Senator Kerryann Ifill, President of the Senate
Senator Kerryann Ifill, President of the Senate

George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.

There was a time not too long ago if asked about the possibility of high gun and drug related crime and corruption occurring in private and public office in Barbados, most Barbadians would have said not a chance. […]Although the landscape of Barbados is not yet comparable to neighbouring islands, there is no doubt the quality of life Barbadians have become accustomed has deteriorated.

BU, as we have done several times, can list many institutions not functioning efficiently to support a high social and economic quality of life. The time has come to mobilize and leverage the power of an educated people. It is evident the political class is struggling to direct a new path. As a people we have abrogated our rights as citizens to said political class. We label ourselves as educated and yet we fail to recognize the consequence of disengaging from the system of government.

There is the old cliché, “what gets measured gets done”. Whether at the personal or organizational level, we must set clear goals and execute effectively and efficiently on tactics to achieve the desired the results.  We allow political parties in the election cycle to load manifestos with pie in the sky promises. We allow our expectations of political parties to be defined by them. In our hearts – even the die hard supporters – we are resigned many of the promises will never be realised as originally proposed in our lifetime. We are selling ourselves short.

We need parliamentary reform to give immediacy to the voice of the people. We have allowed members of parliament who comfortably reside in the political class to hijack how our country should be governed.  The design is for them to serve us, instead we have allowed them to reverse roles.

A downside to being an educated society i.e. book learning definition, is that we now armed with the knowledge to defend all positions. The definition what is right or wrong can be robustly challenged. The  diminution of Bajan values as a result of surrendering our values and borders to  marauding regionalists,  globalists – some say hegemonists – means we have had to become like them.

And so it will be.

The following article could easily be addressing challenges in Barbados. This is Ghana.

Of justice, the cedi and the rule of law

The Judiciary is a sacrosanct organ of state and one of the fundamental support pillars of every democratic society. An independent, well-functioning and efficient judiciary is an essential requirement for the consistent, fair and impartial administration of justice.

In all matters brought before it, the judiciary is expected to handle them impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.

68 responses to “A Flawed Governance Setup”

  1. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ Hants

    I gots to give credit to me grandson at ** Bank he is a bright boy.

    But the thing bout dis Hants is dat most uh we who blogging heah pun BU love we cuntry real bad and DO NOT WANT TO SEE IT DIE at the hands of these or the other set of DUFUSSES.

    We, the People, can show how petty minded dey are.

    We, the People, can show how igrunt they are and while, @ today, we cannot get the Director of Public Prosecution nor the Commissioners of Police to do their respective jobs, what We the People CAN DO is bring the eyes of the world to see how incompetent they are.

    I ent got long heah Hants but one ting dat all uh we who remaining heah got in common is de ability to act like “real, real NGOs” de ones dat Bush Tea talking bout (and dat my friend Baffy jes get pun de bandwagon recently bout) and show dem how real battles does get fight.


  2. “Wunna fellows seem to be arguing that we should desist for pursuing such a change to a community-centric political approach because the PRESENT party-centric ARRANGEMENT IS FLAWED…..???!!!”

    BushTea you’re one of the biggest politicans on BU, you spin, obfsucate and sidestep with such mastery.
    A political party as a whole is a community made up of individual communities both geographically and ideologically speaking, hence it is community-centric. Futhermore the individuals have various “interests” and as such represent a far bigger bowl of interests that you want us to believe.
    In a small space like Buhbaduss, a geographcally defined community-centric approach to decison-making would be very problematic given that there are many key issues that are “trans-community” for example infrastructure, transport etc not to mention the income inequality across communities. Both factors breed NIMBY. From an “interests” based community perspective, the same applies–interests are inter-connected and in some cases will coalesce while in others there could be conflict leading to NIMNGO.

    When I made this statement “…Hammie’s tenure as a Minister is a good peek into the mind of the NGO Cabinet member” it seems like folks msinterpreted good. Good here refers to the view not the picture lol. Mentioning Hammie name in the same sentence as good governance is tantamount to sacrilege.

    @David
    Aint others talking bout constitutional change, what could be more about law than such a proposal?


  3. @ Enuff
    “A political party as a whole is a community made up of individual communities both geographically and ideologically speaking, hence it is community-centric”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    ….either your head is bad..
    or you think that Bushie was born recently.

    Shiite man …or maybe both…

    A political party is a mafia-like gang comprised of a political class of white collar criminals and of large numbers of yard fowls who don’t know their beaks from their asses. The yget to make the rules, administer justice and share the spoils just like the real mafia.

    Only a mafia Don himself would seek to promote the kinda shiite spin that you so eloquently attempted at 8:19 pm above…
    LOL ..perhaps AC will support you…

    WAIT!!!
    @ David
    What happened to Dompey???
    You ban ‘ee D? 😉


  4. Bushtea
    At least yuh is Miele and not a Maytag..lol.


  5. Stihl…
    Um is the whacker string you see spinning so… ?? 🙂


  6. I can’t help noticing Lashley caressing that firm body with a grin on his face. I wonder what he is thinking.

    This is a nice story coming out of Vanuatu. The Speaker and a number of politicians were facing jail terms of up to ten years for graft. Under the Constitution when the President is away, the Speaker acts as President. Well when the President was away, the acting President pardoned the Speaker and the other convicted MPs. Follow the link below:

    http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2015/10/14/vanuatu-parliament-speaker-pardons-himself-and-others-of-gra.html


  7. Excerpt from 2008 Throne Speech

    “GOOD GOVERNANCE
    Good Governance is essential for the sustained development of Barbados. Its
    characteristics include participation, accountability, transparency,
    responsiveness to the needs of voters, effectiveness, efficiency, equity,
    authentic inclusion and respect for the rule of law.
    Good Governance assures that corruption is minimized, the views of the
    people are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable
    members of society are heard in decision-making.
    My Government will put systems in place to reverse the trend of concentrating
    power into fewer and fewer hands, as well as attempt to rekindle trust and
    35
    confidence in the system of parliamentary elections and constituency
    representation.”

    http://www.caribbeanelections.com/eDocs/articles/bb/bb_Throne_Speech_2008.pdf


  8. Guyana

    “The Asset Recovery Unit which was set up by the APNU+AFC coalition government has recommended charges for at least five former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Ministers over their alleged misconduct and abuse of office while in government.

    The misconduct surrounds the procedures used by the former PPP ministers to acquire prime government lands in the Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara area referred to as ‘Pradoville 2’.

    The former government officials who were named in a document seen by NewsNow are former President Bharat Jagdeo, then Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, former Minister of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford, former Education Minister Priya Manickchand, former Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul and former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee.

    The lands were transferred to the former ministers and Jagdeo with several conditions which stated that failure to comply will result in penalties by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

    Clause ‘C’ of the condition stated that, “the transferee shall not be at liberty to sell, lease, transfer or part with possession of the said property within ten years of transfer without the written consent of the Minister responsible for housing.”

    Former Ministers Priya Manickchand and Robert Persaud allegedly sold their lands without consent from the CH&PA which is a breach of clause ‘C’ of the agreement.

    In the case of Manickchand, she sold her land to one Dave Narine for some $100M on February 21, 2013, three years after it was purchased.

    While former Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud first transferred his land into the names of his wife Kamini Persaud and two children on 18th September 2014. The said land was then sold to LRS Company for $90M, also allegedly without written permission from the (CH&PA).

    The document went on to state that the Deeds Registry has since released information that the company which Persaud sold his property of land and house to has the secretary and its single director as one person whose name was given as Andrew Pollard.

    The document also states that the Overseer of Industry/Plaisance indicated that no rates and taxes have been paid since the occupancy of the land.

    The document also stated that the lands were grossly undervalued and sold substantially lower than the market value, “thereby depriving the state of its full benefits.”

    Other persons who managed to secure lands in “PradoVille 2” include Ghansham Singh and Kamini Parag-Singh the son and daughter-in-law of a former minister, Florrie Loretta Ramnauth, Compton Bourne, Ramesh Dookhoo, Geary Best, Shalimar Ali-Hack and Moeenul Hack, Raj Singh, Shaik Baksh, Lisaveta Valantina Ramotar, Andrew Ranji Bishop, Safraaz Khan, George Hallaq and Nada Hallaq and Future Developers International (Guyana) Inc.

    Meanwhile, the lands at Sparendaam which were under the control of the National Communications Network Inc. (NCN) were sold by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) in 2010 following Cabinet’s approval.

    The recommendations, NewsNow understands, have been sent to Attorney General Basil Williams. The Unit has since submitted that the former Ministers could be held liable for misconduct in public office and in the absence of a ‘SARA’ legislation the AG may institute proceedings against the former Ministers.

    The unit cited a recent decision in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) case of Floerencio Marin Jose Coye Vs the Attorney General of Belize, where the court held “that the former Ministers could be held liable in misfeasance for loss of public property and that the AG, as the guardian of public rights, was the person entitled to institute proceedings.”

    The report concluded by stating that, “the former ministers should not benefit from their acts of misconduct while being holders of public office. A strong message must be sent to the offenders and potential offenders.”

  9. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ Kammie Holder

    You like you is an international sleuth yuh!!

    Whey you pick up dis gem??

    That it is informative goes without saying but that it is possible for a cuntry like Bulbados, after the fact of illicit sales and profiteering by ministers of an administration, to have the successive administration, tek de criminals to de Caribbean Court of Justice, is quite interesting!!

    I have a few observations/question though.

    It would appear that one Floerencio Marin Jose Coye, AND NOT THE SUCCESSIVE GUVMENT, tek he life in he hands and carry de former Attorney General to the CCJ which suggests that he has a locus or is it possible for a common citizen to start such an action?

    I do hope that the Compton Bourne mentioned in this investigation by the Asset Recovery Unit is not the same Dr. Compton Bourne 67, Chancellor of the University of Guyana, former President of the Caribbean Development Bank??

    Say it aint so?

    You mean dat aftah a man get all dese kudos as “Air Bourne” (cause uh all de time he spend flying bout de world pun CDB money) dat now it gine jes be dat he is a common crook?

    Man dat wud mean dat when a fellow demit office like say Obama, dat all he got in store fuh he and Michelle is tuh become a ‘fisticated Bonnie and Clyde robber!!

    My last question doah.

    Given dat Adriel Nitwit de Attorney General and Dale “Smiley Teets” Marshall possibly de nex Attorney General (dat is de fellow who ,in de Arch Hall collapse say “de dogs is looking for living specimens”) is both menses whom CANNOT prosecute de nex fellow befo’ dem, who you tink is gine (be foolish enuff to) put dem name pun a document against de Guvment uh Bulbados fuh all dis teifing and Cahill comess en ting?

    Jes axing!!

  10. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ Kammie

    Jes to be sure is dis de same man mentionned in de investigation??

    http://caribbeanfutureforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Prof-Compton-Bourne.png


  11. Page 14 of BarbadosToday.

    Wake up call for the Region.

    Worth reading.


  12. An ex Barbados Coast Guard Officer found shot dead.
    ……………………………………………………………………
    THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT AFFORD TO BE A HELPLESS SPECTATOR
    http://i.imgur.com/o0eACPe.jpg?2


  13. Wanted: Politicians who will not sell Barbados to the neocolonist nor commit the country to Mendicancy. Unfortunately the current crop of politicians do not posses skills to navigate thru complex problems we face or the ability to engender confidence and pride in the masses.


  14. @ Kammie Holder
    Wanted: Politicians who will not sell Barbados to the neocolonist nor commit the country to Mendicancy
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    WHY? HOW? WHO?
    What qualifies Barbados to DESERVE such politicians /leaders?

    Is it our national focus on JUSTICE and righteousness?
    is it our penchant for hard, productive work?
    …is it our ingenuity and creativity in developing our blessed country?
    …is it the growing legacy we are establishing for our future generations?

    Steupsss!!!
    Do you understand that a people always get EXACTLY what they deserve?

    We are ‘wuk-up’ people!
    Crap-Over is our highest religious festival – where our “who’s who” parade the streets dressed like whores and behaving like animals….
    Our Church leaders are all shiite-hounds…
    Dirtiness is our trademark…

    Shiite man…. we sound more like penny-whores…..
    why should we not be controlled by low class pimps?

    ….and you looking for high quality leaders…?
    Part yuh gwine get dem from?
    …Trickidad?
    …Del Maestro /Clare Cowan of Canada?


  15. @Bush Tea

    Our entitlement comes from billions sunk in education post Independence.


  16. You mean our “MISPLACED sense of entitlement”.
    As Hopi correctly quoted recently….
    ONLY righteousness has the ability to exalt a nation.

    The money we poured into ‘education’ post independence has been largely wasted – as easily seen by the results.
    We continued to spend millions each year maintaining a system that was well suited for the 1960’s. We are so damned retarded that we even continue to do so in 2016…..

    Sorry David.
    This is more a case of a fool and his money being easily separated…..


  17. We produced citizen like you Bushie, what are you saying?


  18. NO WE DID NOT!!
    Bushie was ADOPTED and modified…. practically viet armis.

    Bushie is Bushie DESPITE all the influences of the Bajan education system.
    Shiite…. Bushie is ‘BUSHIE’ DESPITE bushie… LOL

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