Submitted by David Comissiong, President, Clement Payne Movement
Toni Moore, General Secretary, BWU and Akanni Mc Dowall, President, NUPW
Toni Moore, General Secretary, BWU and Akanni Mc Dowall, President, NUPW

If there is a group of inexperienced and irresponsible “leaders” who have done serious damage to our country that group is not to be found in the trade unions of Barbados! Rather, they are to be found in the Freundel Stuart-led Democratic […] Labour Party administration!

Who – after all – is responsible for the dismissal of close to 5,000 Barbadians from their jobs in the public service of our country?

Who – for the first time in our history – imposed tuition fees on Barbadian students at the University of the West Indies, thereby causing some 4,200 Barbadians to drop out of UWI?

Who is it that recently imposed an additional $200 Million in taxes on an already over-taxed and over-burdened Barbadian people?

Who is it that has taken virtually every Governmental contract of any worth and conferred them upon a small select group of elite business people?

Who is it that has entered into contractual arrangements that obligate the masses of Barbadian taxpayers to literally pay hundreds of Millions of dollars to a small group of privileged elite business people over the next two or three decades ?

The record is clear! Barbados is being destroyed – not by young Toni Moore and Akanni Mc Dowall – but by Prime Minister Stuart and his band of Ministers, the majority of whom may legitimately be described an immature, callous, irresponsible and rudder-less.

How comic it is to hear Stuart complaining that the new President of the NUPW does more talking on behalf of the Union than the General Secretary, when he (Stuart) has absolutely no control over no less than 5 of his Ministers, namely, Donville Inniss, Chris Sinckler, David Estwick, Ronald Jones and Denis Kellman!

Furthermore, if Stuart wants to talk about new wine in old wine skins then we need to tell him that his Administration constitutes a “new wine” that we, the citizens of Barbados, do not recognize!

We all recall and recognize the late Errol Barrow and the Democratic Labour Party that he established. But we do not recognize Mr Stuart’s Democratic Labour Party! The Freundel Stuart – led DLP administration is something totally new in our political culture! Where Mr Barrow’s DLP constructed and nurtured Mr Stuart’s DLP attacks and destroys!

66 responses to “The Real Destroyers of Barbados”

  1. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    According to the rules a contract goods or services must go out to public tender if it for $100,000 or more. You did not ask who awarded a contract for $700 million to an unknown quantity called Cahill without going out to public tender.

  2. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    a contract for good and services


  3. @Caswell

    The MOF explained it is a PPP. You can’t tender on a project if the people putting up the money.

  4. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    David

    That is utter rubbish. You put the project out to tender and see who who would bid. Who’s to say that other interested parties would not have been willing to come up with the money. Government is supposed to put the specifications and let people bid. Nothing went out to the public at large.

    The only time you don’t go out to tender is if there is only one supplier I the market. Cahill would not have qualified because they have never built a similar facility. This project should end up with people gracing the inside of a cell as DODDS.

    I must caution you that you must treat anything the minister has to say as untrue until you can confirm it from another source. That is how our politicians perform.

    Sent from my iPad

    >


  5. @Mr. Commissiong: Although I can agree with most of the article above ,you have failed to include the other party.

    Both parties are responsible for the predicament we now find ourselves in at this juncture. Both have had opportunities to implement laws to protect the public it pays ‘lip-service’.

    If there was a procedure implemented to bring politicians to account for their misdeeds while in office, Barbados would be a far better place today.


  6. @ paradox

    Mr. Commissong has always been a man to stand up and speak truth to any party and I am sure if he wanted to speak about history he could have mentioned both parties. Cowards like you who can’t face nor stand up to the truth always talking this thing about 2 parties to escape the criticism of a failing or failed DLP Government. Did the BLP do any of the things mentioned by David in his article. This is 8 years since the Owen Arthur led administration demitted office and the last we saw of barbadians living comfortably. you probably don’t have children or grand children who are going to have in a Barbados with a worst economy that what what we are now struggling to barely survive under all because of the poor policies of an inept and illiterate group of selfish and uncaring men and women.
    Who will find the 3 billion dollars over the next 30 years to pay these foreign neophytes who are only her to suck this country all because a politician wants 10 or 15 million in commission going forward even though he is not in office. Idiots like yourself and other DLP yard ducks surely need to make full use of the eyes God gave you and the intelligence Erroll Barrow made sure you got.
    Mr. Commissong has always been a voice for the voiceless more than many of the others and that was so whether it was to any of the parties in power or which he supported. His
    love for this country and its less privileged people has never been in question and from my vantage point the dignity he carries along the way I do t think you or any others will be ever able to justifiably question him.

  7. Sunshine Sunny Shine Avatar
    Sunshine Sunny Shine

    Well folks its official. My father who licked the pooches of the Democratic Labour Party for years, declared to me this moring in our usual talks the following:

    ”Susanne I know you and I do not normally see eye to eye on things political particularly the DLP, but today I must admit to you and join you to say that the DLP I once love, under the leadership of a ”doormat” idiot called Fruendel Stuart, is a disgrace to the Barbadian race. He wants removing, even if it means by an act of force.”

    Well you know when he said that to me I fall down on the floor and start to crack up. Because we both placed a wager for a few hundred and so now he has to pay up. So sign of times.


  8. @Caswell

    If memory serves the MoF indicated Cahill was looking for a partner/country to partner with and selected Barbados.


  9. Sunshine Sunny Shine,

    My father shut me down several months ago when I broached the subject with him. I’m going to check back with him now and see if he’s falling off his high horse. It’s a little harder for the older folk who saw the transformation under Errol Barrow in its entirety. Similarly my grandfather never let go of Grantley Adams.

    If the Dems continue to lose their formerly loyal supporters like myself then the BLP has very little to do. Though we probably won’t be voting Bee our absence from the polls is likely to hand the victory to the BLP.

    Now is the time to consider if this will be enough for us. Are we “small fish” content to be fried in a different pan?


  10. Our PM needs to go on retreat and do a little introspection. He needs to see if he has remained true to himself or if he has morphed into “Destroyer Supreme”. That title would be good for a calypso. Maybe I should collaborate with a calypsonian and write one. Is it too late for the finals? Since he was waxing lyrically from the Bible in this last tirade I’m hearing the tune to “Disposer Supreme” being interjected at some point in the melody. And the theme of the hymn’s lyrics can be tweaked to fit as well. That could make up the chorus. Come on, somebody! Hold the calypso mirror to his face and make him see himself before it is too late!

  11. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    Donna and SSS,this final rehanding of the heart and souls from their beloved DLP by both your elderly parents is understandably but also deeply sad. They are the symbols of many of us.

    Understandable how any black Bajan would worship as hallowed turf the legacy of Grantley Adams and in turn Errol Barrow. Clearly the seminal achievements they forged were literally life changing for the citizens and their families and made any and all of their human faults and warts pale into nothingness in the minds of supporters.

    What is deeply sad for us all is that we have perpetuated this legacy sentiment well beyond the practical. Behaviours have changed considerably over the years and neither of the parties cleave as distinctly to the roots of their heralded leaders and party ethos.

    of course, a comparison to the Republican party of the US defines the point.

    They were the party of justice for the black race under Abe Lincoln. They also became the party of Strom Thurmound the man who once ran for the Presidency on a third-party platform of ‘white supremacy and segregation forever’. He sat as a Republican senator for eons after switching there and they embraced him warmly. By then the ethos of the party had changed markedly.

    Parties change, sometimes completely. The people who support them originally would necessarily need to change their allegiances too one expects.

    Obviously, the BLP post Grantley and DLP post Barrow saw much more subtle change but they changed nonetheless. The slavish, unerring support of past ghosts is always misplaced but is the essence of politics.

    Difficult though it be we obviously need to vote (or not) on current actions and not on long, long past historical glories. We know this but yet we cling to memories of bygone days as if to infuse times past to times present!

  12. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    correction: “…. this final RENDING of the heart “.

    What exactly is a “rehanding”. I have no idea. Clear case of ghost intervention!


  13. Cahill was looking for a country with no environmental standards, a country in deep financial trouble ideally with politicians open to bribes even if it meant selling the entire country down the river.


  14. Well said Mr.Comissiong. There should be a place for you in any alternate party. Because you have what is most important in this.

    Love for country and Integrity.

    Unlike most in Parliament.


  15. We have a governance problem. When a system becomes so infected where the influence of a few overrides that of the majority this is a sign. Barbados has an advantage, we are suppose to be an educated lot, a reasonable expectation is we will find a solution to our problem.

  16. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    David

    The process does not work like that but Guy Fox answered you were for me.

    Sent from my iPad

    >


  17. Don’t be surprised to learn there are those who prefer to keep the economy in deep crisis so they can use that as justification of the abhorrent decisions, one way or the other.


  18. LOL
    Guy Fox understands this thing very well…
    Wonder if he has keys for the cellar at parliament building…?


  19. We can expect the usual DLP yard-fowls to quote from Esther Byer.

    “Dr Byer suggested that a national strike threatened by the NUPW and the BWU had influenced the BIDC’s decision. The two unions indicated yesterday that they would shut down the country either tomorrow or on Thursday.” [Barbados Today, July 15, 2015]

    Esther, admit that you and the DLP were WRONG.


  20. Bush Tea

    I don’t have the keys but after this nonsense with Cahill, things have to said out in the open. Cahill is a bold face and outrageous scam unprecedented in Barbados political history.


  21. De Ingrunt Word,

    True about the Republican Party. I was shocked when I discovered what its roots were. I had to reread several times when I first came across that information. Seems like the DLP is doing the republican. It’s unrecognizable as the party I used to support. I had to accept a while ago that Errol Barrow and his party are truly dead. Now we can the party be resurrected in its creator’s image or do we need to bury it once and for all. And if we need to bury it I suggest we drive a silver stake through its heart first . That’s how you kill a vampire in the movies.

    I had a vision last night of poor Barbadian people lying near death on the rocky ground, their blood being greedily sucked by vampire bats. Above was a flock of vultures waiting to pick the bones.


  22. Cahill is another Pierhead marina in the making just a whole lot worst.

  23. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    “The MOF explained it is a PPP. You can’t tender on a project if the people putting up the money.”
    You can and you should. Barbados has done a number of PPP projects. Whether they were called PPP’s or not, the common feature was that they all required the tenderers to provide the funding. The ones that spring to mind immediately are the Eric Holder Centre, the SSA new offices and the BWA headquarters.
    Waste to energy is nothing special. Here is one that was being advertised earlier this year – and oh look – it’s a 1,000 tonne WTE project. That’s the same size as ours!
    http://www.endswasteandbioenergy.com/article/1330154/belgrade-tenders-efw-facility


  24. Don’t mind Sinckler with that nonsense excuse, he just looking for a way to explain the fact that he and 3 other scammers got together to ‘rob’ Bajans blind. He knows what he did and he know why he did it but because he harbors some ill-conceived aspirations for Prime Ministership, he needs an excuse.


  25. The whole sordid affair is enough for the 4 Ministers (scammers) to either resign or be fired………….but in Barbados that won’t happen cause this nastiness elevator goes all the way to the top floor.


  26. All those who were in doubt at what was Darcy Boyce’s role in the DLP government, now you know. They scammed the BTI of tens of millions on the Pierhead Marina, they scammed the Barbados Port Inc of tens of millions for the New Cruise Pier and now they will scam the SSA of tens of tens of millions for the Cahill WTE project. The amazing thing is not a FACKING boy gine going to be investigated much less go to jail.

  27. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    Donna, yes but that’s life: change. That facts that are true for the Republican party makes it clear also that there was a transformation of their rival Democratic party. Once all southern racists voted that way; then and definitely now they vote the Republican way.

    What would happen you think if the Black Republican candidate Dr Carson won his party’s nomination for President. Then despite claims of her lesbian flings, her vacillation, being too liberal not to mention being a woman and Democratic, don’t you think they would gladly vote Democratic or stay home rather then elect another Black man to the WHITEHouse?

    Barrow’s legacy is valid and strong. But times changes and new legacies are built.

    Did the party of free education tarnish and burn that lasting legacy with the introduction of UWI tuition? Or was that a necessary and valid step in the transition of a nation 50 years older. Clearly the latter.

    Did the party built on the strident voice of workers’ right and unionism tarnish and burn that lasting legacy with the virulent remarks from their leader re the BIDC strike matter? Or was that harsh rhetoric a necessary and valid step in the transition of a nation 50 years older.

    Well, there is change and then there is clear, abject folly. LOL.

    The DLP is not dead; just lost their way so no need for that vampire stake.

    If young Mc Dowall and Moore can bring an apparent refreshing look to the unions why not expect that a similarly young an enterprising stud or amazon will do the same for the DLP (and too their rival).


  28. De Ingrunt Word

    I hope that happens sooner rather than later.


  29. @Guy Fox July 15, 2015 at 6:51 AM #

    “Cahill was looking for a country with no environmental standards, a country in deep financial trouble ideally with politicians open to bribes even if it meant selling the entire country down the river.”

    And thanks to 7th Heaven Properties, Cahill found its 7th Heaven in Barbados


  30. DD
    They certainly did by the agreement they managed to strike. You fellow have to wait to see he full extent of the nastiness when the Opposition releases the actual Implementation and Power Purchase Agreements.
    Remember it was Boyce, Sinckley, Lashley and Kellman who signed binding the Crown to 30 years and billions of dollars in power purchases.


  31. There are members of the last government who were accused of having questionable financial dealings while in government. If there was any truth in any of those accusations, why has the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Attorney General not seen it fit to prosecute any of these people? Can we expect a similar performance from the next government when dealing with this lot? Will we be satisfied with this course of (in)action again?

    Secondly, now that the genie is out of the bottle my fervent wish is that we the people, the Unions and dear I say Church and Business who are strangely silent in all this, be aware that if we refuse to be sheep from here on in, neither this government or the next should expect a free pass to say and do as they wish. If we are unhappy with how that government behaved and is behaving, be reminded that it is our fault through inaction or protest and it behoves us to be militant if necessary to bring about a change in behaviors regardless to which party is victorious in the next election.

    This damned foolishness about Party Loyalty has to come to a screeching halt. Country Loyalty is what we need. The only way that the citizens of this country should be willing to accept that the Opposition is serious about halting the lining of pockets while in government is if they promise and implement (not in 10 years time either) immediate investigation, prosecution and reclamation of any public monies found to be left as inheritance by any member of this government. Then and only then will we know that they don’t intend to do the same. Somebody has to man up and stop this rot.

  32. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    If young Mc Dowall and Moore can bring an apparent refreshing look to the unions why not expect that a similarly young an enterprising stud or amazon will do the same for the DLP (and too their rival).

    Sometimes a thing is so badly injured that all you can do is put it down.

    Sent from my iPad

    >


  33. @Fearplay

    Understand your frustration but you should note the DPP can act only when the police presents a file based on an investigation.

  34. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    There is always some sick, sordid, psychopathic twist to everything the DLP/BLP does to the people of Barbados. Young people who are not under the influence of either the DLP/BLP idiots would make a refreshing change in Barbados, otherwise, all is lost.

    They may need to take a leaf out of the book of Bouterse of Suriname, he only embraces the young in their 20’s and 30’s for ideas for his government, he does not feel the need to brainwash or program them with the stupid, savage ideology of the british system that has now clearly shown all of those politicians to be the spawns and mere pawns of all that british savagery.

    Hopefully, the DLP finally understands the errors they made, it’s simple common sense 101, no degree in rocket science needed.

    They really need to consider getting rid of political non-analyst Maureen Holder, she is just an idiot of a political yardfowl and a mere stool-pigeon of the DLP. I never thought any yardfowl could be more stupid than the DLP’s AC, I have been proven wrong , AC, accept my most sincere apologies; instead of being No.1 you are No.2….lol

    The DLP/BLP needed to be taught a life-changing lesson by their true masters, that the majority rules in any country in the world, while nothing to gloat about, the reality is, Bajans have contended with and tolerated, for over 45 years, far too long, the DLP/BLP’s misleading, backward and destructive belief that the minorities rule the island and the lives of the majority who live on the island. Nowhere else in the world does this happen, and if it is, it should not be happening.

    For the present and future generations of Barbados, the majority rules, right now the DLP/BLP should be eternally grateful and appreciative that Bajans are a docile people and handled the situation with admirable maturity.

    Long gone are the days when the DLP/BLP politicians of the stinking Lionel Craig variety brutally and systematically destroyed their own people’s lives by forcing them into poverty and sleeping under trees until they died, all to impress and pacify the minorities, make them feel safe, satisfy their own ignorance and greed, without one iota of consciousness that their own people also need to feel safe and should have been protected, post slavery. All that and more they have easily done to their own people all these many years just because these people dared to speak the truth or express an opinion about the discrimination and unfair practices perpetrated by the DLP/BLP politicians against their own people.

    The majority rules and should never allow lying, deceitful politicians to roll back their basic human rights EVER AGAIN. Politicians will ALWAYS have to beg the majority for votes, they need you more than you need them.

    Regulating the internet is way out of the reach of politicians in Barbados and the Caribbean, far enough to soften, loosen their bowels and keep them in check….lol

    It’s the young men and women in their 20’s and 30’s who have fresh, sustainable ideas, not these british flavored, brainwashed and programmed old farts.


  35. Is it time yet for a REVERSE SLAVERY REVOLT.


  36. @ Bush Tea July 15, 2015 at 7:29 AM #

    I can stop laughing after reading that one (lol). You should be writing for hosts of late night shows (lol).


  37. Donna

    The Republican Party represents today what it represented in the days of Lincoln. Lincoln has always held a moderated stance on slavery; he never really cared about the freedom of the black man in America. His concerned lied more towards saving the Union rather than the slaves. Remember now Lincoln said: if he could have saved Union without freeing the slaves he would have done so. And if he could have freed the slaves and saved the Union he would have also done so. Lincoln, also believed that the black wasn’t his moral and intellectual equal. Donna, I may have read a bet more extensively on Lincoln; than you have.


  38. “Donna July 15, 2015 at 7:42 AM #

    De Ingrunt Word,

    True about the Republican Party. I was shocked when I discovered what its roots were. I had to reread several times when I first came across that information”

    We see eye to eye on many things ; but for arguments sake tell me what shocked you about the roots of the Republican party.

  39. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    I hadn’t come across Bouterse of Suriname before I saw the comment above. I Googled, as you do and came across the following:
    “The president, a two-time dictator who first seized power during a 1980 coup, was convicted in absentia in 1999 on drug trafficking charges by a court in the Netherlands. At home, he and 24 associates face trial on charges of killing 15 prominent political opponents in 1982, but the case has been stalled while courts determine if they are covered by an amnesty law adopted last year.”
    “[Bouterse’ son] faces a US federal indictment alleging he worked with a man ………to smuggle cocaine into the United States starting in or about December 2011. It also charges him with violating firearms laws by brandishing a light anti-tank weapon during the narcotics offense. The indictment says [he] was involved in smuggling a suitcase filled with 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cocaine aboard a commercial flight from Suriname to the Caribbean in late July.”
    Bouterse may have great management skills when it comes to young people but I am not sure that his system, which looks a though it might involve anti-tank weapon persuasion, is one I would want adopted in Barbados.


  40. balance,

    Not up for an argument right now about America. My very deep concern right now is for Barbados. The comment about the USA was in response to De Word and was not the main issue being discussed. So stick a pin in it and we’ll return to it later.


  41. Dompey,

    Could be you’re right about that.


  42. St. George’s Dragon,

    Quite right about that Surinam fellow. I didn’t answer that argument because I thought everybody knew.


  43. Suriname


  44. @FearPlay July 15, 2015 at 1:12 PM “and dare I say Church”

    Anglican priest Charles Morris has already called out Bishop John Holder for being silent. But Holder is a St. John boy…is he an ardent DEM as well?…maybe as ardent as [John?} Goddard who mounted a spirited defense of the government’s policies and BIDC’s position on Brass Tacks on Monday.

    And I’ve known John, Charles and the Bishop since we were all in short pants and members the Anglican Young People’s Association

    I am still an Angican and yes I am disappointed in [Goddard] John and the Bishop.


  45. “Donna July 15, 2015 at 8:28 PM #

    balance,

    Not up for an argument right now about America. My very deep concern right now is for Barbados. The comment about the USA was in response to De Word and was not the main issue being discussed. So stick a pin in it and we’ll return to it later.”

    I hope so because I wouldn’t want you to have your facts wrong like so many others.


    Like


  46. “Donna

    The Republican Party represents today what it represented in the days of Lincoln. Lincoln has always held a moderated stance on slavery; he never really cared about the freedom of the black man in America. His concerned lied more towards saving the Union rather than the slaves. Remember now Lincoln said: if he could have saved Union without freeing the slaves he would have done so. And if he could have freed the slaves and saved the Union he would have also done so. Lincoln, also believed that the black wasn’t his moral and intellectual equal. Donna, I may have read a bet more extensively on Lincoln; than you have.”

    Since Mr Dompey you are so schooled in the history of American political parties tell the blog what the Democratic party represented.


  47. Simple Simon,

    Oh, oh! You’re an Anglican still? Proceed to the Foolish Avenue and take twenty points off your IQ score! Pay the fine as you enter!

  48. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    Donna, re “Quite right about that Surinam fellow” that is the real power of the world we live in today. No one, absolutely no one can fail to be informed unless they truly want to remain ignorant of the facts.

    I was completely confounded when I read the approving description of Desi Bouterse and immediately discounted the blogger’s credibility in calling for his style here in Barbados.

    In that same vein of available information it is impossible for me to understand how the learned members of our government signed this CAHILL deal.

    Bloggers here since more than a year ago have provided extensive details from net searches that showed this technology was too nascent and problematic for our island. And just two days ago Pat Hoyos a nation columnist also said, ” ….you don’t have to be any great researcher to find out why gasification technology is not more widely used in the Western Hemisphere. All you have to do is spend a couple of lazy hours surfing the internet…”

    He cited at least eight examples of failed projects like this one: “The regional government of Madrid, Spain announced in 2008 that a plasma-based waste disposal system would be installed…However, concern over public health and environmental threats from incinerators led to the whole project being revised … ”

    So after his few lazy hours he summarized: ” Finally, in a chilling update on the technology, Peter Brett Associates points out that “garbage gasification attempts are characterised by economic and operational failures,”, adding that “no commercial facilities in the US have succeeded in using gasification, plasma, or pyrolysis to generate energy …”.

    Now this is no longer new stuff to us as RastaR and others have been relentless with valuable data but it tells us all we need to know of our leaders’ slide into dishonour.

    Despite many lazy hours in airports, at hotels and back at their offices, our team spent months negotiating this deal…and STILL they signed the contract with all that data all across the internet.

    How could our team remain ignorant of these facts? What were the factors that led them to overlook them? What?

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