Submitted by David Weekes
It is regard to the recent announcement by the Minister of the Ministry of Public Transport or MTW (the use of both names should be noted due to name changes over the ten year period in question) I am submitting the attached documents.
Notwithstanding the current name of the Ministry that has announced the Electronic Vehicle Registration (EVR) system, these documents form part of a proposal submitted to said ministry in 2007, under its then Minister Gline Clarke and again in 2009 under Minister John Boyce whose names are mentioned without prejudice and solely to affix the submission times.
The following is to be noted about said Electronic Vehicle Registration system.
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Both the EVR and the Electronic payment systems were the subject of an extensive proposal submitted by the Faculty of Social Sciences under Dr. George Belle the then Dean of the Faculty (I believe he has now retired.)
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The Faculty of the University of the West Indies paid for, and brought the Vice President of the largest EVR producer in the world Transcore, Steve Baumhardt, to Barbados and introduced said project to the GoB of Barbados
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After 2 years of the customary bureaucracy with the Ministry, UWI was able to get the MTW (or MPW) to field a mission to Bermuda to see the technology at work.
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That “on-site tour” was conducted with one University of the West Indies Soc. Sci. senior staffer and with particular MTW staffers, the Head of the Transport Authority and the VP of Transcore
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I can and will provide email of all correspondence between the UWI and the MTW and Transcore.
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I can and will provide correspondence from the first and second financial underwriters of the EVR project who were to provide the $6M to underwrite the project at “no up front cost” to the government but proposed a B.O.L.T
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I will go on record to state that this EVR was agreed “in principal” to be a UWI/GoB collaboration so that the UWI could generate money for itself. Needless to say the current situation at the UWI speaks to what is the trus state of so called UWI/government collaborations
I will say now as I have stated in other fora that it would be unconscionable if this government, or any successor government, benefit from these actions financially without (i) even the smallest mention of the untiring work of the UWI and (2) at least paying the UWI back the money that it spent sowing the “EVR field”.
It is probably too much to expect that they would honour the commitment to the UWI per their UWI/public sector collaboration. Some would, mindful of the current plight of the UWI, say that these actions seem to clearly show how they are “enemies to any and all Innovation and Invention proposed by its university, and its citizenry”.
Others say this it is a manifestation of Rwanda again, where black against black crime is permitted, and sustained by successive governments.
This should serve as another caution to all young Bajans who propose to collaborate with said government(s) (and/or their agents). “Be extremely wary of sharing anything that you propose with them. In fact some might say that it is better to proffer whatever you are selling to “the white man” overseas” because your own people well, learn from these examples.
Some say that this is just one more instance of the “public, unstinting rape” of the Intellectual assets of Bajans and it is the face of theft of intangible, yet financially viable, property of poor black men and women in this country.
Others will wonder how can these governments broadcast to an unsuspecting, international diaspora that it should “invest in Barbados”? Others wonder how can they make representations to international agencies to support these “structural improvement programs” while making its authors “suck salt”?
All of your “die hard supporters” are asked to pause, look at the attached documents and thereafter state if there is any righteousness in this action, even if set in the context of national development. Not even a change in the name of the document title!
With regard to this EVR matter, I invite Dr. George Belle, Mr. Wilberne Persaud and Dr. Hillary Beckles to comment on the veracity of these documents hereto attached.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.