always come across a bitter white woman?
Because she most likely is. That woman’s demeanor and words spoken and written conjures up images of plantation life in Barbados in the period 1600 to 1833. Her stall is always set out as the mistress/master of the house speaking down to the servants. No need to highlight the racial breakdown of who is mistress/ master and who is servant unpaid at that. Chandler brings those darkest days in the history of mankind to light in her bitter, disdainful, arrogant style. The target of her disdain is one particular group of people. No need to identify who those people are simply look at her , read her words or hear her speak. Small wonder outsiders quickly identify that despite the veneer of tolerance Barbados has a deep rooted problem in relations between the plantocracy and their offshoots and the majority of the population.
You political JAs are all the same, attack the dissenting view. O how it will change when you go back to the Opposition bench.
I totally for sometime now i have been reading her articles,and even though they may contain some good points she comes over as arrogant and at times disrespectful to the powers at be, it reflects on that slave era mentality,where they were the lords and masters,at one time if i am not mistaken, and if so let me offer an apology, but i think i heard her being featured in a stated opinion that was a prelude to brass tacks and to hear her speak about the ministers in this current administration, was downright disrespectful. However that is my opinion.
@villager aka Concern
Do you feel the same indignation at the idiot politicians who lie through there arses?
david
Respectfully you are missing the point here. Also, name one country in the world where the politiicians don’t lie? Name one, just one.
Frances Chandler, Ed Clarke and Patrick Bethel believe they ARE the sugar industry…………there are NOT. She is particularly upset that their little plan to sandbag the PM at the BCCI meeting, using their nasty line of questioning was overturned when the PM launched into an attack of ‘their’ stewardship of the sugar industry since 1640.
@Norst
Respectfully the issue is the government paying the damn money PROMISED unless you are suggesting it is all a lie.
No David, i do not check for arses not my style, however i believe that persons in authority should be respected regardless but some persons believe that they can say what they like, when they like, and to whom they like, that is why i liked Owen Arthur, talk what you like, alot of those speaking out now and showing all of this disrespect and disdain where like church mouses during his tenure, they hid behind others to voice their criticisms.
Patrick Bethel, Ed Clarke and Frances Chandler need to understand that the office of PM deserves a certain level of respect. You may disagree with the PM and his administrations policies but that does not give you the right to trample of the respect due to the office and holder of the office.
Respect is earned.
David,
The farmers will be paid. The money is in the bank, that is a fact.
YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WAS FORGIVEN TO THIS ‘LOT’ IN THE 1990’S WHEN THE SUGAR INDUSTRY WAS LAST RESTRUCTURED AND PRIVATE FACTORIES NATIONALISED AT THE TAXPAYERS EXPENSE?
David
You are completely wrong. The office of PM does not need to earn respect, that is total bullshit……….and you of all people should know better than to utter such crap.
@Norst
Is yours the point?
Refer to Webster.
@Norst
The PM and the lot in Cabinet can lie to the citizenry they serve and expect axiomatic respect?
BS
David
You do Barbados a great disservice by promulgating the notion that the office of the PM has to earn respect. Y
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR HAVE SAID SUCH FOOLISHNESS.
David,
Didn’t:
The Barrow administration lie to the people?
The Adams administration lie to the people?
The St. John administration lie to the people?
The Sandiford administration lie to the people?
The Arthur administration lie to the people?
The Thompson administration lie to the people?
listen to you, someone could make the mistake that politician telling lies started in 2008 or later.
@Norst
Let us agree all politicians lie, even Mr. Integrity himself.
Norst
The farmers will be paid. The money is in the bank, that is a fact
Next come – “The cheque is in the mail”
Mr. Integrity has an election to win, he (or his advisors) were quite smart in painting him a capable of walking on water compared to his political foe, OSA. Its politics……………..its all fair.
@David
Thanks…..hopefully the myths will be eradicated……its really laughable to hear these JAs braying……sad though that with each bray the country goes further down hill…….and we gave them free education……..EWB is rolling in the sea,possible creating a tsunami coming soon.
@David
Did not the same JAs promise Sugar payment to Farmers by wednesday….today….????
Ah well time for bed and some more fairy tales….night,night.
@ Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 8:40 PM #
“Patrick Bethel, Ed Clarke and Frances Chandler need to understand that the office of PM deserves a certain level of respect. You may disagree with the PM and his administrations policies but that does not give you the right to trample of the respect due to the office and holder of the office.”
Respect due to the office holder?? Don’t make my donkey cry with laughter! Not when the holder is a pathological liar and a sanctimonious hypocrite at that.
Isn’t that attitude of respecting exploitative and abusive authority figures reminiscent of the same old master/slave relationship you accuse Frances Chandler and ilk of exhibiting to black Bajans?
Why should Bajans respect a man who made it abundantly clear Leroy Parris is a pal of his and will not allow the arms of the law to deal with that successfully outstanding businessman and estimable gentleman? Certainly not the CLICO policyholders and certainly not the UWI students whom he lied to through his bloody rotten teeth caused by leprosy contracted from being too cozy to his pal Leroy the king rat.
Name on instance where the holder of that office has kept his word given to the public?
Is it the promise of further investigation into the vote buying he personally can attest to? What about his assurance that no public sector workers would be laid off?
What about no privatization under his watch?
What about the Crook Carrington affair? A man that claims morality and ethics ain’t worth a hill a beans in the world when it comes to the behaviour of men in high places.
But let us give Lord Fumbler his due. He did arrange for over $1/2 million to end up in the pockets of his legal pals via the AX enquiry.
Yes he did arrange for the NCC workers’ case for unfair dismissal to be sent to a non-existent ERT. And lookie here, who happens to be the new chairperson of such a toothless machinery of vacillation and deferrals, his very close confidant.
Man go and carry your donkey do. Respect my ass!
“The strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.” ~Blaise Pascal
Vincent
Do the farmers have their tax clearance certificates?
Miller
would have preferred it if the PM lied and said Parris was not his friend?
@Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 9:54 PM #
Chuckle…..continue braying……long may it last.
This is to Norst the Defender.
I have been listening to Chandler, Bethell and the many farmers who propped up our sugar industry by blood, sweat and tears. That’s a fact. When Sugar was King – whites, blacks and in between ensured we had a bountiful crop. With the upsurge of the “concrete jungle’ sugar took a nose dive. Even Barrow said that he hope one day to never see a cane blade. That’s a fact. We must be realistic, sugar will never ever reach those high acreage again. Forget all the rhetoric of a resurgent of the Sugar Industry, We can borrow from Tom, Dick and Harry and try to fool we Bajans, what will happen we will have a short term employment spike and within two years we will be back to square one. We have to be realistic, our production cost will be our greatest enemy. I am of the view that Andrews Sugar Factory and Portvale Factory should never be the only producer of sugar. The little money the farmer getting are being used up by transportation costs. Since the gurus knew that the lone sugar factory would be demolished and rebuild…. Why was Buckley not considered due to its central location?
All of you “round table” yardhens who keep attacking anyone with a different view…..beware, the “x” will eventually make the difference. And yes, “Respect is earned – from the Head right down to Ninja Man.
@ Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 9:57 PM
Yes!
Then he would have been honest since any man of David Thompson can’t be a woman of Fumble.
Would you trust a man who wears a wedding band on his ring finger pretending to be married?
Tell me why
You wrong too buddy boy. Respect of the office of the PM does not and should not need to be earned. You not smart enough to know the difference between the Office and the Holder.
Miller
Why are you so occupied with the mans personal life? Did he rebuff your advances or something?
@Tell me Why February 25, 2015 at 10:01 PM #
Cane means more than Sugar to Bim,suffice it to say that I agree with you that the old ideas of Sugar production and its benefits should be tossed through the window……but not the baby with the bath water……for the last 50 years and more studies have been done on making the cane industry viable…….what govt. is propposing is not viable.
Vincent
Why would it not be viable?
@ Norst the invader
David Thompson send all of you this time ? poor sick men .
@Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 10:09 PM #
Chuckle…….Do the research properly this time and you will find out why…..but ,you already know that,forgot that it is not part of the agenda……lol
watchmen
last time I check David Thompson was dead and buried.
Vincent
Can’t even justify your allegation. Laughable.
@Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 10:17 PM #
Hahahahah………the last word is yours…..you really believe that Bim is populated by idiots……enjoy……as I said long may it last……..Douglas thought that rubbing dung in peoples faces would last forever as well…..lol
Norst of Invader. I will not waste my time with you since you are wearing blinkers and your peripheral vision of commonsense is blocked. However, you and your cohorts cussed Arthur repeatedly and nothing was said of respect to the holder of the office. With that said, I will have a silent discussion with you……….”
@ Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 10:08 PM
Not personally concerned with his private life but with his lying sanctimonious hypocrisy which needs to be exposed in full view of the public’s gaze.
The same way he denuded poor Arthur in full public view he too wants expelling from the closet.
He is the one who said in the HoA that Leroy Parris, a known commercial batty boi, is his close pal. Shouldn’t we believe in the old saying birds of a feather flock together?
Which self-respecting PM in any Westminster type jurisdiction would get up in Parliament and declare total loyalty and guaranteed protection to a bloody bold-faced fraud and still be holding office today? The Brits must be having a barrel full of laughs watching the likes of Clown Fumble conducting serious monkey business in a crumbling banana republic.
BTW even if the miller boy were that way inclined the orangutan man is too bloody awfully ugly to stomach. Ask either Muscle Mary or DIDI. They should know.
@norst the invader
Yes David is DEAD but some how he live in all you mindless yard ducks that eat the fatted cow ( CLICO POLICYHOLDERS MONEY )
@ Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 5:04 PM #
“Why does Frances Chandler always come across a bitter white woman? She seems to think she is an expert on all matter agricultural because her family been in the slave/sugar business for 350+ years.”
I am not a defender of white people (we have Bizzy, Maloney and King Dyal for that purpose). But in all fairness to Chandler, it would be erroneous for anyone to suggest that “she seems to think she is an expert on all matter agricultural because her family been in the slave/sugar business for 350+ years.”
Chandler is a qualified agriculturist and has a doctorate (PhD) in Crop Science and her opinions or perspectives are based primarily on her qualifications and experience in the sector. Therefore, like it or not, she must be regarded as an expert.
If we probably review the following synopsis of Dr. Chandler’s profile, we may be able to analyze her contributions a bit more rationally.
• Dr. Frances Chandler is a Barbadian. She was awarded a Barbados Scholarship in 1966 and attended the University of the West Indies at St Augustine, Trinidad where she obtained a BSc. (Hons) degree in Agriculture in 1969 and a PhD. in Crop Science in 1995.
• She was employed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Barbados for 10 years in the research area where she was local counterpart in the OAS Horticultural Project which was one of the most significant modern-day agricultural projects in Barbados, as it signaled the beginning of mechanized commercial vegetable production.
• In 1979 she was the first woman to be awarded the Inter-American Agricultural Award for Young Professionals for the Antilles Zone.
• From 1980 to 1997, she was employed as Research Agronomist with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute where she was Head of the Barbados Unit from 1991 to 1994. Her major accomplishment here was the development of an onion industry in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
• As a Board member of the Barbados Marketing Corporation in the 1980s she co-ordinated the production, packing and shipping of sweet peppers exported to Holland.
• She established her own company “Horticultural Business Solutions Inc. in 1997 with a view to upgrading the operations of Caribbean private sector companies involved in food production and marketing.
Perhaps if Chandler’s opinions were interpreted as being pro government, she may not be described with such contempt.
I have noticed that the members and supporters of this DLP administration do not take likely to criticism, since they respond harshly to their critics with language used pejoratively to denigrate people.
I recall that, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Lennox Chandler, on one occasion had to remind James Paul that he (Chandler) also has a doctorate in agriculture, making him more qualified to discuss the science than Paul has been able to do, even as head of the BAS. This came against the background of Paul criticizing Chandler for certain statements he made while addressing an agricultural forum.
Norst the Invader February 25, 2015 at 8:40 PM #
“Patrick Bethel, Ed Clarke and Frances Chandler need to understand that the office of PM deserves a certain level of respect..”
Norst the Invader,
We are all Barbadians with our individual take on morality, decency, respect, etc.
If you were only allowed to select one person, from the following list, who we all know really disrespected the office of Prime Minister of Barbados, which one would you pick and why?
1. David Thompson
2. Patrick Bethel
3. Ed Clarke
4. Frances Chandler